Chapter 9

The following 10 days were relatively uneventful. Thursday morning, we were all up early to get ready for court. Everyone was to be there. The school had already been notified about the absence by Ralph the day before. Because it was only a 45 minute drive, even in traffic, we left just before 0900 hrs. It was best to be early. We met Charlie and Karen Miller at the Court House.

Just before 1000 hrs, the Court Clerk came out and asked if Thompson-Adams had all of our people here. Karen assured him that we did. He ushered us in, and we took seats. Shortly the Judge appeared at the side door.

"All rise," the Clerk called, "Court is now in session. The Honorable Wilbert Simmons presiding," and "Take your seats," after the Judge had seated himself.

"What have we this morning, Bailiff?" the Judge asked.

"Case 19760710, Thompson-Adams, your Honor," he said, and handed the judge a stack of papers.

"Which of you is Mr. Jim Thompson?" the Judge asked, looking at the papers.

"I am, your Honor," I answered as I stood.

"Mr. Thompson, will you explain to the court, why you are seeking to be appointed the guardian of a minor female, not related to you by blood or marriage."

"Your Honor, I took Miss Adams, Julie, in after her mother had thrown her out of her house. It was approximately 3 weeks ago. The next morning, I went to the mother's house to try to reconcile them, and retrieve some of Miss Adams personal things. The mother was less than charming when I arrived, and became more intransigent the longer I was there. She said I could have anything from Julie's room that I wanted. When I went up to the room, I found everything broken or destroyed: personal effects, clothes, everything but the furniture. There was nothing worth taking. As I was leaving, her mother told me, 'That's all she'll ever get from me'. I've been caring for Julie ever since."

"I see," said the Judge, "and who are these other people with you?"

"The three gentlemen on the left are my security people. The older lady is my cook and the two people on the right are my attorneys, your Honor."

"Yes, I recognize Mr. Westford and Miss Miller. But tell me why you have a three man security force, and do they reside with you?"

"Your Honor, I have a security force because I won the big Lottery a couple of weeks ago, and from stories that I had heard, considered them necessary. Yes, they do live with us."

"Ah, you're that Jim Thompson," the Judge said in recognition."I was wondering what a retired military man could or would need a security force for."

"Miss Julie Adams," the Judge asked next.

"Yes, your Honor," Julie answered as she stood.

"I see that you're pregnant young lady. You may sit back down while you answer my questions."

"Thank you, your Honor."

"Will you tell the court, Miss Adams, why you chose Mr. Thompson's house to go to when you were thrown out by your mother."

"When my mother threw me out of the house, I only had on a nightie, your Honor. It was late at night, and raining, and cold. Ji ... Mr. Thompson's house is the closest one to my mothers house. It's about a half mile away. I barely made it there. The other houses are further away and in a gated community. I was soo cold, your Honor, and I was worried," here she started to choke up and cry, "I was worried about my baby!"Julie wailed as she totally broke down crying.

"Please, Miss Adams, I didn't mean to upset you. Are you able to continue at this time, or should I call a recess," asked the Judge.

"Please, your Honor, I'm sorry but I just... ?" Julie started but couldn't finish.

"Yes, I understand. Please tell the court more about your stay with Mr Thompson," the Judge requested.

"Ji ... Mr. Thompson. Please, your Honor, may I call him Jim? Every one calls him Jim or Top?" Julie asked.

"You may call him Jim if you wish, as you seem inclined to do that anyway," the Judge told her.

"Jim has been so kind and generous to me. Even before he won the lottery, he bought me clothes and took me to the OB/GYN. Oh, and he bought me a breast pump — a really nice electric one!"

"I assume you required the 'ah' ... breast pump?" the Judge asked, slightly embarrassed, but it was obvious that he had noticed the size of her breasts.

"Yes, your Honor. I was leaking badly, and really needed it. After he won the lottery, he got me out of the school I was in, where I wasn't very happy, and put me in a really nice school where I've made a lot of friends in only a short time."

"Very good, Miss Adams. Just one or two more questions. Is Mr Thompson the father of your baby?" the Judge asked her.

"Nooo," Julie moaned, "please, he has been so nice to me. My brother Roy is the one who raped me, and got me pregnant. Please don't hurt Jim! He's done nothing wrong." Again the wail and she started crying.

