He brought his dad a sandwich every day. He didn’t know which day his dad would come out.

Noah remembered the bird right away.

“Aunt Rachel had a little green bird made of glass,” he told Daniel during a supervised visit. “It sat on the bookshelf. Melissa said I could have it, but she took it away when I packed.”

“Did she say why?”

“She heard something rattling inside.”

Priya obtained Rachel’s permission to retrieve her belongings from the house. The glass bird was gone.

At the hearing the next morning, Melissa arrived in a pressed blue suit. She told the judge she had taken Noah in when nobody else would.

“I found a frightened child,” she said. “I gave him a home.”

Noah sat between Mrs. Bell and the caseworker, staring at his hands.

Priya presented Rachel’s medical records. On the date Melissa claimed Rachel signed the guardianship form, Rachel had been receiving treatment and could not use her right hand. Priya presented the unanswered letters, the school reports, and the bus tickets.

Melissa’s attorney argued that Daniel’s conviction made him unreliable.

Daniel was allowed to speak.

“I did something wrong,” he said. “I served my sentence. Noah knows what I did because I told him myself. I’m asking the court to listen to what he needs now.”

The judge asked to speak with Noah privately, with a trained child advocate present.

When Noah returned, his cheeks were wet.

The judge ruled that Noah would stay with the Bells temporarily while Daniel completed his approved housing plan. Melissa would have no contact with him while the investigation continued.