A supervised visit after the emergency order. Steve surrenders California jurisdiction over custody to see his daughter. The grandparents bring Evie to a parking lot in Chappaqua. Maura refuses to let go. Walsh Sr. intervenes. The child calms in her father's arms and cries when she sees her grandmother.
The court appoints a supervisor who promises integrity and transparency. She meets privately with Tara before the first visit, invites her to attend in violation of the court order, dismisses Steve's concerns about being poisoned, and tells him she has a special relationship with the judge. She charges $250 an hour. The judge who appointed her later says on the record that she never wanted Tara at the visits and wanted Steve to die on his own sword, so the court would know.
Sixteen visits. Six supervisors. Every observer reports the same thing: Steve is attentive, Evie is happy. The supervisors keep changing. The court declines to read a favorable report. The visits stop for five months. The court grants sole custody anyway.
During Visit 15, Steve and two other adults discover bruises on Evie consistent with deliberate injury. Both parents report the bruises as concerning. Tara tells the Attorney for the Child. Steve tells his attorneys, and then the police. Within ten days, the story migrates three times — from concerning to normal to "utterly untrue" — and the court accepts the final version. Months later, Tara's own attorney recuses from the case.