The Reform Artists: A Legal Suspense, Spy Thriller (The Reform Artists Series Book 1)

by Jon Reisfeld

  “For that reason, Mr. Silkwood, I am awarding you all court costs in this case. That means your wife will be responsible for paying all of Mr. Swindell’s legal fees and expenses. Chester, please prepare a statement for my review at your earliest convenience.”

  “Yes, Your Honor,” Swindell said.

  “As for the petitioner and her counsel,” Judge Farnsworth continued. “Neither one of you has heard the last of this matter. Court adjourned.”

  Chapter 36

  After the hearing, Beverly West quickly and silently packed her briefcase as a stunned Katie Silkwood stood nearby, sobbing softly. The two women then repaired to a corner of the courtroom, where they spoke privately, and intently, for several minutes.

  Martin met Swindell out in the hallway. Swindell was all smiles. He grabbed Martin’s arm above the elbow with his left hand and gave him a firm handshake with his right. “Congratulations, Mahr-tin!” he said. “I don’t think we could have hoped for a better outcome than that!”

  Martin nodded. “I agree, Mr. Swindell. You did a hell of a job. Thanks so much! I’m truly grateful.”

  “My pleasure,” Swindell said. “And please, call me Chester.”

  “OK.”

  For a moment, Swindell appeared to be looking off in the distance. Then, he sighed and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got to tell you, Mahr-tin, somethin’ definitely felt different in there today.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” he said, shaking his head, “it was like the ground had shifted or somethin’. I mean, Judge Farnsworth is a fair man; don’t get me wrong. But I’ve never seen him quite so willin’ to consider the respondent’s point of view—or quite so determined to make the petitioner substantiate her claims. I hope it lasts!

  “Considerin’ all that, it turns out you were right to refuse their settlement offer.”

  “Where do we go from here?” Martin asked.

  “Well, I suggest we file for divorce immediately—while you’ve still got the momentum in the case. I’d push for full custody, with liberal visitation for your wife. You just might get it. I’m guessin’ some of the fight has gone out of her, and she’ll be even more compliant, and gun shy, after the judge gets through with her.”

  “What do you think he’ll do?”

  Swindell raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head, contemplating the possibilities. “Well, your wife really pulled a fast one on the court, creatin’ those police incidents out of nothin’ – and, I suspect, West may have had a hand in that, too. That’s perjury, a criminal offense with a maximum penalty of two years in jail. It’s the only punishment a petitioner can face in these ex-parte matters.

  “Do you really think he’d send her to jail?” Martin asked. He suddenly felt genuine concern for Katie. On the one hand, he wanted her to suffer for what she had done but not with jail time. That was too extreme. And he didn’t want his kids saddled with that kind of shame, either.

  Swindell saw the anxious look on Martin’s face. He shook his head. “Not likely. But he’s definitely not goin’ to let her get away Scott-free, either. My guess: She’s lookin’ at some serious ‘community service’ time.

  “What about her attorney?”

  “West?” Swindell asked, a subtle smile starting to play on his lips. “I’m sure she’s got a substantial fine and some additional form of penance to pay, in her immediate future.

  He patted Martin on the shoulder. “Well, Mahr-tin,” he said. “You’ve got a busy few days ahead of you. Best get started. Then, why don’t you come to my office next Monday mornin’, and we can start formulatin’ a plan.”

  “Sounds good to me, Chester,” Martin said. Then, the two men shook hands and went their separate ways.

  Martin’s next stop was his office. He arrived in the early afternoon, and when he stepped off the elevator, Monique smiled and flagged him down.

  “Mr. Silkwood!” she said.

  He turned and approached her, “Yes?”

  “Mr. Santori and Mr. Feldman want to see you, in Mr. Santori’s office.”

  “Now?” he asked.

  She nodded eagerly.

  Moments later, he rapped on Santori’s door and poked his head inside. “You wanted to see me, Joe?”

  He found Santori, Feldman and Rick Wainwright huddled together in the middle of the room, smiling.

