And the judge, who had been quiet, leaned forward over the bench.

“Where,” he asked, “are the loan agreements?” Silence.

“Where are the promissory notes?

The corporate tax filings reflecting these loans?” Nothing was produced, because nothing existed.

The accountant then noted, mildly, that several of the largest transfers had occurred after David had already been locked out of the company’s own systems, and Selina changed her explanation of them twice under the gentlest cross-examination.

Phoebe rested her hands on the podium.