I learned about the charges from the victim-witness specialist before any public announcement.
She reminded me that an accusation was not a conviction.
Patricia would have the opportunity to contest the evidence.
I appreciated that reminder even though I was certain I had never authorized a camera.
The first court appearance was brief.
Patricia entered with her attorney and avoided looking toward me.
The judge reviewed the conditions governing contact while the case proceeded.
I was asked to report any attempted intimidation through the proper channels.
No one shouted, confessed, or fell to their knees.
The hearing ended with another date on the calendar.
Outside the courthouse I saw Aaron waiting beside his mother’s car.
He looked at me and nodded once.
I nodded back.
There was nothing useful to say.
The case had crossed from private fear into public procedure.
It still had a long way to go.
Chapter 69: Wesley’s Explanation
Pike’s attorneys eventually acknowledged that he had received confidential material from a person associated with HavenScope.
They disputed whether he knew the material had been obtained without consent.
They also argued that the acquisition offer was based on lawful market research and independent valuation.
Leah prepared our records for review without treating every business question as evidence of surveillance.
She compared the dates of our private conversations with Pike’s messages and later offers.
Some details could have been guessed by an experienced investor.
Others were unusually precise.
The most important was a phrase from Daniel’s proposed employee-retention plan that appeared in a draft Pike’s team circulated before receiving our version.
The phrase was distinctive because Daniel had invented it during our conversation at home.
He called it a bridge guarantee for workers approaching retirement.
The term was not common in our industry.
We had never published it.
Leah said the overlap warranted serious scrutiny.
Daniel said he finally understood why the unknown investor had tried so hard to persuade us the retention clause was unnecessary.
I looked at him and said the final decision about the shop was ours regardless of what Pike had done.
He agreed.
The investigation could protect our rights, but it could not run the business for us.
Chapter 70: A Courtroom Full of Ordinary People
When the evidentiary hearing finally came, the room was smaller than I expected.
There were no crowds of cheering neighbors or cameras lining the walls.
Helen Cho sat behind me with her notebook closed in her lap.