  Santori stepped forward, his arms spread wide. “Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour! Congratulations, Marty!” Santori gave him a big bear hug.

  When Santori finally let him loose, Martin stepped back and squinted at his associate. “What’s going on? This isn’t yet another ambush, is it? Are you going to hand me my hat?”

  Santori looked crestfallen and put his hand to his chest. “Boy, that smarts. Is that really what you think of me?”

  Martin raised an eyebrow. “It’s been the selection de jour around here lately, hasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Santori shrugged. “But that’s all in the past! Rick just told us about your stunning victory in court today, and we called you down here to celebrate!”

  As if on cue, Wainwright produced a chilled bottle of Pol Roger champagne from his briefcase and quickly popped the cork. White foam overflowed the bottle and ran down its neck as Wainwright rapidly filled four flutes to the brim. Feldman then passed the tray around until everyone had a glass.

  Feldman nodded his head at Martin and lifted his glass high. “To Marty Silkwood,” he said, “a man with bocce-sized balls of steel. Here’s to your complete, precedent-setting victory today, in Maryland District Court!”

  Everyone clinked glasses, smiled and drank to the toast.

  “How did you find out?” Martin asked Wainwright.

  “I placed a call to the Clerk of Court’s office. Your hearing is all they’re talking about up there, today. It seems Judge Farnsworth gave your wife’s attorney a sizable piece of his mind—and, we understand, there’s more to come!”

  “That sounds about right. Swindell told me she will probably get slapped with a substantial fine...and that’s just the beginning.”

  “Yeah,” Wainwright said, nodding and smiling. “Farnsworth is on the war path now. The rumor mill says he’s going to make some big changes in the way these ex-parte domestic violence cases get handled.”

  “That’s all well and good,” Santori said, putting his arm around Martin’s shoulder. “But the important thing is that our boy is back! You’ve been completely exonerated, Marty. No damning paper trail will ever link you to these charges, because the case ended, officially, in dismissal!”

  “Here, here!” Feldman added, refilling everyone’s glasses.

  “So, what’s my status vis a vis our audit program?” Martin asked.

  “You’re back in the saddle, cowboy,” Santori said. “You can take the lead again in the Great Plains audit, if you want, and you can roll out the training program on the scale and schedule of your choosing.”

  “What’s the matter?” Martin asked. “Is your nephew having difficulties?”

  Santori blushed crimson. “Yeah! He’s turning out to be a bit of an embarrassment.”

  “Well, I’m going to force him to see it through,” Martin said, “—with help and encouragement from me, of course.”

  The other men looked surprised. “Oh, maybe you didn’t hear this part,” Martin said. “I’m back in the house now, with the kids, and I don’t know what Katie’s plans are. That means, I’m going to need ample backup for our out-of-town audits. The trainee program is looking like a godsend, for me. But more importantly, it could allow us to dramatically expand our audit work...and our profits.”

  “Woohoo!” Feldman cheered in delight.

  Santori began fumbling through his suit’s vest pocket. “Uh, Marty,” he said, withdrawing and holding up a white, # 10 envelope. “Here’s a little something to help you with the divorce expenses, and there’s more to come.”

  Martin took the envelope. “Thanks,” he said. Later, back in his offi
ce, he opened it and found a bonus check made out to him for $20,000.

  That evening, Martin returned to his home and to his children, while his wife packed her bags and prepared to move, at least temporarily, to her mother’s house. He could barely believe his good fortune at having regained so much of his former life, so quickly.

  When he first arrived, he found Esther Finch standing in the foyer, waiting for Katie. She gave Martin a hug and a kiss. “I’m so glad that you’re reunited with the kids,” she whispered. “I hope Katie will regain her senses and return too, if you’ll still have her.

  “Meanwhile,” she added, “should you ever need any help babysitting, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

  Martin was touched. “Thanks, Es. You’ll always be at the top of my list!”

  “Thanks, honey! I’m going to wait in the living room, so you two can speak in private.”

  Martin heard footfalls on the stairs and turned around just in time to see his two distraught children coming in his direction. Justin bounded down in a near panic, well ahead of Monica, who had to take the steps far more slowly.

