Chapter 4
Returned by the Court
The judge watched Mira through a secure video window while Lydia sat ten feet away in open court.
Elias had filed for emergency release at dawn. By noon, the estate produced eleven months of notes describing Mara Hawthorne's delusion that she was her dead sister. Every attempt Mira had made to state her name had been entered as a symptom.
"Who is the woman appearing publicly as Mira?" the judge asked.
"Celia Hawthorne. My cousin."
The estate psychiatrist testified that no such cousin existed.
Elias placed the passport fragment on the evidence screen, but a fragment could be manufactured. The active passport favored the woman who had used it yesterday. Lydia's counsel asked the court to return the distressed patient before publicity worsened her condition.
Mira kept her voice even. "Order an independent examination."
"Already completed," counsel replied. "Dr. Anika Shaw signed the intake diagnosis."
The court denied release but required Dr. Shaw to appear within forty-eight hours. Security escorted Mira from the courthouse annex back into the estate vehicle.
Elias climbed in before Tomas could close the door. "I am still counsel of record."
Mira stared at the privacy glass. "Your petition taught Lydia which proof we have."
"Yes."
He did not defend himself. That made the narrow space between them harder to ignore, not easier.
At Hawthorne House, a woman stood beside the gate holding up her medical license. Dr. Shaw had driven from Albany after seeing her name in the public docket.
"I never treated Mara or Mira Hawthorne," she said through the glass. "And I did not sign that declaration."
Tomas's hand tightened on the door control.
Instead of opening the gate, he turned the vehicle around.