Market Value (2019) | Full Movie | Drama Movie

me

you

um

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oh

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was

right now we're seeing an accident on

the south side

good morning good morning

what

you're watching wake up chicago weren't

you oh i didn't notice i just turned the

tv on

what's the matter

well it appears my wife is a morning

news adulterer i'm not it's just

forecast is more accurate on channel 14.

so i guess little solidarity is too much

to ask

it's just the weather yeah well keep in

mind my ratings determine my

marketability and if i can't draw the

locals how am i supposed to lure the

nation the same way you have for the

last 15 years with that beautiful smile

of yours

well beautiful smiles are a dime a dozen

in this industry a month ago i had three

national networks scouting me and

not one of them's express interests not

yet i'm sure you'll hear something soon

thank you

you okay

yeah i'm just a little tired

why don't you take a few days off it'll

be good for you

i'm all right just some nights are

longer than others

well yeah you're pulling 10 hour shifts

at the hospital and then you're racing

home to take care of me and brian like

we're not capable of fending for

ourselves

i'm fine really

look

audrey

i know how stubborn you can be

but if the job is becoming too much for

you i need you to be rational enough to

let it go okay

i may vow to take care of you and brian

remember

of course

so let me

we're in a good place financially you

don't have to work so hard

i love what i do it's my profession

of course it is

um

no wait let me make you lunch first it's

okay i'll just have rosie grab me

something okay

hey

just

take it easy today okay i will

love you

love you too

see you later this afternoon sweetheart

i hope you're nearly done up there

hello

no i'm just gonna catch up on some sleep

what are you doing

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you may recall a little over a decade

ago when our network first brought you

coverage of the young recovering drug

addict i understand that what i did was

selfish

and immoral

and that nothing in this world can

justify me selling my child to people

and conditions unknown

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my only hope is

that my little boy

wherever he is

can find it in his heart to forgive me

following that interview valerie

whitaker set out on a national media

campaign to find her son

mom

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you okay

your breakfast is on the table

do you want milk or oj

oj is good

you sure you're okay

yeah i'm fine i was just watching the

news

what happened

um nothing

when's your next match

uh the semi-finals are thursday night

as in tomorrow night

yeah

i thought i told you to tell me these

things at least a week in advance

i thought you knew

how would i know if you hadn't told me

mom knew about it

oh that's how you keep me informed these

days through your mom

i just thought maybe you guys had talked

about it

oh we haven't

so do you have work tomorrow or

something

no i'm scheduled to

you need to start telling me these

things sooner okay

i mean it brian i don't want to miss

another match because you don't care

enough to tell me in advance all right

mom jeez

sorry

hi

so your parents put you out of their

home at the age of 17 with no other

means of support

but you've stated led to a life of drug

abuse alcoholism even prostitution

but how did you get to the point of

actually selling your newborn child

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no

legitimate

reason for it

i was an addict

i lived so recklessly at the time

my only concern

was my next hit

i would do anything to get it

so several years pass and you pay your

debt to society

and now you're referred to

as a crusader for missing children

what do you make of that

i never anticipated the outpouring of

national support to begin with so it all

sort of came as a surprise to me

so this isn't just some sort of ploy to

win the affections of the public

not at all

the only reason i launched my campaign

was to find my son

nothing more

so tell me does it ever bother you at

all

i can't even imagine how difficult it

must be

to play such a huge role in reuniting a

family with a missing child

still have no success in finding your

own

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yes

it is very difficult

but i do believe that i will find him

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i have to

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so

morning

morning can i help you i'm a private

investigator here to pick up some

court-ordered documents

um do you know what you spoke with sure

uh gloria patterson

okay um give me a moment please

is patterson

yeah there's an investigator here

all right

sure thanks

she'll be right with you

eric greece i yes

can you see some identification

thank you

he's a brilliant young man it's nothing

serious

thank you

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so

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okay i'll be there like 15-20 minutes

okay

yeah

okay okay i'm on my way now is

everything okay i'm so sorry my sister

has an emergency and there was no one

else i could call it's okay i got some

[ __ ] i appreciate it no problem hey i

was gonna ask you tomorrow night brian

has a match no worries i got it you sure

i'll see you on friday thank you

so

do you mind if i sit here

go ahead

you know normally i don't like hospital

food but these salads are they're okay

didn't expect to see you here so early

i'm sorry do i know you mm-hmm

we haven't met i'm eric how are you

audrey

i know

i've learned quite a bit about you

have you

yeah

and from what i gather

you're a good person

but

i'm really more concerned with

what people don't know

really why is that

this is part of the job

i see well

i gotta get back to work

i know about brian

who are you

a private investigator

i was hired by the whitaker estate

to uh whitaker

valerie whittaker

her family

how long have you been following me

just a few days

i got a call to check out a lead and

another detective came across in boston

what does this have to do with brian

brian is valerie's son

he's got everything to do with him

i've got to go

you know my job

is to provide a client with information

so they can move forward normally i

would never even be talking to a suspect

but i'm willing to make a conveyance

a conveyance

to avoid a hearing

otherwise the estate is going to press

charges

i'm gonna get back

you know i don't know whether you hurt

or not but she died two nights ago

reports are saying it was heart

complications no signs of a relapse

they're saying it was stress that caused

it

stress

of all things

is from when i heard she was one of the

biggest junkies in boston

but then

i got to thinking

after spending

several years

searching for a kid may or may not even

be alive

it gives you an idea why her family

might think you were the cause of her

death

audrey

audrey yeah you've been here since this

afternoon why don't you go home i'm fine

i'm just audrey

audrey go home and get some sleep

we'll be fine

so

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so

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hey sweetheart

no

not yet

i know babe i haven't forgotten that

just things got really busy here and

babe

i'm gonna make it up to the girls

tomorrow look i'm gonna be out of here

in about an hour and then i'm going to

come hello dab

[ __ ]

