by Nerys Leigh
Amy looked down at the table in front of her and tried to shut out the sound of Courtney’s lies. What was the purpose for his coming all the way here? Why couldn’t he have just let her be? It wasn’t like the money she’d taken meant anything to him, he had more than enough to squander for the rest of his life. The train ticket for him to come here alone would have cost double what she’d taken.
Finally, after an entirely fabricated tale of how she’d been seen stealing the money from Courtney’s office, Williamson handed a piece of paper to the judge. “Your Honour, this is a signed statement from another of Mr Courtney’s staff, Mr James Sutton, that he witnessed the theft.”
Amy looked up at that. How did Courtney dare to drag James into this? The man had no hint of morals. Didn’t he fear God at all?
Mr Courtney stood and returned to his seat, casting a smug look in her direction. A desperate desire to claw his eyes out swept over her and she quietly asked God to forgive her and help her to forgive Courtney. Eventually.
“Do you have any more witnesses, Mr Williamson?” Judge Hamilton said.
“Yes, Your Honour. I’d like to call Miss Amy Watts to the stand.”
She looked up in surprise. Could he do that? Would she get to tell her side now?
The judge indicated the chair Courtney had just vacated. “Miss Watts, would you sit here?”
She rose on shaky legs and looked back at Adam. He gave her a smile and she tried to take courage from it, but her heart was pounding as she walked to the seat, said her oath on the Bible, and sat.
Mr Williamson walked up to her. “Miss Watts, I’m going to ask you one question and I remind you before you answer that you are under oath before God.”
Maybe he should have reminded Courtney of that, she thought.
“I understand.”
“Did you take the sum of seventy-five dollars from the office of your employer, Mr Franklin Courtney, without his permission?”
Amy took a deep breath in and out. “Yes.”
Shocked voices rose around the room. Mr Williamson looked taken aback, his eyebrows reaching for his receding hairline. Clearly it wasn’t the answer he had been expecting.
The judge’s gavel banged hard three times on the table. “I will have order in my courtroom.” When the hubbub only receded a little, he barked, “Either shut up or be thrown out!”
The noise died almost as rapidly as it had started.
“Uh... well...” Williamson looked back at Courtney then at Amy. “Well, in that case the prosecution rests.” Raising his shoulders in a slight shrug, he returned to his chair next to Courtney.
“Miss Watts,” the judge said, “would you like to say anything in your defence?”
“Yes, Your Honour.”
He nodded for her to proceed, the moustache bouncing a little as he did so.
Amy looked out at the people in the room, the people she had hoped would become neighbours and friends. By their expressions, most of them had condemned her already. She moved her gaze to Adam and he smiled again. Even under the circumstances, it warmed her.
Help me, Lord Jesus. Give me the words to say.
She looked at the judge. “First of all, James Sutton couldn’t have written that statement. James is a lovely, kind man and a hard worker, but he has a bit of trouble with thinking sometimes and he can’t read or write. He also wasn’t anywhere near when I took the money. He works in the stables. He’s not even allowed in the main house.”
Judge Hamilton looked at Mr Williamson. “Is this true?”
Williamson leaned sideways to whisper to Courtney. Courtney whispered back.
“Yes, Your Honour, it’s true that he didn’t write it himself. However, those are his words, as dictated.”
The judge looked at the paper on which was written James’ alleged statement. “‘I observed Miss Watts move with all stealth into the office and abscond with the money secreted on her person.’ Quite a statement for a feebleminded man, wouldn’t you say? And if Mr Sutton can’t write, this is not, in fact, a signed witness statement. Is that correct?”
Williamson and Courtney exchanged whispers again. Amy wasn’t surprised Courtney would make such an error. She doubted he’d even met James, much less spoken to him. It made her angry that he would use the lovely, innocent man to further his lies, assuming he would go along with anything he was told if it came to it. James was the sweetest person she’d ever met and would be utterly distressed if he found out. She hoped he never did.
“The statement is paraphrased, Your Honour,” Williamson said. “And it would appear that no, it is not his actual signature on the document.”
“Then unless it was your intention to mislead me you should have said that in the first place,” Judge Hamilton said, his stupendous moustache and eyebrows joining together in a deep frown. “This may not be the sophisticated, enlightened city of New York, but we try to dispense justice just the same.”
A momentary look of panic crossed Mr Williamson’s face, as if he was a child who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Yes, Your Honour. I mean no, Your Honour; it wasn’t my intention to mislead you. At all.”
The judge returned his attention to Amy. “You may continue, Miss Watts.”
She swallowed and surreptitiously wiped her palms on her skirt as all the moisture seemed to leave her mouth and migrate to her hands. The last thing she’d ever wanted to do was tell anyone about what had happened to her. Even telling Adam had been difficult and she trusted him more than anyone in the world. Now she was faced with the whole town knowing her shame. But she was left with no other options. The truth was the only weapon she had on her side.
“I started work for Mr and Mrs Courtney when I was fourteen, straight out of the orphanage...”
