“You look like a recruiting poster,” she said, eyeing the garment bag over my shoulder.

“Court was yesterday.

I haven’t put the uniform away.”

“And how did it feel?”

“Like standing in two different centuries at once.”

We drank terrible coffee while I explained the case.

She listened with the patience she had learned from watching people talk through pain that medicine couldn’t completely fix.

“I need to ask you something,” I said finally.