hey

hey

you're home really

yeah

i covered your co-worker this afternoon

so my supervisor let me go early

i got tomorrow night off

cool

are you still doing up

i'm just finishing this paper for

history class

anything interesting

not so much interesting as it is

monotonous history is always repeating

itself

you okay

yeah

i'm just proud of you as all

thanks

well

i guess i'm gonna turn in

i love you so much love you too mom

don't stay up too late i won't

night good night

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good morning good morning did i wake you

no or wish you had though why are you

scheduled to be at the hospital this

morning no i got the day off okay so

what's the rush you know i hate to sleep

past seven

yeah well i figured you needed some rest

you seem frazzled you okay i'm fine

what are you doing

getting started on breakfast it's your

morning off tell you what sit down relax

i'll take care of breakfast

audrey

good morning good morning morning

sweetheart breakfast we'll be ready in a

minute audrey

what he's got to eat doesn't he

grab your things i'm taking you to

breakfast

come on let's go school's in an hour hi

mom

bye

i don't know what the hell is bothering

you but if you decide you want to talk

later then give me a call

foreign

so

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so

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this is eric

yeah yeah sure but uh i'm gonna uh i'm

gonna need a little bit more time

uh well just a day or two because i want

to make sure i got all the info that i

did

right

okay yeah

yeah i will bring in everything i have

tomorrow

sure

you want to talk

where were they when she nearly

overdosed that night

i don't know

it doesn't matter at this point

they're not going to stop until he turns

up

the stakes are even higher now that they

have reason to believe he's still alive

what are my choices oh you can either

give up custody

or risk going to trial

i'm not giving them custody

i devoted my whole life to raising him

and you've done a hell of a job but her

family couldn't care less

to them

you're as guilty for buying the kid as

she was for selling them and any court

in the country is going to agree

well i'm not interested in making any

arrangements and i don't care who these

people are

i'm not handing over my son

i hope you realize how ugly this will

get for you and your family

good evening audrey how are you thanks

how are you wonderful looking forward to

brian's match we're all very proud of

him oh sorry i'm sure also i've been

meaning to call you there's something

i'd like to talk to you about maybe

sometime next week sure i can give you a

call first thing monday morning it's

perfect and best of luck

hey good evening everyone and welcome to

the chsc semifinal regional chess

tournament the winner of tonight's match

is going to advance to the championship

next month

good luck everyone

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he's quite a tactician

what are you doing here

i thought you might have changed your

mind

well i haven't so please stop following

me i'm trying to help you

audrey by tearing my family apart that's

the last thing i want to do and you you

may not believe me but i commend you for

what you've done you took brian out of a

bad situation you made a good life for

him as far as i'm concerned you're his

mother

i'm not arguing that

but you are going about this the wrong

way

i mean

he could lose you forever if you drag

this out any longer

look he's he's 15 years old in three

years he'll be able to make his own

decisions the two of you can pick up

right where you left off

look i gotta submit my evidence by

tomorrow so please

don't make this hard on yourself

do you have any kids

two daughters

so you know what i'm willing to

sacrifice to protect my child

so please leave my family alone

who's that

nobody

were you really that nervous mom

no

your mom was squeezing my hand like a

vice no i wasn't

maybe towards the end of the match

so when did you know you had him

the minute we sat down

oh come on no really he was distracted i

could tell there was something else on

his mind other than the match so you

smelled blood from the beginning blood

really carry

it's a chest match not the crusades no

he said he sensed a weakness in his

opponent right from the beginning right

so that's how you felt right

honestly yeah

oh you are a piece of work it's my boy

is brian still awake no he just turned

in

it's kind of early for him isn't it

well it might have been all that vanity

you served him with dinner that put him

over

what can i say i'm proud of him

i am too but i'd love to leave a little

room for his ego to grow on its own

well let him gloat a little bit he was

amazing tonight

i tried calling you earlier today

i was out most of the day during errands

when my phone died is everything okay

yeah

everything's okay

you all right

yeah

i'm sorry about this morning

there was something i wanted to talk to

you about though

what's up

i got a call from kbc network this

morning they're interested in bringing

me on board

are you serious yeah i mean nothing's

definite yet and even if something

happened i'd want to discuss it as a

family first of course

when will you find out for certain i'm

supposed to fly out to new york monday

for the interview

oh that's

amazing honey i'm so happy for you

so i was thinking it would be great if

you came with me just

for the day you know we'd fly out in the

morning come back the same night

sure

yeah

of course

okay

morning good morning oh i'm sorry i

didn't get up in time to make your

breakfast oh it's cool

good morning you good morning

hey good morning boy genius good morning

mom

so listen i've got a little extra time

for work would you like to be

chauffeured to school um no thanks i'm

gonna catch up with some friends on the

way

as all agreements should stay in touch

with the commoners

turn it down some mom i'm not even the

champ yet

you are to me

so

have a good day

i love you i love you i love you love

you

what

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um

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your blood pressure's pretty high have

you taken any medication recently

no

just my insulin okay have you had any

problems breathing at all

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okay the doctor be with you shortly