She tried to keep her focus on Judge Hamilton as she spoke, specifically on the moustache as it had become a bizarrely comforting presence, but she couldn’t help darting glances towards Adam for support. And as she spoke about her experiences, and especially what had happened when she confronted Mr Courtney in his office, she noticed people starting to cast disapproving looks at her former employer. When she related how he’d attempted to bribe her into going to his bed and then tried to force her when she refused, a murmur of anger rippled through the room.
Finally reaching the end of her sorry tale with her arrest and imprisonment, Amy lapsed into silence, staring at her hands in her lap and feeling as if she’d been drawn through a mangle. If there’d been any thought that telling her story would give her a sense of release, it no longer remained. All she felt was drained.
“Thank you, Miss Watts,” Judge Hamilton’s moustache-filtered voice broke into her thoughts. “Do you have anything else to say or any witnesses you would like to call?”
“No, Your Honour.”
“Very well, you may return to your seat. I will retire to deliberate...”
“Pardon me, but may I say something?”
Amy looked up in surprise at the woman’s voice coming from the back of the room. It couldn’t possibly be her, could it?
A woman in her mid-forties rose to her feet from a seat by the door and walked towards the front of the room. Her light brown hair was gathered into an elaborate style on the back of her head and she wore a dark blue travel dress with acres of fabric, most of it behind her.
Mr Courtney’s jaw dropped. “Millicent?”
“Forgive me, Your Honour, but I would like to testify.”
Judge Hamilton raised his eyebrows. “And you are...?”
“Mrs Millicent Courtney, Your Honour. Wife of Franklin Courtney.”
Courtney and Williamson were whispering frantically to each other.
“Were you witness to Miss Watts taking the money in question?” the judge said.
“No, Your Honour, I wasn’t home at the time, but I believe I can clarify the circumstances.”
He shrugged. “Well, if no one has any objections...”
“We object, Your Honour,” Willi
amson said, leaping to his feet.
Amy had no idea what was going on. Why would Courtney object to his wife testifying? Surely she was there to back him up.
“On what grounds, Mr Williamson?” Judge Hamilton said.
Williamson’s strained smile made him look like he’d just sat on a pin. “Mrs Courtney stated she wasn’t there when the crime occurred. What can she possibly have to add?”
“Oh, shut up, Williamson,” Mrs Courtney said. “As usual, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Courtney’s lawyer looked like he didn’t know whether to be angry or apologetic. “Madam...”
“I’m going to allow her to testify,” the judge said. “A young woman’s freedom is at stake; I want as much information as I can get before I take it from her. Miss Watts, you may return to your seat.”
Amy walked back to her table. Adam shrugged and shook his head. George’s gaze was fixed on Mrs Courtney.
She took the oath and sat, crossing her ankles and folding her gloved hands in her lap. “Your Honour, if you attended law school in New York, perhaps you know my father, Judge Leonard Ravensworth?”
The moustache tilted up at the corners. “Sadly I never had the pleasure of meeting Judge Ravensworth, but his reputation and integrity are legendary. How is he?”
“Retired now, but as robust and active as ever.”
“That’s good to hear. I’ve always regarded him as a credit to the judiciary. It’s an honour to meet you, Mrs Courtney.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Judge Hamilton.”
At the sound of a loud huff, Amy looked over at Courtney. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was glaring.
“Please, Mrs Courtney,” Judge Hamilton said, “in your own time.”
“First of all I’d like to apologise for my appearance. I arrived on the train not half an hour ago and I haven’t had time to go to my room to freshen up. I’m a mess.”
“If that’s her in a mess,” Amy heard George mutter, “what’s she look like gussied up?”
“I can confirm that when we brought Amy from the orphanage, she was indeed promised that her wages would be set aside and given to her when she reached the age of twenty-one. It was the same for other girls we employed from the orphanage. I have been spending a lot of time away from home and I had assumed that this was being done in my absence. I now see that I should have been paying closer attention to affairs my husband said he was overseeing.”
Mr Williamson stood abruptly. “Your Honour, may I once again point out that this has no relevance to...”
“Sit down, Mr Williamson,” Judge Hamilton snapped.
“Yes, Your Honour.” Courtney’s lawyer sank back into his chair and was immediately accosted by Courtney whispering angrily into his ear.
“Please, Mrs Courtney,” the judge said, “continue.”
“As I said, I was not at home when the incident with the money occurred so I cannot comment on that. However...” She sighed and looked at Mr Courtney. “I can say that I am not terribly surprised to hear about my husband’s behaviour towards Miss Watts.”
A shocked murmur rippled around the crowd.
“It causes me no little shame to admit this, but my husband’s philandering is not unknown to me. He frequents drinking establishments and houses of ill repute with no regard for propriety.”
“I saw him go into the saloon!” someone shouted from the back of the room.
“Me too!”
“Quiet, please,” the judge said as more people spoke up.
