She also told me to preserve messages without engaging in arguments.

“Your job isn’t to win a debate with him,” she said.

“Your job is to keep the child safe and tell the truth.” I wrote that down too.

Carter began sending messages through people we knew.

One friend said he was confused and devastated.

Another asked whether there had been a misunderstanding about medical care.

I understood why they struggled to reconcile the Carter they knew with the allegations.

I’d done the same thing for weeks.