  “Daddy!” Justin shouted, out of breath “Mommy’s packing her clothes! She says she’s going to stay at Grandma’s for a few days. Make her stay! We want to be a family again!”

  “Yeah, Daddy,” Monica added, tears welling in her eyes. “Mommy’s crying! And that makes me sad! Can’t you do something?”

  Martin sat on the bottom stair and collected his kids as they arrived and held them both close. “I’m sorry, guys! It is sad. It makes me feel sad, too. I wish it could be different.”

  Monica was suddenly a torrent of tears. “Why can’t it be, Daddy? Why can’t we all be together?”

  Justin was crying now, and soon Martin joined them, as he rocked his kids in his arms.

  “It’s hard to explain guys, but this is a grown-up thing, and it can get complicated.

  “What I can promise you,” he added, “is that Mommy always will be an important part of your lives. You’ll be able to see her whenever you want. She may be moving out, for now, but she still loves you very much, just like I do. So, please don’t worry. Mommy and Daddy will work it out.”

  “I still wish we could all be together, like it was before,” Justin said.

  “I know you do.” Martin rubbed Justin’s mop of blond hair.

  “Let’s give Mommy a little time to get settled at Grandma’s, and then, we’ll make plans for you to see her, OK? And no matter what happens, I promise you we’ll always be a family, even if we all don’t live together anymore.”

  “Really, Daddy?” Monica asked excitedly, as she pulled away, wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled hopefully.

  “Your daddy and I promise,” Katie Silkwood said. She was standing at the top of the stairs with a suitcase in one hand and a smaller carrying case in the other. She put the smaller bag down momentarily, wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and started down the steps.

  “OK, guys,” Martin said, standing up. He took both kids by the hand and cleared the stairs for Katie. When she reached the bottom, she put her bags down and opened her arms. Justin and Monica ran to her and she hugged them tight.

  “Please don’t go, Mommy!” they both said.

  “It’s going to be OK, you two. I promise,” she said, showering them both with kisses. “I love you so much! Once grandma and I get to her house tonight, I promise, I’ll call you on the phone. OK?”

  She released them and Monica and Justin looked at her nodding their heads slowly and wiping away their tears.

  Katie smiled. “Now, would you two go get grandma? I need to talk with Daddy for a minute, OK?”

  “All right,” they said. They went into the living room and ran to their grandmother, who was seated on the couch. She scooped them both up, hugged them and they said their good-byes for the night.

  In the foyer, Katie Silkwood looked up at her husband. “I heard everything you said to them. Thank you. It was very generous of you.”

  Martin shrugged. “Don’t mention it. I meant every word. The kids are the real victims in all of this, and I think we should do what we can to minimize the damage.”

  Katie’s eyes began to well up with tears again. “Marty,” she said, looking away, and sniffling, “why don’t you bring them by mom’s first thing in the morning on your way to work. I’ll fix them breakfast, make sure they’ve finished their homework and take them to school. That is,” she added, looking back up at him, and smiling faintly, “if that would be OK with you?

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Martin said.

  “Fine. Thank you.” Katie sniffled again, stood up straight and forced a smile. “Well, I guess we should be going.” She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek. Then, she turned toward the living room.

  “Mom,” she shouted. “Are you ready to go?”

  Just then, Esther and the children turned the corner from the living room. “Yes, Katie,” she said. “I’m ready.”

  The children ran to their mother again and Katie bent down and hugged and kissed them once more. Then she stood up and collected her bags.

  “OK, guys. I’ll see you again real soon. And I’ll call you later tonight!

  Martin got the door and Katie and Esther started out. When she was halfway through, Katie turned around smiled at Justin and Monica and blew them both a kiss. Then, they were gone.

  At about 9:45 p.m., the phone rang. It was Robert Brooks. “Hi, Martin. Just checking in to see how your tour went.”

  “Great,” Martin said. “My attorney can’t stop talking about it. Thinks he’s the next best thing since sliced bread. I’m sure he’s already thinking about raising his fees, too, of course!”