patient's blood pressure is extremely

high

i'll go check on him in the meantime

there's a young girl with her foster

mother down the hall she has a cut on

her right arm that requires stitching

what concerns me most is that the cut

may not have come from a bike accident

like she says it did

michelle yes

that's a beautiful name

thank you

so i hear you hurt yourself pretty bad

on your way to school today

i fell off my bike

i tell her time and time again to slow

down but she's always in such a hurry

well

let me take a look at it sweetie

whoops

this is pretty deep was there glass on

the

sidewalk you remember scraping your arm

on something sharp before falling

she fell off her bike and scratched her

arm on the pavement i already told the

doctor that

i'm sorry mrs brooks but

this isn't a scratch it's a laceration

the doctor said he could stitch it up

well we can so why don't you go do that

so that we can get going and she can get

back in school sure

have you ever had stitches before

once

really when was that

long before she came to stay with me

if that's what you're getting in i was

just trying to make her feel comfortable

i get it you think this is just another

abused child and i'm just another unfit

foster mother who's taking advantage of

the system

well you're wrong

i've given my best to this child which

is a stark difference from what she's

used to

but you wouldn't know anything about

that would you

this is ridiculous i'm gonna

where's the duck

michelle i want you to tell me the truth

and i promise you won't get into trouble

what happened to your arm

this didn't come from a fall did it

did she hurt you

believe me i know you don't want to go

back to a home but

you don't deserve this kind of abuse

she's trying to accuse me of hurting my

child i only ask because we have reason

to believe that her laceration came from

a blade

a blade you think i cut my child with a

blade i don't know you're just eager to

put another black child in the system i

assure you miss brooks that's not the

case

like she said the laceration on her arm

does not look like it was caused by her

falling from a bike

well if you don't believe me then ask

her now go on ask her

nichelle

is there anything you want to tell us

don't be scared honey

no

okay

well let's get you all stitched up so

you can be on your way

yes i need to speak to someone from

child protective services

i just need to stitch her up first we

don't have time to sit around here but

if we don't close the wound it's likely

to get infected

and coming up a little bit later we'll

have a full weekend wrap up on the cubs

games as well as what's going to happen

with blackhawks this season

it's been exciting i love october

baseball and you know they're my

favorite team well hopefully this is the

year for the world series and here's a

brief look at today's forecast robert

good morning today is going to be a nice

one sunny with a high of 76 degrees and

i'll have your weekend temperatures

later on in the forecast thank you

robert as the occupy wall street

protests continue to expand throughout

the country city officials are looking

for ways to disperse the massive crowds

without violating civil

good job rights

guys thank you

hey hey any calls your agent called

twice she said it's important you get

back to her

i'll call her okay excuse me carrie

stewart

yeah i am eric reese i'm an investigator

i was uh i was hoping there was some

place we could sit and talk

you're the man who was at my son's chest

match last night yeah yeah i was there

what's this about

it's about your spouse

i know you're not still moving over what

happened this morning

we've seen a lot worse

i just don't understand why they never

speak up

you've been around long enough to know

how flawed the system is and for

children who've been shipped from place

to place like she has it means a lot to

be spoken for

no matter how much she has to suffer for

do

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hey

what's going on

that pi who you spoke to last night came

to see me at the station today

do you know what he told me

told me that my wife illegally purchased

our son from his drug addicted mother

it's more complicated than that karen i

want to know the truth

i didn't intend for things to turn out

this way i just wanted to protect him

and that's the only way i know how what

the hell were you thinking

that woman spent the past nine years of

her life searching for a child that

you've been secretly harboring in our

home harboring

harboring is that what you think i've

been doing for the last 15 years

harboring him she was a junkie gary she

would have sold him to anyone for her

next fix she sold them to you

now her family is mad at [ __ ] you never

came forward

i swear i didn't know she was looking

for until the other day

that's not good enough

why didn't you tell me about this from

the beginning

you never gave me a choice

did you even think about how this was

gonna affect me

my career

it's gonna destroy us

i'm sorry don't [ __ ] touch me

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good morning

morning

is mom's still asleep

no

she left

that's where

i haven't been honest with your mother

or with you

everything looks good

so certainly make the whitaker family

very happy

as for the kid i'd recommend that he

stay in the stuart home all this gets

sorted out

it's going to be hard enough for them

when this goes public

at all

before you go

is there anything else

maybe some undocumented information that

could help us with our clients case

it's all there

as always great work

we'll be in touch

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i'm so sorry brian

i'm so sorry

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i just got a call from chicago

they found him

and he's alive and well

oh

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you okay

i'm fine

do you want to talk about it

her

she was only 34 years old

i know

she was just a kid when she had you

no idea who my father was

could have been any one of those creeps

she was screwing

brian what

i always knew i was

adopted just never cared to know the

details behind it

and i was hoping you never would

i know she was an addict

but i wonder if

she ever felt like she was making the

best decision for me

i think

i can't say

so what happens now

i don't know

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hello hi

uh o'hara please okay thank you

thank you

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so

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brian are you home

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how was school

it was all right

i'm gonna get started on dinner

i talked to mom earlier

how is she

she said the interview went really well

you should give her a call

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i'll get it

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can i help you good afternoon is your

