Chapter 5

Gerry drove away thoughtfully. He had thoroughly enjoyed his day and Isobel had continued to grow in his estimation. As usual they had talked non-stop and done a lot of laughing. They had teased each other and Isobel seemed to enjoy it, certainly giving as good as she got. Then, when he thought he might have overcome her reluctance to go out with him again she had gently, sweetly but firmly turned him down. What had she said after the Honeys' dinner party? 'I can't let myself get involved.' He wondered whether she had had an unhappy affair and was still unable to trust a man. It would not be wise to probe. She was pretty reticent about her family. She would clam up completely about a relationship that had gone wrong and probably send him away with a flea in his ear. That was the last thing he wanted. He just had to wait for her to tell him of her own volition. He would keep wooing her gently but not put any pressure on her.

Isobel was not happy either. She had thoroughly enjoyed the day too; too much. She was getting to like Gerry more and more but she could not let it become anything other than a casual friendship and so, much as she would like to go out with him more often, she must not give in. It might hurt him and he might give up which was what she wanted. Wasn't it? No it wasn't. She wanted his friendship. He was fun, gentle and amusing. She had liked it when he squeezed her hands before he left. It was a warm, genuine gesture without threat. She would not have minded if he had kissed her. Yes she would! That could have signalled the start of commitment. She banged her fists on the kitchen table. She was getting nowhere with her dilemma. Where was her brain?

The important thing was the Corsellis case. She had to keep Gerry on side until that was over. It would be easier to push him away after that.

The day of the hearing arrived. The case was not scheduled to be heard until eleven but Gerry had a conference room available from half past nine. Isobel had fixed that at his request. Mrs Mary Davidson was the district judge. Isobel and Gerry were delighted. She had been the divorce judge.

Arthur Corsellis was the first to arrive and was greeted warmly by Gerry and Isobel.

"I don't need anything from you, Mr Corsellis, at this stage but I thought you might like to be present when I talk to Miss Shepherd's ex-solicitors. Please feel free to butt in. I'm not going to talk to Larry before the case. I may not call him as a witness but he will be far more effective if what he says is straight off the cuff."

Corsellis nodded. He had confidence in this young man and in Isobel whom he had grown to trust, respect and like.

At around ten the two solicitors arrived. Isobel did waitress with the pretty indifferent coffee provided by the court. Gerry introduced himself and then the others to each other.

"Now, Mr Morris and Mrs Hardwick," he said to the two solicitors, "it is quite proper that you should both have consented to give evidence only to the facts. I cannot and should not ask you to do more. To do otherwise would betray the confidence of your former client. On the other hand, the fact that you are both prepared to appear today indicates to me that you have some sympathy with Mr Corsellis."

Gordon Morris, the minx's first solicitor whom she had sacked, smiled bitterly. "Yes," he said. "Like Miss Harris, the bulk of my work is family. Much of what we do is effectively counselling with a bias towards our clients. I am delighted to meet you at long last, Mr Corsellis. The impression I had from Miss Harris was of a straight, honest, gentle man whose priority was the upbringing and care of his son whom he genuinely loved."

Arthur looked at his feet.

"I tried therefore to represent this unselfish devotion to Miss Shepherd. I did not succeed, I'm sorry to say, but I stuck to my guns and my principles and Miss Shepherd decided to dispense with my services."

"Thank you, Mr Morris, for your frankness." Gerry grinned wickedly. "I rather hoped you'd say something like that. Now, I'm going to have to stress to the judge that you are only prepared to give factual evidence. So how are we going to play it? Let's see how this works.

"Mr Morris, I believe you have specialised in family law for a number of years."

"Yes. Fifteen plus."

"Where the welfare of a child is at stake what is your priority?"

"The child of course."

"With this as your priority would you say that a part of your service to your client is in an advisory or counselling mode?"

"Yes."

"Did you employ this mode with Miss Shepherd?"

"Yes."

"Did she accept your advice?"

"I can't answer that."

"Did she dispense with your services?"

"Yes."

Gerry beamed. "Were you happy with that?"

"Yes." He paused and smiled disarmingly. "I wish I could say a great deal more but I'd be struck off."

"The judge may ask you to although not publicly. What was your letter of dismissal like?"

"Extremely rude almost maniacal."

"Would you be prepared to give the judge a copy if she asks for one?"

"I think not," he said but added with a smile, "On the other hand, if Mrs Davidson were to invite me to a private chat I might reveal its contents."

"Great!" Gerry smiled winningly at Mrs Hardwick. "Your turn now, Mrs Hardwick. Are you happy with the way I'm going?"

"Very. I resigned, as you know, but that was because my client refused to listen to advice which was based on the same premises as Mr Morris."

"Oof!"

"Oof indeed, Mr du Puys. We are dealing with a very selfish woman who also harbours a grudge. I don't doubt her love for Larry but she wants his love for herself alone and if that hurts Mr Corsellis so much the better."

"Ouch!"

"I'm sorry to say it is ouch. She is a most unpleasant woman in my opinion. Sorry, Mr Corsellis, I'm criticising your judgement."

Arthur smiled wryly. "Not any more, Mrs Hardwick."

She returned his smile and then turned back to Gerry. "So how do you want to play it, Mr du Puys?"

"Much the same, I think, except that when I ask you whether you were sacked as well you could say something like 'No', pause for effect, 'I resigned'. Does that sound all right?"

"Yes and then bite my tongue."

