Then Victor handed her lawyer the blue-sealed certificates.
I watched him do it.
So did three federal investigators in the back row.
PART 3
The courtroom was silent except for the scratch of Eleanor’s pen. She signed the transfer acknowledgment with a flourish, then turned toward me wearing Daniel’s watch and the smile of a queen watching a gate fall.
Her lawyer, Preston Hale, rose. “Your Honor, all contested property has now been relinquished. Mrs. Vale requests enforcement.”
The judge reviewed the stack without expression. Page after page passed beneath his hand. My pulse remained steady.
Eleanor whispered, “It’s over.”
“Yes,” I said. “For you.”
Judge Alvarez reached the blue-sealed certificates. He stopped. Read one paragraph twice. Then he folded the file closed, looked at Preston Hale, and asked one question.