name audrey stewart

yeah

all right just step outside you're under

arrest for illegal adoption

you have the right to remain silent

anything you say can't and will be used

against you in the court of the law if

you have the right to an attorney you

cannot afford one one will be appointed

for you to understand

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it's okay

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turn your head to the right

turn your head to the left

i need both your thumbs place them on

top of the screen

now your four

fingers on both hands

your right hand

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oh

case number

75314 u.s district court of

massachusetts versus stewart

case number

75314 u.s district court of

massachusetts versus stewart

mrs stewart is your attorney present i

am your honor

and does your client understand that

she's being charged with one count of

illegal adoption and one count of child

abduction

yes she does your honor

and how do you plea

not guilty your honor

very well

your hearing will take place in the

federal district court of massachusetts

two months from tomorrow

bound to set the amount of five hundred

thousand dollars

if in fact you do decide to post bail

you are prohibited by law to travel

outside the state of illinois

this interdiction will be lifted one

week prior to your trial to allow you

enough time to transition to the state

of massachusetts in which your attorney

must notify the court before making any

arrangements

do you understand yes your honor

next case

state of illinois versus hernandez

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so

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the skyline

is

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what are you doing

studying can i come in

we have the court order dna testing

tomorrow

i know mom told me

i'm sorry

no big deal it's just a swap

so um

what was it like spending a night in the

slammer

awful

but to tell you the truth it's not the

first time i've been in holding

what'd you do

well some friends and i got in trouble

for vandalizing school property

this feminist speaker came to campus

and one of the sororities didn't approve

so they had her banned so you guys trust

their nest

it's more like we tried to burn it down

you burn down their house no just the

shrubbery

the fire department got to before it

gets spread

it was a huge mistake nothing i'm proud

of

so

are you worried about the hearing

no

i don't want you to worry about it

either

you have a lot of other things to focus

on

and we wouldn't want your opponent to

think that you're distracted

mom's pretty pissed at you

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she has every right to be

so do you

i love you

see you in the morning

good night

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i'm just getting some linen for the

guest room

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hey

hey

i don't know what'll happen between us

when this is all settled but um

there's too much at stake to let you go

through this alone so you've got my

support for the time being

i'll do what i can to help but that's

all i can give you

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morning

you ready to go

i'm not scheduled to meet aaron until

noon i think it's best if we went in a

different direction for this one but

he's our attorney just trust me

you know we love you but neil and i

can't keep covering your end of the

timeshare that shit's getting too

expensive i know it's just the alabama

is kicking my ass right now yeah well

alimony is a huge [ __ ] to feed no

stranger to it my first husband was a

struggling artist if you remember i do

and keep in mind i laid the litter too i

hear you loud and clear of life i'll

give you a call next week you do that

and take care

carrie it's been years how you been good

you look it thanks so what are you doing

here aren't you usually on the air about

this time yeah i took the morning off

everything okay

yeah blight this is my wife audrey

it's nice to meet you audrey nice to

meet you

why don't you two come on back to my

office

that's uh

it's quite a story

extremely complicated it is

and you're not speaking theoretically i

assume you literally

purchased another woman's child

she rescued him right

see here's the thing

even with the mother's consent it would

be difficult to convince a jury that you

rescued him considering you didn't turn

him over to child services to begin with

every bit of evidence points in favor of

the prosecution i don't even know what

the purpose of a hearing would be in a

case like this wouldn't last more than

two or three hours deliberations at all

so you're saying we don't stand a chance

in hell

any reputable law firm would be leery of

a case like this you need a damn good

one to represent you

i think you're better off settling for a

plea bargain

that is if the prosecution is charitable

enough to extend you one

a plea bargain that's the advice you

have for me

it's complicated audrey

i understand that but it's a lot more

complicated for me

my family is at stake i could lose my

son

well

technically he isn't your son

that's what makes your attempt to hold

on to him legally impossible

do you even know who or where the father

is

he'd be next of kin so by law he'd be

brian's rightful guardian

i mean it could be any number of men

possibly

but i don't think you can fight this one

so my advice is to go home

explain everything to the kid and send

him to his grandparents in boston

and hope for leniency when the judge

decides your sentence

please tell me you didn't know anything

about this before you married her

all things considered your legal

guardianship is null and void as well

so what am i supposed to do now i mean i

spent the last 10 years raising him i

can't afford for her to lose the case

either i'm sorry i really am there's

nothing i can do

i know i've developed a rather in

cautious reputation throughout my career

but even i like to win from time to time

nothing personal

right

i thought she'd be able to help us

i'm sorry

we'll find good representation though

okay

i promise

yeah well with bloggers appeal they

don't have time

yeah sure i know steve

okay thanks rosie

this one might be worth a try he was a

former supervisor at the u.s attorney's

office and specializes in cases like

this

when hard to call

food come yet

no but it should be here soon

another voicemail

hi this is carrie stewart i'd like to

schedule a consultation sometime this

week if possible

please call me at 312-555-7328

thanks

i thought you were starving

hey uh if i take on your case i'll have

to petition the court to represent your

pro-hack vice since the hearing takes

place out of state however the court has

complete discretion to grant permission

or deny it but i'm confident they'll

permit it you being the client of course

will be responsible for all additional

costs in the case that being my travel

expenses lodging expenses etc

can i come in

hey listen i'm

really sorry about being so harsh

earlier it was extremely rude of me but

if you're still interested in my

services i would be more than happy to

represent you

absolutely but let me warn you it's

going to be a tough one

i know

so

get started tomorrow morning in my

office 10 a.m

i'll be there

this is the food

oh hi hello

and you are

brian

so you're what all the fuss is about huh

i'm just hungry

yeah see you tomorrow bye

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so that pretty much sums up the

questions i'll be asking you okay but

then the prosecution is going to get a

little uglier okay so we're going to go

through some of the questions they might

ask you uh first of all state your name

for the court brian stewart and how old

are you brad

15.

