Not physically. He wore the same expensive tailoring and carried himself carefully. But authority that had seemed enormous in the wreckage of Emily's property looked different under fluorescent courtroom lights beside defense counsel and a clerk who told everyone when to stand.
Roger Puit sat separately.
Neither looked at Emily for long.
The prosecutor called her as a witness for the preliminary evidentiary hearing.
Her hands shook when she took the oath.
She told the story plainly.
The tornado.
The initial adjustment.
Puit's comments about selling before the final determination.
Crane's knowledge of nonpublic-seeming financial pressure.
The repeated deadlines.
The boundary filing.
The corporate records she found.
The referral to counsel and investigators.
She did not mention the convoy until asked because, legally, the convoy had little to do with whether fraud occurred.
Crane's lawyer brought it up on cross-examination.
"Mrs. Carter, isn't it true that more than one thousand members and associates of a motorcycle organization descended on your property while my client was present?"
"Yes."
"Would you describe that as intimidating?"
Emily considered the question carefully.
"I was intimidated before they arrived."
The lawyer frowned. "That was not my question."
"Then ask it differently."
A few people in the gallery shifted.
The judge looked over his glasses but did not interrupt.
The attorney tried again. "Did their presence create pressure on Mr. Crane?"
"Probably. That is why the organizers left his exit open, told everyone not to approach him, coordinated traffic, and stated publicly that nobody was to threaten or touch him."
"But they came to support you."
"Yes."
"And after they arrived, Mr. Crane left without completing the proposed transaction."
"I had already refused the transaction before the first motorcycle reached my driveway."
The lawyer paused.
"You were financially distressed. Correct?"
"Yes."
"So you had a financial motive to avoid a lawful sale after accepting public donations."
Emily felt anger rise.
She looked at the judge, then back at counsel.
"I had a financial motive to survive. That is not the same as a motive to lie."
"No further question," the attorney said after another brief exchange.
Outside, Emily's knees nearly gave out.
Hawk steadied her without comment.
"I hated every second of that."
"You did fine."