Salesforce Custom Object with lookup field to User table
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I have a custom object with a lookup field (foreign key) to the User table.  I added a "custom object" tab to my app to list these items.

What I think I want is the functionality provided by a "master detail" relation.  Sadly, this is not available when referencing the user model from a custom object.

When a given logged-in user views this tab, I want them to see any items if they have access to the User referenced in this lookup field.  I suspect that this list view is going to show all items that BELONG to the logged in user (i.e created by). It's difficult to test because of the limited user licenses available in the dev edition.

For a logged in user, what is the best way to display the correct items regardless of who created them?