yes what are your parents names

audrey and kerry audrey and carrie

audrey and cair audrey and carrie now

those are both female names something

yes uh-huh so you don't have a father

no i do not

no no father have you ever wondered why

you don't have a father

uh

no what has your mother told you about

your father and your mother

not much i i have i didn't want to know

you didn't want to know well

has your mother ever told you

anything

about your birth mother

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

so how's the family

good my husband just retired my son's

finally settling down

he and joyce pollock are gonna be tying

the nut next summer ah congratulations

mother-in-law to me congratulations

thank you well hi joyce pogba i don't

think i've seen her since she was a

teenager well she grew up to be a fine

young woman

a lot less frumpy than her mother

i mean she's no fashion mogul but at

least she knows how to dress herself

you know i never thought to ask but how

do you two know each other

oh come on i'm a big girl

you honestly want to know i do

please don't

i want to know

carrie

your wife would like to know the

dynamics of our relationship

fine blythe was my mentor throughout

college

that's it

it's true

however it's a long story as to how that

came to be considering that i was

her father's mistress for several years

before that

get out of here

i'm serious because god is my witness

i [ __ ] that old man through my entire

undergrad

shamelessly i might add well professor

stewart was a very handsome man back

then

wow

wow

[Music]

you never know

well thank you so much for coming by oh

it was absolutely my pleasure

and you sir

are a class act

thanks

carrie you still upset with me yeah good

health life well

i'll see you later okay get home safe

thank you thanks for everything yep

good night

[Music]

first and foremost

my family would like to thank all those

who supported valerie in her pursuit to

find her son

and although she she did not live to see

that day

our family remained hopeful and vowed to

see to it that her work was not in vain

and now i'm happy to say that that day

of redemption has finally come

as we were recently informed by our

attorneys that after 12 years of

searching

valerie's son

our grandson

has been found

i am not at liberty to discuss his

whereabouts but can assure you we are

doing everything we can to bring him

home

where he belongs

thank

you very much

[Applause]

my family would like to thank all those

who supported valerie in her pursuit to

find her son

and although she she did not live to see

that day our family remained hopeful and

vowed to see to it that her work was not

in vain

and now i'm happy to say that that day

of redemption has finally come

as we were recently informed by our

attorneys that after 12 years of

searching

valerie's son

our grandson

has been found

well what did you expect would happen

audrey her father's a former chief

justice she's a national headliner this

isn't the crack [ __ ] you treated 15

years ago she's the [ __ ] mother

teresa of missing children

and quite frankly she's more dangerous

to us dead than alive

the prosecution is clearly responsible

for the media frenzy in front of your

home

the fact that you're married to a local

celebrity only heightens the tension

so what are we supposed to do

there's nothing you can do

go home

get some rest

and prepare for the ugliest battle

you'll ever face in your life

[Music]

and make no mistake audrey

they intend to make an example out of

you

[ __ ]

[Laughter]

[Music]

hey

the station put me on mandatory leaf

yes

[Music]

[Music]

cynthia

[Music]

[Music]

excuse me

[Music]

[Music]

hello

hey

i can't get a hold of audrey

no she's out

well listen i need to leave immediately

for boston tonight if possible tonight

well the hearing's not for another month

look i came across some information that

i think is going to be very helpful to

us

what do you need

are you sure

okay

i'll make the travel arrangements and

send them over

all right good good oh and and and i'm

gonna need a swab from brian okay i'll

send details of where to go as soon as i

get to boston

is everything okay

[Music]

so

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

so

[Music]