“I didn’t think he would ever go so far as to try to force himself on someone,” Mrs Courtney continued, “but I have no reason to doubt Miss Watts’ veracity that he did.” When she moved her eyes to look at Amy, Amy was surprised to see them shimmering with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
Amy drew in a shuddering breath and nodded, feeling a sudden affinity for the woman. It seemed she wasn’t Courtney’s only victim.
“Thank you, Mrs Courtney, for your testimony,” Judge Hamilton said. “You may return to your seat.”
There was half a minute of silence as Mrs Courtney returned to the back of the room and Judge Hamilton looked through his papers.
Finally he looked up and said, “I’m going to take a little time to deliberate my verdict. The trial will resume in one hour.”
With that he stood and left through the door by which he’d entered, his clerk on his heels. A few seconds later Courtney and Williamson rushed past Amy towards the exit, angry glares and a few choice words from members of the crowd following them. At least some had believed Amy’s testimony.
She looked around. What was she supposed to do now?
Marshal Cade ambled up to her. “Well, Miss Watts, Mr Emerson, it’s coming up on lunchtime. How about we get ourselves a bite in the restaurant here?”
Amy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You’re supposed to make sure I don’t try to run away, aren’t you?”
“And I was trying to be subtle,” he said, smiling. “Look on the bright side, because it’s work related I will be paying for the food from the marshal’s office funds.”
Adam stood and offered Amy his arm. “Would you care to join me in a meal courtesy of local law enforcement?” He looked at the marshal. “You are paying for me too, right?”
Marshal Cade grinned. “Why not? George, you want to come along?”
“Hmm?” George was scanning the crowd.
“I think she left already, George,” Adam said.
He looked back at them. “Um, what? Who?”
Adam was obviously fighting a smile. “Mrs Courtney, she left already.”
“She, um, I wasn’t...”
“Come on, George,” Amy said, reaching out to him with the arm not entwined with Adam’s. “She’ll be back for the verdict. Come and eat with me. It might be the last chance I get.”
She’d meant it as a joke, but the sad look he gave her set off an ache in her chest.
“Don’t say that, girl. No decent judge would send you to jail.”
As she slipped her arm into his and the four of them headed for the hotel restaurant, she hoped George was right. And that Judge Hamilton was as decent as he seemed.
Chapter 29
Amy, Adam, George and Marshal Cade returned to the ballroom/makeshift courtroom fifty-five minutes later.
Mr Courtney and Mr Williamson were already at their table. Courtney kept darting nervous glances at the people behind him as if he expected them to leap up and lynch him at any moment. The tide of opinion had undoubtedly turned against him. At least there was that.
Five minutes later Judge Hamilton walked in, the clerk with him as usual. Amy’s heartbeat quickened. Was this it? Would this be her last few minutes of freedom before she was sent to jail for who knew how long?
“Please stand, Miss Watts,” Judge Hamilton said from his seat at the long table.
Amy pushed her chair back and stood on weak legs, clasping her hands in front of her to hide the tremble. She looked back at Adam and he smiled, but it failed to reach his eyes. Even though she knew it was selfish of her under the circumstances, she couldn’t help but wish she’d married him when she had the chance. Of all the mistakes she’d made in her life, that was the one she regretted the most.
“Miss Amy Watts,” Judge Hamilton said, “I have spent much time deliberating my course of action in this case. The treatment you received while in the employ of Mr Courtney was undoubtedly appalling and something no person, man or woman, should have to endure. However, whether or not you were owed the money the fact remains that you did take the sum of seventy-five dollars without permission. I therefore have no choice but to find you guilty of theft.”
Amy stopped breathing. She grasped the table in front of her as she swayed.
“Justice!” Courtney exclaimed, his face splitting into a wide smile. He grasped his lawyer’s hand and shook it.
Around the room, voices rose in protest, George and Adam’s among them.
“I’m willing to drop the complaint and spare her jail if she returns to my employ,” Courtney said magnanimously, with a leering smile he probably thought looked charming.
“Over your dead body,” George growled.
“Mr Courtney,” Judge Hamilton said, “this is my court and I will do the sentencing.”
“Sorry, Your Honour,” Courtney said, looking not at all sorry. “Please, carry on.”
The moustache glowered at him for a moment before the judge returned his attention to Amy. “Miss Watts, for the crime of theft I hereby sentence you to two days incarceration, to include time already served. As you’ve already been in jail for more than two days, you are free to go. And I trust you will lead an upright and lawful life from this point on.” One side of the moustache hitched up a little.
Amy’s eyes widened. Had she heard correctly? She looked back at Adam and George and the grins on their faces told her she had. She closed her eyes and breathed out. Thank You, Lord. Thank You.
“What? No!” Courtney was staring at the judge in disbelief, his jaw hanging open. “You can’t do that!”
“I can and I just have,” Judge Hamilton said. “In addition, I have to ask you, Miss Watts, if you wish to bring charges against Mr Courtney. If you do, I’m quite happy to have him arrested and returned to New York to stand trial.” He fixed Courtney with a withering stare. “You’re not the only one with friends in the judiciary system on the east coast, Courtney. I don’t take kindly to those who think they can use the justice system for their own ends.”
