He was wearing his oversized yellow cardigan, three of its dark wooden buttons fastened through the wrong holes.

“Leo,” Judge Norris said, her voice turning soft and steady as she leaned over the bench.

“Come stand right here by the side of the table.”

Leo stopped five feet from his father’s chair, his blue eyes skipping past Julian to land on me.

I reached out and gently smoothed down his shirt collar.

“You told me downstairs by the stairs that someone asked you to hold something important today,” Judge Norris said.

“Is that right?”