all rise

the u.s is recorded now in session

judge pilsen residing

please be suited

sixteen years ago a child

my client's newborn grandson

was illegally purchased

by the defendant

and even though the child's mother

willingly sold him this transaction was

completely unlawful

so you ask how is it even possible that

the defendant could function as this

child's caretaker for so many years

and the answer

is forgery

and we will provide irrefutable evidence

proving that legal adoption forms

were indeed forged by the defendant

which allowed her to function as the

child's legal guardian for the past 15

years

now throughout this hearing

you'll probably hear stories of valerie

whitaker's drug abuse

and

other habits which may have discredited

her ability to be a good parent

but keep in mind

this woman

who we all know now as the national

spokesperson for missing children

rehabilitated her life paid her debt to

society

and set out to find her son

it was the defendant who withheld not

the privilege

but the legal right to reunite valerie

with her son

and this hearing has absolutely nothing

to do with the defendant's inability to

care for this young man

no

no we are here today

to bring restoration

to the whitaker family

ladies and gentlemen of the jury as the

prosecution just stated in his rather

lengthy soliloquy

my client did indeed purchase the

newborn child belonging to valerie

whitaker but ironically it turned out to

be for his own good

sounds ridiculous i know but my client

audrey stewart wanted to provide this

child with a better life than his

drug-addicted mother could and she did

a very good life in fact

and no one could have predicted this not

even the great valerie whittaker herself

considering that the transaction was

anonymous

that's right

valerie whittaker had no idea who she

was selling her baby to

could have been a pedophile for all she

knew luckily it was my client

who took that child in and loved him as

her own

after you were hired for this case where

did your investigation begin

at saint gregory hospital it was the

last place valley had been seen before

she returned home a year later

and what sort of information did you

come across there

oh nothing really uh the staff had

changed significantly so

at that point i had to rely heavily on

the hospital's records for the

information that i needed

was that helpful to you

not at the beginning

a lot of the records were rearranged and

some of them appeared to be missing

missing you sick

that's correct

so what did you do then i investigated

the hospital for another week and then

valerie requested that i help her with a

couple of other investigators on another

case why was that

well her campaign started receiving the

attention of a lot of others with

similar situations

nothing quite like hers but similar in

that they were missing children as well

and

within those nine years through her

campaign

how many

families were reunited with their

missing children

seven

seven that's remarkable yes it is i'm

damn proud to be a part of it you should

be

so

what caused you to re-evaluate valerie's

case

i started to feel guilty

all of us did because

we were helping others find their

missing loved ones and

valerie's son was still out there

somewhere

was she ever bitter about that

no

she was always calling the shots she

often talked about how it was a

rewarding experience for her so you know

i think she felt indebted to her

supporters i made it a priority though

to see to it that it was just as

fulfilling for her as it was for

everyone else

so that's when you decided to return to

the hospital and continue your

investigation

i uh was given the records another look

through

and i realized that of all the staff

that had moved on the defendant was the

only one that relocated so

i discovered whereabouts and that's when

we reached out to our contact in chicago

thank you mr collins

no further questions your honor

uh mr collins

for a minute there i thought your

statement was reputable in fact you

dearly escaped cross-examination

but then uh you mentioned that in your

first investigation at st gregory's

hospital there were documents that had

been rearranged or misplaced correct

but i'm pretty sure that i possess the

same hospital records that you

investigated am i right

sure you do

so do you think the prosecution would

send me faulty documents of course not

well the hospital records that i possess

are pretty consistent for the last 20

years

so what's the problem

the problem

is that the jury is hanging on your

every word

and you're making cryptic statements

that incriminate my client when you

suggest that files have been rearranged

or misplaced you made the impression

that my client may have been responsible

i never said that

it could have been a hospital error for

all i know then let the record show that

my client had nothing to do with the

rearrangement or misplacement of

hospital documents

but as mr collins just implied it was

due to the negligence of saint gregory

hospital and see if that doesn't get you

a defamation lawsuit

objection your honor

she's embellishing my witnesses

statements sustain

cut it out counselor

and let the record show

that nothing in the witnesses statement

is denigrating to saint gregory hospital

no further questions your honor

any further questions for this witness

counselor

no further questions your honor then

we'll break for recess this hearing will

proceed in one hour

mom hey sweetie

hi hi

how are you holding up in there

fine hey guys hi

oh i need to take this uh i'll see you

in an hour

do you want to grab lunch

i don't have much of an appetite why

don't you guys grab lunch without me you

sure yeah i'll grab something later

i'm fine

see you soon

okay

bye bye

[Music]

and how long was it before you realized

that the signatures on the adoption

forms were inauthentic

right away

this signature that valerie used to sign

all of her documents was different from

the signature on the adoption forms how

dare

significantly the uh

the defendant signed valerie's full name

on the adoption forms but

valerie normally just signed her name as

v whit

how did you confirm this

several signatures from valerie uh

including the signature and the adoption

forms were sent to a local forensic

document examiner for analysis

which proved that the signatures on

those adoption forms were indeed

fraudulent is that correct

that's correct

thank you mr reece

no further questions your honor

i've always heard that

private investigators have the keenest

sense of guilt and innocence i mean they

do the bidding of their employers

regardless

but they always seem to know the truth

most of the time

and in the seven years that you've

worked with the u.s attorney's office

have you ever disagreed with an

assignment none that i can recall

and how many assignments would you say

they've given you since working with

them

i don't know uh

over 10 i guess

and with what i've read from your

records you've always recorded the

conversations you have with the suspect

correct

the ones that i've talked to yeah

and how many conversations did you have

with my client mr reese

three

why didn't you record those

conversations

it was at my discretion and i chose not

to

fair enough

but you also had a conversation with my

client's wife

what was

said in that conversation which you also

failed to record

i tried to convince carrie stewart to

surrender brian to the whitaker estate

to which she told you to go to hell i

zoom

something like that

did you not tell my client that if she

were willing to surrender her parental

rights she could avoid a setting like

this one

i did

but you're not in a position to promise

such a thing are you mr reese no

but in your undocumented

conversations with my client you

certainly seem to favor my client

over your assignment

on the evening of september 23rd

you told my client

and i quote

you took a child out of a bad situation

and provided a better life for him

you're his mother as far as i'm

concerned

did you not say those words mr reese

keep in mind you're under oath mr reese

i did

and isn't that contrary to what your

employer believes

yes

so then it would probably be safe to say

you don't always agree with the

assignments given you by the u.s

attorney's office

correct

thank you

no further questions

and valerie felt like she was finally

making a positive contribution to the

world

and you were very proud of her after all

she had accomplished for the past 12

years absolutely

my only wish is that she were here to

witness the discovery of her son

thank you mr whitaker

i no further questions your honor

mr whitaker

please forgive me but my feet are

killing me whatever makes you

comfortable counselor thank you

so

after nine years

you finally found him

what took so long

your client remained anonymous so he had

no trail no names nothing to even begin

on

he could have been anywhere for all we

knew

and after a few years of running around

in circles valerie started to lose hope

that's when she turned her attention to

helping others

that's admirable my daughter desperately

tried to make up for what she'd done

sure

so when valerie came home after serving

time in prison what was it that caused

you to take her back in

she expressed how sorry she was and her

willingness to change for the better so

my wife and i decided to support her

endeavors the campaign in particular

were there any conditions to your

support

like there were when you threw her out

of your home years earlier nothing

inordinate but she had to abstain from

drug use and adhere to the rules of our

home

well now i'm a little confused on that

mr whitaker forgive me but can you tell

me what it was that valerie actually did

at the age of 17 that caused you to put

her out of your home that was nearly 20

years ago

i don't remember

you make your only child leave the

comfort of her own home and you don't

remember what she did to deserve it

let's just say

that valerie had issues long before they

became public god forbid any 17 year old

girl have issues objection

your honor i don't see what any of this

has to do with the case

overruled

state your point counselor

i guess my concern is

is you intend to seek custody of my

client's son correct we intend to seek

custody of our grandson that is correct

and if by some random act of god you

were given custody of brian stewart how

do i know you wouldn't throw him out of

your home under the street like you did

your own daughter my family's

disciplinary methods are not on the

stand counselor another for that matter

is

valerie now my wife and i are here for

one reason and one reason alone and that

is to repair a broken relationship that

we had no hand in destroying

now my daughter started this campaign in

the hope that one day she would reunite

with her son and by god even in her

absence we intend to finish it

[Music]