"Please, Miss Adams, I realize that is a painful subject for you, but the Court needed to be sure. This is a hearing only, not a criminal court, and nothing will be done to Mr Thompson, so please compose yourself," the Judge explained.

"Are the brother or mother of Miss Adams in Court?" the Judge inquired.

Charlie stood up, and addressed the court.

"If it please the Court, your Honor, I might provide some information," he said.

"Yes, Mr. Westford, proceed," the Judge told him.

"Your Honor, when I learned of Mr. Thompson's intention to be Miss Adams guardian, I knew there would be questions of the parents, and set some of my people to find out about them. The father left several years ago, and we could find no trace of him. When we went to the Adams residence, no one was there. The power was turned off, also the water and gas."

"My people set up a 24hour surveillance on the house, and were there for 4 days straight. No one ever came to the house. A check of the MLS showed the house for sale. We contacted the Realtor — actually a real estate attorney. He told us that the owner had come to him to have it sold. She had given him power of attorney to sign all of the documents, and said she would contact him later to let him know where to send the proceeds. We also checked the banks, your Honor, and all of their accounts were closed."

"Thank you, Mr. Westford. Since the original family is not available, and Miss Adams is already in the care of Mr. Thompson, the Court grants temporary custody and guardianship of Miss Julie Adams to Mr. Jim Thompson. A final hearing on the case will be held in approximately 60 days. The Clerk of the Court will notify your attorney of the actual date. Child Protective Services will also perform an evaluation of the home situation prior to the next hearing. Court is adjourned," the Judge told them and banged down his gavel.

"All rise," intoned the Court Clerk, and the Judge left the chambers. Charlie and Karen Miller came over to shake my hand and talk to Julie and me.

"How did you dig up all of that on the family?" I asked.

"Standard procedure, Top. Anyway, you're paying for it. Wait till you see my bill. It didn't come cheap," Charlie told me.

"Charlie, I can deal with it. It's only money, and having Julie with me is worth anything."

"Please clear the Court," the clerk asked. "We have other cases."

We adjourned to a restaurant that Charlie was familiar with. It had private rooms, and while everybody sat around having lunch and talking, Charlie pulled me aside.

"That was the easy part," he said, "the next part is harder. The CPS people will be out to see you. There's no way to know when. Some of them are OK, but a bunch of them are turkeys, so be careful. Any sign of impropriety will get their dander up. I'll let you know when the next hearing is, as soon as we find out."

After lunch, we went home to confront another problem. Martha was having a tough time keeping up with two houses. Hers and ours. It was getting her down. She liked her job and us, but she wasn't getting any time off. Chief was the one who brought the problem to my attention.

"What can we do to help her?" I asked.

"I don't really know," Chief answered, perplexed.

"Could she go home in the middle of the day or something? Maybe?" I wondered.

"She's still got two houses," Chief pointed out.

"Well then, we need everyone in one house." An obvious solution, but how to do it? Chief and I sat there for a while thinking.

"The only answer that occurs to me is a bigger house. A different one from this one," Chief said. Since I had also been thinking along those lines, I agreed.

"OK, lets call Charlie, and see if he knows a good Realtor. He's already into me for a bunch of money, a little more won't hurt." The Realtor that Charlie knew was out to see us in an hour, and we explained our problem. She sat and thought for a while, then asked how much I was prepared to spend. I didn't know, not having kept up with the housing prices.

"The reason I asked," she said, "is that I know of a property. It's available right now, but it's kind of expensive."

I looked at her for a second and smiled.

"Charlie didn't tell you much about me, did he?" I asked.

"No, just that you were a good friend, and needed a larger house," she replied.

"Miss, the name Jim Thompson doesn't mean anything to you?" I asked.

"It sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Sorry," she answered with a weak smile.

"Honey," Chief said, "he won the big Lottery three weeks ago." The light came on in her face.

"Oh my, I'm sorry," she said, embarrassed.

"So what kind of house is this?" I asked.

The house was one designed by an architect, and built by the architect and a builder for a private party. He had gone broke on the stock market, and couldn't pay for the house, which was finished. The architect and builder wanted out, as the interest on the construction loan was eating them up.

"Where is it?" I wanted to know.

"It's only a few miles from here. It sets on a 10 acre lot and is really quite pretty," she informed us.

"When can we look at it?"

"I can call the architect this afternoon, and call you back," she promised.