  “Glad it went so well,” Brooks said. “Will you be traveling with us again, soon?”

  “God, I hope not!” Martin laughed, “Although I’m beginning to realize just how helpful your tour services can be. I was probably headed ‘down the river’ without your expert guidance and support.”

  “Our pleasure,” Brooks said, “The saddest part is that you needed our help in the first place! The system still has a long way to go, Marty. Well, good night.”

  “Good night—and thanks!” Martin said.

  Martin looked at his right arm, just below the elbow, where Brooks had injected the tracking device several days earlier. He could no longer see any traces of it. Then, he watched his children playing together in front of the television set, while the dog tried to get in on the action.

  “Someday, Brooks,” he said softly to himself, “I expect to hear that phone ring again. And when it does, I want you to give me the chance to make this kind of difference in someone else’s life.”

  Epilogue

  Montgomery County, MD, District Courthouse, 8:35 a.m., three months later.

  A line of television station vans with their satellite dishes fully deployed, hugged the curb alongside the district courthouse, on East Jefferson Street, in downtown Rockville.

  Jennifer Vale, cub TV reporter for WWMD, Channel 9 News, tucked her blonde, streaked, cheerleader bangs behind her left ear, turned to face the street and smiled into the camera. Behind her, a placard-wielding crowd of women began chanting, as if on cue, “Protect defenseless women! Protect defenseless women! Protect defenseless women! …” Their red and blue signs, many of which sported the National Organization for Women (NOW) official logo, declared, “Stop this CRAP!”, “Farnsworth’s Folly!” and “TROs Save Lives!”

  Jennifer raised the microphone to her lips. “Enraged women, including local attorneys and many former victims of domestic violence, have descended upon the Montgomery County District Courthouse today, to oppose Judge Michael Farnsworth’s anticipated announcement of a new program designed to protect the rights of men accused, in civil cases, of spousal abuse and domestic violence.

  “The judge’s program, which he will formally unveil at a nine o’clock press conference here, twenty-five minutes from now, is nicknamed �
�RAP’, which stands for ‘Respondent Advocate Program.’ It guarantees that a court-appointed lawyer will represent the interests of the accused during secret, ex-parte or ‘one-sided’ hearings, where women can currently seek the court’s protection against their allegedly abusive husbands.

  “As you can see from their signs,” she said, as the camera zoomed in on one of the placards that read, ‘Stop this CRAP!’ protesters have renamed the judge’s initiative by adding the word ‘Court’s” in front of it.

  “I am joined by Ms. Gloria Cheswick, local attorney and president of NOW’s Montgomery County chapter. Gloria, what’s the big deal? Why shouldn’t men be represented at these hearings, where they formerly had no one looking out for their interests?”

  Gloria Cheswick’s shoulder-length, kinky jet-black hair framed her slightly elongated, pale face and oval, tortoise-shell glasses. She was dressed in a dark-blue pinstriped dress suit—her typical courtroom attire—and appeared ready for battle. She frowned and shook her head as a look of disgust flashed across her face. “It’s all so wrong, Jennifer! These are emergency, civil proceedings designed to give vulnerable women much-needed protection. The judge’s program, as I understand it, will assign the equivalent of ‘public defenders’ to stand in for the accused men and to cross-examine these battered women, who are courageously seeking a way to protect themselves, and their children, from violent spouses. Where’s the money going to come from to pay for all of this?

  “And it’s so unnecessary, too,” she added, “because the accused men are guaranteed a full hearing in court, within seven days, if the court issues a temporary protective order against them.”

  Jennifer momentarily knitted her brow in thought. “Well,” she said, smiling once more, as the camera moved in for a close up, “this is obviously a complex and emotionally-charged issue that is creating a storm of controversy. We’ll be covering the judge’s press conference at nine and will have more on the program’s pros and cons afterward.

  “For now, this is Jennifer Vale, reporting for Channel 9 News, on the scene at the district courthouse, in Rockville.”