me.”
“Did you attempt to verify her employment?”
“Her sister told me verification was impossible because there was no employment record.”
“Did Ms.
Keller tell you her position was classified?”
He swallowed.
“She used language to that effect.”
“And you treated that statement as proof of mental illness?”
“In context, yes.”
I remembered the single meeting in his office.
Natalie had sat beside me with one hand on my knee, squeezing whenever I contradicted her.
Reed had spent most of the appointment reading a summary she had prepared.
When I told him I could not discuss my work, he had leaned back and asked whether I also received secret instructions through the television.
The appointment had lasted eleven minutes.
Judge Chambers opened Reed’s report.
“You wrote that you conducted a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation.
How long was your direct interview with Ms.
Keller?”
Reed looked toward Montgomery.
“The court asked you,” the judge said.
“Approximately fifteen minutes.”
“It was eleven,” I said.
The judge checked a document inside the federal folder.
“Security records from the medical building confirm Ms.
Keller entered your suite at 2:04 p.m.
and left at 2:17.
That is thirteen minutes including reception and payment.”
Reed gripped the witness rail.
Foster handed the clerk the second sealed envelope.
After the judge authorized it, she opened it and distributed copies to the parties.
The first photograph showed Natalie entering the Harbor Crown Hotel with Keller Properties’ chief accountant, Graham Pike.
The second showed Dr.
Reed entering the same conference room twenty-three minutes later.
Natalie stared at the images.
“Business meetings aren’t crimes.”
“That depends on the business,” Foster said.
The next page contained a bank transfer.
Two weeks after the hotel meeting, a consulting company controlled by Reed’s brother received eighty-five thousand dollars from Harbor Strategic Services.
Harbor Strategic Services was one of three shell companies tied to Keller Properties.
Reed began shaking his head before anyone accused him of anything.
“I was paid for executive wellness consulting,” he said.
“It had nothing to do with this case.”
“You did not disclose that payment in your report,” Judge Chambers said.
“I did not know the source was connected to Ms.
Keller’s family.”
Foster placed a small digital recorder on the evidence table.
“Your Honor, the government has an intercepted call obtained under federal warrant.
The relevant portion was authorized for disclosure this morning.”
Montgomery stood again.
“My client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights regarding any unrelated federal inquiry.”
“She may do so,” the judge said.
“But this court must still determine whether her conservatorship petition was filed in good faith.”
Natalie leaned close to Montgomery.
Her voice was low, but the room had become so silent that we heard every word.
“You said they couldn’t use that here.”
His jaw tightened.
“Do not speak.”
Foster pressed play.
Graham Pike’s voice came first.
“Reed wants the rest before he testifies.”
Then Natalie’s.
“He gets it after the order is signed.
Once I control Jordan’s trust, we can move the insurance money through the redevelopment fund and cover the shortfall.”
Pike asked what would happen if I fought the petition.
Natalie laughed.
“She’ll fight.
That’s the point.
Every objection makes her look more unstable.”
The recording stopped.
My mother made a sound I had heard only once before, when my father
