Cracks in the Sidewalk(57)

“You claim the McDermotts have never liked or trusted you, yet Charles McDermott gave you loans totaling over one hundred thousand dollars and he never once asked you to sign a note. Isn’t that trust?”

“He only did it because of Elizabeth.”

“But Elizabeth had no ownership of Caruthers Couture. That store was owned by you and you alone, correct?”

“Yeah,” JT answered begrudgingly.

“If Charles McDermott were to reconsider your loan request, would you allow Elizabeth and her parents to spend time with the children?”

Noreen bolted from her seat. “Objection!”

“Sustained,” Judge Brill said. He gave Dudley a look of annoyance.

“No more questions,” Dudley stated and resumed his seat.

~

“Any redirect?” Judge Brill asked Noreen, but she answered no.

“Judging by the testimony we’ve heard over the past two days, I must tell you this is an extremely complex case with many side issues. Therefore, before we proceed with summations, I personally would like to interview Elizabeth Caruthers, since she will be a key factor in my decision.”

Dudley stood. “Your Honor, with all due respect, Elizabeth would find it extremely difficult to make an appearance in court.”

“I understand that,” Judge Brill answered. “So I’ll interview her at the McDermott home. Ten o’clock tomorrow morning. The attorneys can be present, but you will not be allowed to question the witness and there will be no other participants.” The judge turned to his clerk. “Make arrangements for a stenographer.”

Moments later the judge stood, and the clerk announced, “Court is adjourned until ten a.m.”





In Elizabeth’s Words


Dudley arrived first at the McDermott house. By the time Noreen rang the doorbell he’d already downed a cup of coffee and explained why Claire could not sit in on the judge’s interview with Elizabeth. Judge Brill and a young dark-eyed court stenographer arrived minutes before ten, then all four of them—the two lawyers, the judge and the stenographer—disappeared into Elizabeth’s room, closing the door behind them.

Realizing he couldn’t do anything, Charles headed to the office. Claire, however, stationed herself at the kitchen table to catch what was said through a vent she’d left open.

The interview started with Judge Brill thanking Elizabeth for her cooperation and promising to keep the session brief as possible.

“The primary purpose of our being here,” he explained, “is to provide you with an opportunity to explain your side of this case. Respecting the fact that your stamina is rather limited, I will be the only person asking questions. The attorneys are here as observers. If either attorney feels they have a pertinent issue, they have been instructed to direct the question to me and I will decide whether or not to pursue it.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth answered and gave a right-side-of-the-face smile. Wearing gray slacks and a light blue sweater that matched her eyes, she sat atop the bed with her back propped against a pile of pillows.

“Why don’t we start with you telling me a bit about yourself?”

Elizabeth laughed. “I suppose what you see is what you get. You already know that I have three children and a husband who’s fighting to keep them from me. I live here with my mother and father because Jeffrey won’t allow me to come back to our house. Oh, and I also have a tumor in my head that’s squeezing the life out of me.”

“Well, that certainly cuts to the chase of things,” Judge Brill said. “But I’d like to hear a bit more about the children and why you feel it would be beneficial for them to spend time with you.”

“Have you ever lost someone close to you?” Elizabeth asked. “I have. I’ve lost all four grandparents, and I never even knew them. My father’s parents lived in England, and my mother’s parents died in a car crash two months before I was born. So my whole life, I’ve wondered about them. All of my friends had grandparents who loved them, but not me.

“Something like that can make a child feel terribly insignificant. I don’t want my babies to feel that way. I want their little hearts to be filled with the knowledge of how much my parents and I love them. I want them to understand that I didn’t just disappear from their lives, our Lord and Savior called me home.”

Judge Brill leaned closer soaking up every word. “But do you think it’s possible that your children might be too young to understand such a concept?”

“Not if they have a chance to experience it with me, to be part of what’s happening, to see death through my eyes and understand it’s not something fearful. It’s part of God’s plan for our life. Every person who lives is destined to someday die. It would be awful for the children to go through life seeing death as some ugly monster that snatched away their mother without a word of goodbye.”

What started out as trial testimony turned into a conversation—a conversation between two people well acquainted with the most heartbreaking aspects of life. Noreen and Dudley stood silently at the far side of the room. During a few lulls in the conversation the only sound came from the stenographer’s machine.

“Do you have any thoughts on why Jeffrey is fighting so hard to keep the children away from you and your parents?”