Cracks in the Sidewalk(51)

A stream of tears began to flow from Claire’s eyes, so Judge Brill called for a five-minute recess so she could compose herself.

Once Claire returned to the stand, Noreen began in a much more sympathetic tone.

“I can see how much you love your grandchildren. So you want what is best for them, true?”

“Yes.”

“Does that include living in a non-combative environment?”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe attacking their father with a sledgehammer is part of such an environment?”

“I didn’t attack him, I hit the door,” Claire said. “But I shouldn’t have. It was an unfortunate choice, made in a moment of anger.”

“A moment of anger,” Noreen repeated with a self-satisfied nod. “And how often do you get that angry?”

“Never before, and I would venture to say never again.”

“But suppose you were to get that angry again. Might you take it out on one of your grandchildren? Hit them? Push them down a flight—”

“Objection!” Dudley shouted. “There are no grounds for such an assumption!”

“Sustained,” Judge Brill replied, giving Noreen an edgy glare.

Wanting to pull her thoughts together and cover up her increasing concern about the case, Noreen walked back to the defense table, shuffled through several papers, then turned back to Claire.

“You claim your daughter, Elizabeth, is mentally and physically capable of having visitation with the children, yet she is conspicuously absent from this courtroom. Why is that?”

“Elizabeth is too sick to sit in this courtroom and listen to people argue about whether or not she’s entitled to see her own children.”

“If she’s too sick to fight for her children, isn’t it possible that she’s also too sick to care for them during visitation?”

“No, it isn’t possible,” Claire answered. “Someone else is almost always with her—myself, Liz’s dad, or a nurse.”

“Almost always,” Noreen repeated with another cynical nod. “But have you considered what could happen to the baby if Elizabeth lost consciousness during one of those almost times?”

“We’ll guarantee that someone will always be there when the children are with her.”

“Even if someone is there, what would happen if Elizabeth were to pass out or have a seizure? Wouldn’t that person be busy attending to your daughter instead of watching over the children?”

“We can make certain there are always two people when Elizabeth has the children with her.”

“You’ve already acknowledged that it’s possible Elizabeth could have a seizure. Don’t you think that would be a horrific thing for her children to experience?”

“Objection,” Dudley said with an air of disdain. “Miss Sarnoff is badgering the witness, and she’s asking for a speculative opinion on a hypothetical situation.”

“Sustained,” Judge Brill said. “Move on, Counselor.”

Noreen suppressed a sigh of frustration. “Very well,” she said, switching tactics. “You’ve made numerous statements indicating that you have an extremely low opinion of your son-in-law, isn’t that true, Missus McDermott?”

“How can I not have that opinion of him?” Claire answered, forgetting Dudley’s advice. “He’s a greedy, mean, selfish person who has gone out of his way to be cruel to Elizabeth! Any mother would feel as I do when someone hurts their child.”

“And your daughter, has she expressed the same opinion about her ex-husband?”

“Husband,” Claire corrected. “They’re still married. And, yes, she has.”

Dudley grimaced.

“With all of this animosity directed toward Jeffrey Caruthers, you still expect the court to believe that your entire household can project a positive impression of the children’s father whenever they’re around?”

Sensing that the damage was already done, Claire answered, “We can and will!”

“I’d say that is highly unlikely,” Noreen replied.

Before Claire could argue the point, Noreen bellowed, “No further questions,” and returned to her seat.

~

Dudley stood and called for Charles McDermott to take the stand. As planned he asked about the amount and number of loans he’d given Jeffrey.

“So,” Dudley said, pausing for emphasis, “in total you have given your son-in-law one-hundred-and-ten thousand dollars in loans to shore up his failing business, is that correct, Mister McDermott?”

“Correct,” Charles acknowledged.

“And has he repaid any of this money?”

“No,” he answered, shaking his head.

“When was the last time Jeffrey asked you for a loan?”

“September of last year.”

“And how much was he looking for?”

“Twenty-five thousand.”

“Did you give it to him?”

“No,” Charles answered. “With all of Elizabeth’s expenses we couldn’t afford it.”

“How did Jeffrey react to that?”

“He was furious. He said his business would go down the tubes unless he got the money to revitalize it.”