There was one stretch where it seemed the entire case might get dragged sideways.
My daughter-in-law retained an attorney who focused immediately on me.
He argued that a retired counterintelligence officer with military connections had orchestrated an investigation against a mother he disliked. He pointed to my call to the General as evidence that I had tried to use influence unavailable to an ordinary grandparent.
I understood why the argument worked.
If I had been sitting on the other side of the table, I would have examined the same thing.
So I turned over the messages.
Every one of them.
Including the General’s warning that he would only check what he was authorized to check, my response agreeing to those limits, and the message directing us toward a record my son had to request through normal channels.
The General had never sent me confidential material.
He had never called the hospital, the police, the child-protection office, or the court.
