Two days after the restaurant accident.
Grace said nothing for several seconds.
She let the date sit there.
Then she placed my medical record on the screen.
“Mrs. Hale, where were you at 2:17 p.m. on February 20, 2013?”
I looked at Victor.
His face had gone pale.
“In surgery.”
Grace nodded.
“What surgery?”
“Repair of a punctured lung and internal bleeding caused by the accident.”
“Were you conscious at 2:17?”
“No.”
Gerald shot to his feet.
“Objection. We have not authenticated—”
Grace lifted another sheet.
“Northwestern Memorial operative report. Anesthesia began at 12:41 p.m. Patient entered postoperative recovery at 5:06 p.m.”
Judge Monroe turned toward Victor’s attorney.
Gerald slowly sat.
Grace pointed again to the supposed ownership transfer.
“The document bears a notarization timestamp of 2:17 p.m.”
Nobody moved.
I could hear the rain.
One drop after another against the windows.
Grace faced the judge.
“According to this document, Claire Hale appeared in person before a notary in a Loop office and voluntarily signed away majority ownership of a multimillion-dollar company.”
