Then we’ll decide whether those originals matter.”

He wouldn’t take a fee that afternoon.

He told Opal he could offer a limited preliminary review and refer me to a post-conviction attorney if the evidence supported it.

“You can’t fix a criminal conviction with a clever spreadsheet,” he said.

“But sometimes a spreadsheet shows exactly where an attorney should look.”

As we left, he gave me a piece of paper with three words at the top: Dates.

Authority.