Samuel was called briefly to authenticate the trust agreement he had helped negotiate.
He answered slowly but clearly, explaining how the two committees were elected and how notices were issued.
The opposing attorney asked whether his memory could be unreliable after so many years.
Samuel agreed that memory could fail.
That was precisely why, he said, the agreement required recorded minutes and member lists.
Esther’s medical records were introduced through a sworn statement rather than public testimony.
The judge asked why the alleged meeting had been held on Thanksgiving evening.
The attorney for Pike said the date could reflect a clerical mistake.
The judge replied that one error might be ordinary, while several inconsistencies warranted further examination.
No one declared victory when the judge ordered controlled preservation of the archive and production of specified acquisition materials.
The judge emphasized that current operations and employee wages should not be disrupted unnecessarily.
She also ordered the parties to disclose potential conflicts in document custody.
Outside, reporters pressed toward Samuel and Robert.
I stepped aside because I did not want my face used as proof that one side had won.
A reporter recognized me from a photograph of the breakfast confrontation.
She asked whether I believed the billionaire had stolen the building.
I told her I did not know who had legal title and that the court had not decided.
I said I did know that my former manager fired me for paying for an elderly guest’s breakfast.
She asked whether I intended to sue.
I replied that my wages had been corrected but other employment issues were still being evaluated.
The reporter seemed disappointed by the lack of a dramatic accusation.
Luis told me later that my answer was the first description of the case he had seen that did not treat employees as scenery.
Samuel waited until the reporters left before speaking to us.
He said the judge’s order was a beginning, not a rescue.
“Now someone has to read the boxes,” he said.
We laughed because there were hundreds of them.
For once the size of the task did not feel entirely hopeless.
Chapter 16: The Box With No Number
A court-appointed records custodian supervised the first inventory at the warehouse.
Neither side could remove papers without logging their location and condition.
The storage facility had fluorescent lights, a concrete floor, and rows of shelves that seemed to extend into darkness.
Naomi was allowed to observe limited parts of the process with an independent document specialist.