brace yourselves

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

how long was i out

about three hours you hungry

you haven't eaten all day are you sure

what's wrong

i've never seen brian that scared before

he was surprised and i

we all were at the size of the crowd

outside that courthouse you know

but i'm responsible for it

so i've been thinking it it might be

best if you and brian went back home

we're potential witnesses

and you know brian can't leave the state

until after the hearing if we win

otherwise

he's not going anywhere

i just i just don't know anymore i just

don't know maybe it was all day please

just calm down okay you're overwhelmed

it's gonna be okay

how can i know

that i did the right thing for ryan

because he's loved

so deeply by both of us

i don't want to lose

[Music]

hey there's been a slight change in

plans how well the prosecution doesn't

want to drag this thing out any longer

than they have to and they've presented

enough evidence to wrap things up today

so carrie doesn't have to testify

however they want to cross-examine brian

why

i don't know to find any kinks in your

parenting skills anything that proves

you're unfit well i don't think he's

ready i don't think we have much of a

choice whether he goes up or not

your future is being determined today

mom

we prepared for this i'm all right

really

[Music]

i'll see you at the table in half an

hour you sir come with me

i'll be fine

you okay up there yes

good

obviously you know why you're here today

yes

so why don't you start by telling us a

little bit about your mother is she

good at being a mother to start with

yeah she's great at it

how so the fact that she takes so much

pride in it

and i know that there isn't anything she

wouldn't do for me

plus she's a little more intense than

other moms i know so that makes things

interesting

how do you mean

well she

is really supportive

like extremely

um she has to be involved in everything

i do which is all right i guess but

sometimes i prefer she not be sounds

like a typical plea of a teenager

so other than being a highly involved

devoted parent

she's pretty great at what she does

absolutely

when did she tell you about valerie

whittaker it was about two months ago

one morning i noticed she'd been crying

so i asked what was wrong that's when

she explained everything and how did

that make you feel

i was kind of angry at first but

then i started to understand why she did

it

and today how do you feel about what she

did

i'm grateful for it

no further questions your honor

before the morning when you learned you

had been purchased by the defendant had

you ever

heard of valerie whitaker

no sir

in 15 years did you ever ask the

defendant about your biological

appearance

no sir

why not

i just never really thought about it

but surely it must have been a

conversation with the defendant about

how she became your guardian

sure

when she told me i was adopted

so you never desired to know more about

your biological parents

no sir when you learned about your

biological mother

did you do any research on your own

some over the internet

what did you come across

mostly television interviews and

articles about her campaign

and you do realize her campaign was

established to find you i guess

in fact your grandparents spent a

fortune trying to objection your honor

the whitaker's campaign expenses have no

bearing on this case sustained keep it

relevant counselor

yes your honor now you talked about

these video interviews you

looked at

did you notice the resemblance

between the two of you

no sir i never really noticed

you do favor her a great deal

and it's unfortunate you only learned

about her brief stint of drug abuse

aside from that she was a very

intelligent woman

in fact she excelled academically

just like yourself

did you know that

nicer

you have the confidence to say your life

was better off without

her i didn't say that

didn't you just tell us you were

grateful

to the defendant for abducting you

objection you're on

i i'll rephrase the question didn't you

just tell

us

that you were grateful to the defendant

for what she had done

yes sir

you do realize that you were a part of a

transaction

meaning the defendant purchased you like

a product in a convenience store

objection your honor

overruled

answer the question please

i guess

so

even though you never knew your

biological mother

at all you still have the confidence to

say your life was better off with the

defendant

i'm not sure

no

but you just led us to believe that

everything was perfect right

i mean i find it a little strange that

the defendant didn't tell you about all

of this until recently the way you

described her she sounds honest

forthright

that is your impression of her is it not

yes sir

so why do you think she would wait until

the situation became inescapable

before revealing the truth could it be

she's been hiding something from you all

objection your honor

prosecution is leading the witness

sustained you need to rephrase counselor

yes your honor

doesn't it bother you at all that the

defendant forged your mother's signature

on those adoption plans objection your

honor he's badgering the witness

[ __ ] [ __ ]

counselor approach the bench

you are walking a very fine line

one more upwards like that and i will

hold you in contempt

do i make myself

perfectly clear yes your honor

you may proceed counselor

no further questions your honor

you may step down

[Music]

counselor

i'd like to call audrey stewart to the

stand

[Music]

