Chapter 19

Monday morning started the week with a bang. She'd been at work for two hours when her intercom rang. When she answered it, Marcie said, "There's a woman on the phone for you. She said her name is Cuddles. You want me to take a message?"

"No, I'll talk to her," said Claire.

"Do you own a conservative suit dress?" Angela opened.

"No. Not yet. Why?"

"Well get one, because I got us an expedited hearing with the judge tomorrow at ten o'clock."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. You need to look pretty, but businesslike. No cleavage and no tall heels. Hair up would probably be best."

"Where?" asked Claire.

Angela gave her the address and courtroom number.

"Try to get there fifteen minutes early," said Angela. "Whatever you do, don't be late."

"Got it. Do I need to bring anything?"

"No. I'll have everything we need for this hearing."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Don't be late," said Angela again. Then she was gone.

The first person she thought of calling was Chad, but he was probably teaching a class. Instead, she called Cindy and said they needed to have lunch together.

"It's about time," said Cindy as they took bites of salad. "Does this mean a decision will be made?"

"I don't know," said Claire.

"You want me to see if Mr. Zimmerman will let me go with you?"

"No," said Claire. "That's nice of you, but it's not necessary."

"I wonder if John will be there," said Cindy.

"You think they'd let him out of jail for that?"

"I wouldn't, but who knows what the bureaucracy will do. They'll probably say he has rights."

"Well, I'm sure he does," said Claire.

"Not as far as I'm concerned," said Cindy, firmly.

Cindy invited Claire to come over for dinner that night. Since she was on pins and needles, she accepted. It would be better than sitting a home alone. Even the prospect of running didn't seem like it would deal with her nerves.

It was during supper that Danny brought up the subject neither Cindy nor Claire had thought of.

"Are you going to show the judge the dildo he cut up?" asked Danny.

"No!" said Claire. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it shows how vindictive the son of a bitch is," said Danny.

"Don't you think the fact he put out a murder contract on me does that?" asked Claire.

"Can't have too much evidence," said Danny.

It was for that reason that, the next morning, when Claire arrived at the courthouse and found Angela sitting placidly on a bench in the hallway outside the courtroom, she had a plastic bag in her purse containing the four pieces of the dildo John had destroyed.

"Good, you're here," said Angela. "I want to run over a few things before we go in."

"Okay," said Claire.

"If we're lucky you won't have to do much talking. I'll present the grounds and the evidence to support them. We'll present our initial request for settlement. It would be nice if he made a decision today, but in my experience this judge likes to be thorough and take his time."

"Great," sighed Claire. "I was hoping this might be over today."

"We might get lucky. I doubt the judge has ever been presented with evidence that a husband tried to have the wife murdered. Maybe that will seal the deal."

Claire thought of the dildo.

"I brought something with me," she said. She felt a little uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Some evidence that shows how vindictive John was when he was served the divorce papers."

"I thought you gave me everything you had," said Angela.

"This was kind of ... personal. I was embarrassed about it. But my friend said I should bring it."

"What is it?"

Claire opened her purse and pulled out the plastic bag.

"Mother of God," said Angela. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It used to be. He cut it up and left it on the bed."

"We can't show that to the judge," said Angela, looking horrified. "Put it away!"

"That's why I didn't tell you about it," said Claire, stuffing the bag back in her purse. "I was afraid you'd have that reaction."

"You misunderstand," said Angela. "I'm not shocked that you have that. Well, I'm a little shocked that it's in that condition, but not that you had it. I own several of those myself. And if this was a female judge, I might enter it into evidence. But this is Judge Newman, and to him, this would probably make you some kind of sex fiend. He's a straight arrow, a pillar of the community. Which brings us to a point I have to ask you about. What are the chances your husband's lawyer is going to present evidence that you cheated on John?"

"If he does, it will be lies," said Claire, firmly.

"I had to ask."

"I haven't had sex with any man other than John. At least not that I know of. I can't remember what happened before the accident. There is a man I run with pretty much habitually. You know about him. He was with me when those men tried to kill me. There are some people who might even call him my boyfriend, but that only developed after I filed for divorce, and we haven't had sex."

