The judge asked whether those concerns authorized entry into a private home.
The attorney said they did not by themselves.
The judge then asked whether Patricia had evidence that I had consented to the installation.
There was none.
Simone did not argue that smashing the device had been the ideal way to preserve evidence.
She acknowledged that I had acted impulsively after discovering it.
She explained that the remaining components, photographs, and service records had been preserved and examined.
The judge took the matter under advisement and said a written ruling would follow.
I had imagined leaving court with a declaration that everything was over.
Instead, I walked into the parking lot carrying more uncertainty.
Simone told me the questions had been important.
I said I was tired of important questions.
She said she knew.
Chapter 53: The Day After
The following morning the county offered my company the health-center design contract.
I read the email three times before calling the facilities director to confirm that I understood it correctly.
The award was contingent on final paperwork and insurance review.
It was not the biggest contract I had ever won.
It was the first one in months that felt untouched by the camera case.
I called my mother and told her the news.
She cried, then asked whether I had eaten breakfast.
I laughed and admitted that I had not.
She told me to make toast before celebrating.
I drove to the clinic that afternoon and walked through the crowded waiting room with Helen Duarte.
A little boy sat beside his grandmother, drawing a crooked house on a clipboard.
A man with a cane struggled to open a heavy door while balancing a paper cup.
I wrote down both details.
The project would be full of practical problems that could be solved by careful design.
For the first time since the camera appeared, I wanted to think about tomorrow without first checking what Patricia might do.
When I got home, Rachel had left a bag of fresh rolls on my porch with a note congratulating me.
I ate one standing at the kitchen counter.
It tasted better than any victory dinner I could have bought.
Chapter 54: The Written Ruling
The court issued its ruling nine days later.
The judge dismissed Patricia’s claim for the value of the camera because she had not proved a lawful ownership interest or a right to keep the device operating inside my home.
The ruling did not declare that every act of destroying someone else’s property would be justified by suspicion.
It addressed the specific evidence and circumstances of this case.
