He tapped his yellow legal pad once with the silver Parker pen, then rose to his feet.

“An emergency exists whenever a party moves assets while discovery is still pending,” Arthur said.

Judge Vance turned to Patricia’s attorney.

“Do you deny that the accounts were moved?”

The attorney glanced at a folded note in his hand.

“We deny the way it’s being characterized.”

That was the first moment I noticed the note.

Arthur opened the blue plastic folder and laid a stack of papers on the table.