Robert looked at the window, at the parking garage beyond it, at nothing at all.

“Where did you get the date my unit returned from Kabul?”

“Discovery will take care of that,” the lawyer said.

The mediator, a thin woman with a laptop, typed something and turned the screen so both sides could see the calendar.

“This contest is set for the week of November twelfth,” she said.

“Nine weeks.

Bring your documents and bring your witnesses.”

Robert gathered up his folders and let his brother’s wife carry her own purse out the door.