“We have the nursery recordings,” Lydia said, her voice clear and resonant.

“We have a signed, notarized confession from Sloane Whitaker.”

Sloane shrank back in her seat in the gallery, covering her face with her hands.

“And we have a complete forensic audit of the Hartwell family accounts,” Lydia said.

“An audit that proves systematic embezzlement of Evelyn Vale’s estate.”

“This is absurd,” Vance said, standing up.

“Your Honor, this is exactly the kind of paranoid delusion Dr. Aris warned us about.”

“Ms. Burke is simply repeating her client’s fantasies.”

“These are not fantasies, Mr. Vance,” Lydia said.

She picked up the first flash drive.

“I would like to play the first audio recording for the court.”

“It was captured in the nursery of Hartwell House on the night of the fourteenth.”

The judge looked at the drive, then at Lydia.

“Let me hear it,” Judge Harrison said.

Lydia stepped toward the clerk’s desk to plug in the drive.

Just as she did, the heavy wooden doors at the back of the courtroom creaked open.

A man in a dark coat stepped inside.