Sophie sat on the vinyl kitchen floor lining up her plastic teacups while I packed her pink travel bag for court.

“Where’s Barnaby going?” Sophie asked, holding up her gray stuffed rabbit.

“Barnaby stays right inside your bag until we sit down in the big room,” I said.

I opened the little hidden Velcro pocket in the stuffed rabbit’s back.

The purple toy phone recorder was smaller than my palm, its plastic case smooth and cold under my fingers.

I checked that the tiny red light on the side came on when I pressed the inner record button, then tucked the toy deep into the rabbit’s stuffing.

I pressed the Velcro seam closed until the gray fur hid the opening completely.