Nolan stayed in the hallway with a court-appointed guardian, a kind woman named Mrs. Delgado, who had brought him hot chocolate and a coloring book about national parks.
The officer put the memory card into the laptop.
There were dozens of short videos on it. Dinosaur battles. A video of a squirrel outside Grant’s window. A video of Nolan explaining the planets to his stuffed rabbit.
Then a long one. Twenty-three minutes. Dated the previous Saturday at 8:14 p.m.
The judge clicked play.
At first, all you could see was a plastic T-rex standing on a wooden desk. Nolan’s voice made roaring sounds from off camera. Then a stegosaurus came into the frame, and there was a battle, with a lot of very serious sound effects.
Then you heard a door open.
Then Grant’s voice.
“Hey, Jerry. Yeah, it’s me.”