Now even his concern felt unfamiliar.
Not because he sounded angry, but because he sounded surprised that the documents he had placed before me might contain something he had never seen.
Judge Porter studied the agreement.
“Mrs. Ellison, how did you obtain this copy?”
“The copy Mr. Calder submitted was attached to the petition served on me.”
“And the copy in your folder?”
“Was given to me by Mr. Ellison three weeks ago.”
Calder shook his head.
“Your Honor, there may be insignificant formatting differences between drafts.”
“I’m not discussing formatting yet,” I replied.
“I’m discussing whether a legally binding agreement exists at all.”
The courtroom grew quiet.
Ruth’s amusement had vanished.
Frank leaned toward Andrew and whispered something.
Andrew did not answer him.
Judge Porter looked at me again.
“Tell me what led you to believe the signature was not yours.”
I opened my folder and removed two photocopies.
“The signature on the submitted agreement is meant to be mine.”
