My world had narrowed to the width of a hallway.

The court could examine evidence.

It could order financial disclosures.

What it could not do was restore those months to Noah.

I knew that even before I saw him stand beside the judge with his bear.

PART 9

At the resumed hearing three days later, the forensic examiner explained that the camera file had been copied with its metadata preserved.

There was no sign of an edit in the submitted file, but she was careful to note the limits of that conclusion.