The emergency case review filing went in at 10 AM Friday.Marcus had been awake for thirty hours by the time Parker confirmed receipt. He didn't feel it the particular insomnia of someone operating on purpose rather than caffeine, the focused energy of work that mattered pulling harder than fatigue pushed.The filing was comprehensive. Foote's recantation. Briggs's financial records. The shell company payments to Sandra Vega. The Syndicate connection through the holding company that had contracted Patricia's business. Lily's corporate verification. Chen's thirty year institutional knowledge providing context that made the individual pieces cohere into something undeniable.Parker called two hours after receipt."The task force is treating this as priority," she said. "The Syndicate connection elevates it above standard wrongful conviction review. We're fast tracking." A pause. "Marcus, Patricia Martinez could be home within two weeks."Marcus looked at her photograph in the file. Fif

Father Miguel's community center was on Delancey Street in the east quarter of Sterling City.Marcus had been here before twice during his first year out of prison, when Father Miguel had connected him with a job training program and a support group for recently released men that Marcus had attended twice before deciding he processed things better through work than conversation. He hadn't been back since.It looked the same from the outside. A converted church hall, redbrick, a painted sign above the door that had been repainted enough times the original lettering had become slightly archaeological. Inside it smelled the same too industrial cleaner beneath something warmer, the accumulated presence of a building that had been used for human purposes for a long time.Father Miguel led them through the main hall.It was set up for dinner eight long tables, mismatched chairs, a serving station along one wall where two volunteers were arranging food with the practiced efficiency of peop

Thomas Adeyemi had been in Millhaven for nine years.Armed robbery resulting in grievous bodily harm. Fifteen year sentence. Eligible for parole in three years if he made it that far, which the file suggested was not guaranteed. Two disciplinary incidents in year four, both involving confrontations that the incident reports described as defensive rather than aggressive to anyone reading carefully enough. A man protecting himself in an environment that required constant protection.Marcus knew what that looked like from the inside.He read the file Thursday afternoon with the particular attention he gave to cases that felt personal not because Thomas Adeyemi's story mirrored his own in its specifics, but because the texture of it was familiar. The way the evidence had been assembled. The way the prosecution narrative had a shape that was too clean, too complete, too conveniently coherent.Real crimes produced messy evidence. Manufactured crimes produced neat ones.Thomas Adeyemi's file

Robert Osei's file was thinner than the others.That was the first thing Marcus noticed. Seven years in prison and the documentation of how he'd gotten there occupied less than two inches of paper. Thin files meant one of two things either the case was simple and straightforward, or the case had been constructed by someone who understood that the less paper you generated the less there was to challenge later.Marcus had learned which was which.He read through the night.---Robert Osei. Forty four years old at conviction. Now fifty one. Accountant. Convicted of embezzlement and fraud specifically, stealing four hundred thousand dollars from his employer, a Sterling City investment firm called Meridian Capital.He'd maintained his innocence from the first interview.The prosecution's case was built on three elements. Financial records showing transfers from Meridian accounts to a private account in Robert's name. An email chain suggesting Robert had knowledge of the transfers. And te

Thursday arrived cold and clear.Marcus was at the office by 7 AM. Diane arrived at 7:15 with Dr. Mensah's finalized report and the wrongful conviction filing already formatted and ready. Chen came at 7:30 with three additional files from the financial district cases he'd pulled overnight he'd clearly not slept, but his eyes were sharp and his coffee was already half gone when he walked through the door.Emma arrived at 7:45 with breakfast."You all look terrible," she said, setting bags on the conference table. "Eat something before you file anything important."Nobody argued.---The two filings went in simultaneously at 9 AM.Diane handled the wrongful conviction review submitted to the federal task force with full documentation, Vallo's witness statement, Lily's email metadata analysis, Dr. Mensah's forensic report. Everything sequenced and cross-referenced with the particular precision of a lawyer who'd been waiting six years for this specific morning and wasn't leaving any gaps