"So there won't be any embarrassing photographs bandied about the courtroom?"

"Definitely not," said Claire, stiffly. "Not of me!"

"Good. I want ours to be the only ones," said Angela, smugly.

"All rise," called out the bailiff. "All present draw near and give their attention, The Honorable Henry Newman is now sitting." He hesitated until the man in black robes did, in fact, sit down, and then added, "Be seated."

Claire thought it was a bit pompous, since the only people in the room other than the court personnel were herself, Angela, and a man she presumed was John's attorney. She was relieved to see John wasn't there himself.

"What's this all about?" asked Judge Newman, peevishly, looking around. "Where is everybody?" The judge was a portly man, short and wide, with a fringe of hair around a bald pate. He wore glasses that he kept putting on and taking off as the proceedings progressed.

"This is the first case today," said the bailiff. "Expedited hearing."

"Oh," said Judge Newman. "Well, then carry on. Counselor?" He looked at Angela, who stood.

"Your honor, in the case of Bonneville versus Bonneville, Claire E. Bonneville seeks the dissolution of her marriage to John V. Bonneville, by virtue of his attempt to have her murdered." She sat down and waited.

Judge Newman stared at her, and then at the man at the other table.

"And where is your client?" he asked. The man stood.

"Your honor, he is unable to be here at this time due to extenuating circumstances."

"Which are?"

"He's in jail, Your Honor. He is unable to make bail."

"May I presume that his incarceration has something to do with the grounds for this divorce?"

"Yes, Your Honor," said the man, uncomfortably.

The judge looked back at Angela.

"All right. Let's see what you have."

Angela took him a sheaf of papers comprised of the police report, including Claire's and Chad's statements, and the arrest record of the three assailants. The photographs of Claire's bedroom were also there, as was an affidavit from the doctor who had treated Claire's injuries and diagnosed her retrograde amnesia. A synopsis of Claire's testimony about the condition of the marriage was there as well. The judge spent fully ten minutes reading through the papers. He set the photographs to one side. Finally, he looked up at Claire.

"Mrs. Bonneville?"

She nodded. Angela elbowed her. "Yes, Your Honor," she said, belatedly.

"Tell me about this accident you had, and how it affected the marriage."

John's lawyer stood. "She needs to be sworn, Your Honor."

The judge shot him a venomous look, but then waved at the Bailiff, who instructed Claire to swear she would tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She did so and then stood, uncertainly. There was a witness box beside the judge's bench, but nobody had told her to go there, so she didn't.

"Go ahead," said the judge.

"I got hit by a car," she said. "I had to go to the hospital. They treated me and let me go home, but I lost a lot of my memories."

"Did you remember your husband?"

"No, Sir. I didn't recognize him at all."

"How did he react to this?"

Claire looked at Angela, who mouthed, "Tell him!"

"He came to the hospital, but when I didn't know who he was he said he had to go back to work. I found out later he hired a prostitute that evening."

"Objection, Your Honor, that's hearsay," said John's lawyer. Angela stood.

"Your Honor, you have a police report from that date in which Mr. Bonneville was identified as having assaulted a prostitute in a room at the Worthington Hotel. She refused to press charges against him, but witnesses confirmed he was there."

"Did the police inform you of his activities?" asked the judge.

"No, Sir, he did, later that night, after he got home. Actually, it was the next morning that he admitted he'd been with a prostitute the night before."

Angela leaned toward her and whispered, "Address him as Your Honor."

"Your Honor," said Claire, feeling foolish.

"If your husband was engaged in some kind of business at the Worthington Hotel, how did you get home?" asked Judge Newman.

"My friend gave me a ride," said Claire. "Your Honor," she added.

"Let's dispense with the formalities, or this is going to take all day," said the judge. "Just answer my questions, all right?"

"Yes, Sir," said Claire.

"Now, you say your friend brought you home. When was that?"

"I think it was around ten in the evening," said Claire.

"And when did your husband get home?"

"I'm not sure. I was asleep when he got there. He woke me up when he came into the bedroom. He was drunk."

"Objection!" said John's lawyer. "Hearsay."

"Why do you think he was drunk?" asked the Judge.