and please remain standing raise your

right hand

do you soundly swear the testimony of

our given this cause now on trial will

be the truth the whole truth and nothing

but the truth so help you god yes

you may be seated

would you state your name for the record

please

audrey stewart mrs stewart

how long were you employed as a

registered nurse at st gregory hospital

three years will you tell us what

happened on the evening of july 17 1997

that's the night that valerie whittaker

was rushed to the emergency room was

anyone with her

no

according to the medic the

passerby 911 found her laying face down

on the sidewalk

and to the hospital's knowledge there

was no family no home and judging by her

appearance she'd spent some time on the

street and according to hospital records

the pregnancy was discovered as the

doctor was preparing her for detox yes

if he hadn't examined her first there's

a possibility the baby would have died

due to complications from the procedure

what measures were taken at that time

the hospital contacted human services

right away and what did human services

do what they normally do i suppose uh

background checks and things of that

nature

well obviously the kid turned out okay

but were there any problems initially

after he was born

other than him being

highly sedated no

but it really was a miracle

the entire hospital staff fell in love

with him immediately

and everyone really wanted valerie to

make a full recovery so she could take

care of her son

and that appeared to be what she wanted

to do

so what was it that caused you to

believe she had other intentions

i went to go check on her one night and

i overheard a phone call

between her and

a pimp i assume

and they were planning on selling her

baby the day she was discharged from the

hospital and child services

they looked into it

but valerie denied the whole thing

and she had spent more than enough time

in the hospital to have made a full

recovery without withdrawals so at that

point there's nothing more child

services could do other than let her go

and set up a follow-up for a later date

so how did the whole transaction take

place

about

a week passed and i started to worry

about the baby

so i looked at valerie's private records

and i found her number and decided to

make an anonymous phone call

and

did she pick up right away yes

but at first she was very skeptical so i

had to assure her i wasn't with any

agency

and that i just wanted to purchase the

child did she ever insist on an amount

she wanted five thousand dollars

but i didn't have that kind of money at

the time so i offered her half and

obviously she accepted

were there any other conditions

uh her only condition was that the

transaction remained anonymous

which i assured her would

but for my safety i insisted that she

bring the hospital records

and sign adoption forms which she agreed

to

in order to keep the transaction

anonymous what measures did you take

well i

suggested that she leave the baby at the

top of the steps of st mark cathedral

where she could pick up the money and

sign the adoption form

so

she

left the baby took the money and drove

away

without signing the forms

yes

but she did leave the original hospital

records

so the only thing you were missing was

the signature of valerie whitaker

and i knew that in order to provide a

proper life for the baby i had to have

those forms signed

no further questions john

mrs stewart

i find it very hard to believe that

valerie would leave the child's original

birth records

and not sign the adoption forms you say

you left

why do you think she would do that

i don't know

she appeared to be in a rush a rush

or could it be you never really left any

forms for her to sign at all

i never would have agreed to the

arrangement if i thought she wasn't

going to sign the forms

so in all sincerity you feel like you

did the right thing by forging valerie's

signature to those adoption forms

i had her verbal

and consent

original hospital birth records

okay

so why did you flee boston

relocate to chicago

i didn't flee boston

i left

i went back to chicago in my original

home where i knew i could start over

so it had nothing to do with the fact

you had illegally purchased a child in

this city

it would have been difficult to raise

him here considering everything that had

happened

naturally

but the biggest question still remains

why

didn't you come forward

after all these years

mr stewart

i didn't know that valerie was looking

for him so you expect us to believe that

after 12 years of televised interviews

with

valerie in including the segment

produced

by the network your wife is currently

employed with but you were completely

oblivious to the whitaker's search for

valerie's son

i didn't know that valerie was looking

for him

all right

so let's go back further than that

after you picked up the baby from the

church why didn't you just take him to

child

services because i didn't trust that

he'd be any better off under their

provision

but you do realize you were required by

law to inform child services in a case

like that correct

as i just said i didn't trust that he

would be any better off in the system

so in other words you went above the law

and made that decision for him

yes

and i wouldn't do it any differently

today

a strong statement mrs stewart given

that every system is imperfect in its

own way

i mean it doesn't work for all children

but it does work for many wouldn't you

agree

i don't believe that any child belongs

in a fallible system

so it appears you've developed some

contempt

for a system

and services that provide assistance for

neglected children

why is that

i know that there are people who really

do care for neglected children

but as a nurse i've seen the system fail

too many of them

including yourself

right

you too were a product of that system

weren't you mr stewart

yes

and

according to your own

legal records

you were abused by your foster parents

weren't you

i

i have here a

statement that you gave to the boston

police on the evening of march 12th 1985

there was photos too

apparently you would just run away from

home after being beat by your foster

father

it reads he hits me all the time

every morning when he gets home from

work

but if i'm up and ready to go before

seven

i can avoid him

and when asked whether your mother

permits your father to hit you you

replied

yes

she hits me too

was that not your statement mr stewart

it was

how old were you at that time

14.

so apparently you've

allowed your own experiences to tarnish

your perception of the system

anyone's perception

would have been tarnished by my

experience

[Music]

but

that has no bearing

on my decision to adopt brian

if i hadn't laid aside my past i would

have been no good to him

every newborn child deserves a chance

and i knew that i could provide that for

that baby

perhaps

but statistics show that nearly a fourth

of all abused children later grow up to

abuse their own children now i'm certain

that's not the case with you mr stewart

but is that a risk the law should

willingly take

no

no i don't think so mrs stewart

that's why you

were

required by law

a certified nurse

to inform child services

[Music]

no further questions

counselor would you like the opportunity

to redirect your witness

no further questions your honor

[Music]

all right

the us court is now in session judge

bilson presiding

please be seated

i understand the jury has come to a

verdict

yes we have your honor

will the defendant please rise

step forward please

in the case of the u.s district of

massachusetts versus audrey stewart

the jury finds the defendant

not guilty of illegal adoption

and for the second count of child

abduction we find the defendant guilty

sentencing will be scheduled for one

week from today as for brian stewart he

will remain in the state of

massachusetts under the supervision of

child protective services until the age

of 18

or legal guardianship is the taken

this court is a church

[Music]

how long is this gonna take

i don't know

it shouldn't take too long

[Music]

brian stewart come with me you're being

placed in protective custody no you

talked to me not my son

i'm sorry come with me no get your hands

off myself ma'am calm down get your

hands off my son why are they taking my

son

why stop that they're trying to take

brian

no

[Music]

no

no

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back away

get out of the way back up

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foreign

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so

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um

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how

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that's wonderful

i thought you'd be happy

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it's been hard

working on setting up a formal

introduction with brian though

okay

yeah

he should know his grandparents

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same time next week

please

of course

i love you i love you too

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how are you

good

are you okay

i'm fine

well how is everything now that you're

back in

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school patterson recommends i see a

counselor

that's completely up to you sweetheart

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i'm sorry i could defend you

this is not your fault you hear me

you did a great job

one minute

there's so much

that i want to say

okay how about this how about you write

everything in a letter anything you want

to say to me okay and i'll write back

okay

yeah

i love you

i love you too

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mom

stuart back in line

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huh

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so when your eyes

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so many files

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see

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[Applause]

this is

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[Applause]

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uh

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