The Geneva Board Photo

Chapter 263: The Geneva Board Photo At 9:30, Ethan's witness binder sat closed on Margaret's table, and that was the problem. Mercer would argue that one damaged son could not carry an entire conspiracy on his memory. Before Margaret put Ethan under oath, she needed the jury to see the pattern without him: another hospital, another ledger, another payment system with Martha's signature running beneath it like a wire. Outside the federal courthouse, the crowd had grown overnight. Leah saw the satellite trucks through the tinted window on the way in, but she did not let the scale of the world enter her body. The courtroom was enough. Martha was already seated, cream suit replaced by a pale gray one, the color of ash pretending to be silk. Mercer had three legal pads stacked in front of him. Ethan sat behind Leah, very still. Judge Rodriguez took the bench. "Call your next witness." Margaret rose. "The People call Dr. Rebecca Santos." Santos entered with a folder held against her chest. She was younger than Reinhardt and Webb, but she carried the same old exhaustion. When she was sworn, her right hand shook once and then steadied. Leah noticed because the jury noticed. Margaret did not begin with biography for long. "Dr. Santos, were you trained by Dr. Samuel Reinhardt in Fourth Generation methodology?" "Yes," Santos said. "In two thousand nine. I served as secondary coordinator at NYU Langone." "How many birth records did you alter there?" Santos opened her ledger. "Thirty-two between January two thousand nine and June two thousand twenty-four." The number did not sound large enough until Margaret put it beside the others. "Dr. Reinhardt's ledger documented forty-seven altered Mount Sinai births. Your ledger documents thirty-two at NYU Langone. Dr. Wei's Columbia Presbyterian ledger documents thirty-one. That is one hundred ten babies in New York City alone." No one in the gallery moved. Even the reporters' pens seemed to wait for permission. Margaret read from Santos's page. "Case two. March two thousand ten. Lucas Miller. Birth record destroyed, false certificate created under James Chen, placement as Foundation heir for a rival organization. Payment received: one hundred eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars." She turned a page. "Case seven. February two thousand fourteen. Sofia Rodriguez. Death notation fabricated, infant removed during discharge, Hunt Capital heir candidate, same payment." Santos confirmed each entry. Her voice did not break, and that made the testimony worse. A person weeping could be comforted. A person reading the ledger calmly made the ledger the thing that cried. "Did Martha Thorne authorize this methodology?" Margaret asked. "Yes. She approved the structure, the payments, and the reporting. She received regular summaries from Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, and Columbia Presbyterian." "Did she express concern for the families?" "No. She used the language of assets, placement, and continuity." Mercer rose for cross with no wasted motion. He had found his rhythm yesterday and meant to keep it. "Dr. Santos, did Martha Thorne give you written training materials?" "No." "Did she sign a specific written order for each NYU Langone alteration?" "No." "You are testifying under immunity from conspiracy charges." "Yes." "Without that immunity, you would face life imprisonment." "Yes." "So again, the prosecution offers a cooperating criminal, no individual written authorization, and a memory of verbal methodology." Santos looked at the ledger before answering. "The payments are not memory." Mercer stopped for half a beat. Leah saw two jurors look up at the same time. Margaret's redirect was brief. She put the $187,500 payment structure back on the screen and asked who signed the Foundation expenditures. Santos answered the only name that mattered. "Martha Thorne." When Margaret asked whether the alterations could happen without those payments, Santos said no. The word was small, clean, and hard. At 10:45, Judge Rodriguez allowed the prosecution to move to documentary evidence. Margaret lifted a photograph sealed in a clear evidence sleeve. Mercer was on his feet before she reached the document camera. "Objection. The defendant is charged in the Voss murders and baby theft. Fourth Generation Board operations are prejudicial and irrelevant." Judge Rodriguez looked down at Margaret. "Connect it." Margaret walked to the bench with the photograph still in her hand. "Motive and pattern, Your Honor. The Voss murders were not isolated acts. The defense has argued euphemism and indirect instruction. The Board evidence shows a system where baby theft, identity construction, and placement funding were approved as operating methods. Martha's role in that system makes the Voss orders intelligible." The judge considered long enough for Leah to hear Ethan's breathing behind her. If the photograph stayed out, tomorrow became harder. If it came in, Ethan would not be alone on the stand. "Limited admission," Judge Rodriguez said. "You may establish Board membership and direct relevance to the Voss charges. Do not turn this trial into a global indictment." Margaret returned to the jury rail and placed the photograph beneath the camera. A conference table appeared on the courtroom screen. Geneva, September two thousand eighteen. James Hunt Sr. at the head. Martha Thorne seated to his right. Eleanor Vance, Sarah Chen, and Robert Sterling on the other side. Leah felt Ethan lean forward. His father did not need to be in the room to take oxygen from it. "This meeting authorized expansion funding," Margaret said. "Teacher Chen for government agencies. Teacher Sterling for media acquisitions. Teacher Vance for Foundation heir placements. Martha Thorne documented those assignments in her own training notes." Mercer objected again. Judge Rodriguez held up one hand. "Mrs. Chen, your next witness must make the direct connection." Margaret nodded as if that had been the point all along. She closed the Geneva photograph sleeve and turned toward the gallery. "The People call Ethan James Hunt." Ethan stood. For one second, Leah saw the boy the Board had made and the man choosing to walk away from it occupy the same body. Then he buttoned his jacket, stepped into the aisle, and went toward the witness stand while Martha finally turned her head.