It had no legal force whatsoever.

Michael has admitted that freely, including on the stand.

It was a police officer standing in a doorway saying a thing in a voice, and it worked, and it bought Margaret eleven days until an emergency protective order and a family court judge made it real.

In the car, driving north on the 15 at two in the afternoon, Sophie said:

“Mom’s not crying now.”

Margaret pulled over onto the shoulder somewhere past Kearny Mesa and put her hazards on and cried for about six minutes while her granddaughter patted her shoulder.