"Brilliant! Isobel, how well do you know the clerk to the court?"

"Quite well."

"Well enough to get her to persuade Mrs Davidson that she would like a private word with Mr Morris and Mrs Hardwick?"

"I reckon."

She left the room.

Gerry turned to Arthur. "Mr Corsellis, I think we need do nothing more than run through the occasions that your ex has been obstructive, touch on Larry's long hair, because I hope that he will explain his feelings on that, and then move onto his teeth. I have asked his dentist to be present and hope that she will show up at any minute. I think that we should cover your concern nevertheless and I hope that I can engage Larry on that as well. It may sound callous but I hope to show that Miss Shepherd is intent on stealing Larry away from you."

Arthur Corsellis nodded unhappily.

Isobel returned in five minutes. "Fixed, all things being equal."

Gerry and the two solicitors smiled. Arthur did not. Isobel went to him.

"It's miserable, isn't it?" she said softly

Arthur nodded.

"But we ought to get something positive out of it for you and Larry."

"What if she chucks in the towel and hands him over to me completely? I can't take full time care of him."

"The judge won't wear that. She is bound to give priority to Larry's welfare."

"So she could place him in care."

"She could but I don't reckon Miss Shepherd would take it that far. Despite all her behaviour she loves Larry, don't you think?"

"Yes."

"So she may throw a fit but the judge will see through that. I don't think that she will change the custody rules but will make it clear that if your ex continues to be difficult she risks losing her son to care or adoption."

"Neither of which I could bear."

"Nor could she. There may be a show but I suspect she will crumble."

"God! I hope you're right."

Isobel could not restrain herself. She took his hands and smiled warmly. "I'm pretty sure I am."

Gerry was impressed. He might tease her later about unprofessional conduct but what Isobel had done was reassure a very nervous and emotionally disturbed client and he was impressed.

There was a knock on the door and a tiny, raven-haired, young woman came in.

"Good morning," she said in breathy shyness, "I'm Dorothy Maynard, Larry Corsellis's dentist."

"Hello," said Isobel warmly. "I'm Isobel Harris. It's nice to meet you at last. Thank you very much for coming."

She introduced Miss Maynard to everybody and then offered her coffee which she accepted.

Gerry took over.

"After years of male dentists," he said, "I suddenly found myself at the mercy of a female. All my male whatevers surfaced but then I found that my mouth wasn't full of big fat fingers but slim ones that seemed to do things just as well if not better. I was converted. Thank you very much for coming today. I hope we're not losing you a small fortune."

"No. Just a small bit of a small fortune."

Gerry laughed. "OK, Miss Maynard or is it Doctor?"

"Miss, which you know, or Miss Harris has not briefed you properly."

Gerry's and Isobel's eyes met and they both laughed.

"He's a flatterer," said Isobel.

"Ouch!" said Gerry. "I think I may be being ganged up on."

"Deservedly," interjected Mrs Hardwick.

That caused laughter all round and Dorothy Maynard relaxed.

"Miss Maynard," said Gerry, "I am not asking anything other than factual and professional evidence from you. As I understand it, you have had to remove four of Larry's baby teeth because he had been eating too many sweets."

"In a nutshell, yes. Should I not say also why I consider that to be true?"

"Yes indeed." Gerry grinned mischievously. "But I wasn't going to put words into your mouth. Seriously though, keep it as simple as you can. I doubt the judge is orthodontically informed."

Miss Maynard laughed. "I'll keep the big words to a minimum."

"Thank you."

After that there was a half hour wait. Isobel watched as Gerry deftly moved among his witnesses putting them at ease. She was intent on Arthur. She had elevated his case and she felt she ought to give him maximum reassurance. She moved over to him. He beat her to it.

"Isobel, thank you."

"It's not over yet, Mr Corsellis."

"Arthur, please. May I call you Isobel?"

She smiled warmly. "Of course you can. I'm slightly surprised you didn't assume you could do that a while ago."

"I'm old fashioned but thank you, Isobel. I know it's not over yet and we may have some tantrums in court this morning but I think from all I've heard that I will be vindicated. Thank you, my dear."

"You deserve to be. I've watched you feint and duck and thought it was time that you came back with a powerful uppercut."

"That's fighting talk."

Isobel nodded. "And you, Arthur, are a gentle man but, from what I have learned, strong and true. There comes a time when a gentle but honourable man has to stand up for himself and someone he loves. That's why I pushed you into this."

"Thank you, Isobel. I've always thought you were a good solicitor. Now I know better than that. You're special."

In another room there was a less than happy atmosphere. A slightly apprehensive Larry had been removed from his mother by a sweet but firm female court official.

"Don't worry, Miss Shepherd," she had said. "He'll be very happy."

Larry was, surprisingly. The court official knew her stuff. She had a collection of short stories to suit all ages.

"Now, Larry," she said. "Am I going to read to you or are you going to read to me?"

"I'll read to you."

"Great! What would you like to read? An adventure story, a school story, cars, trains?"

"Cars."

She was impressed with Larry's reading. There were only a few words that he found difficult.

In the meanwhile the atmosphere in Miss Shepherd's waiting room was strained.

"Why haven't I got a barrister representing me?"

"Two thousand pounds, Miss Shepherd?"

"Sheesh! So bloody money wins."

"Not necessarily at all. If you are open and honest the judge will appreciate that and take it into consideration."

"Why is Larry going to be called as a witness?"

"He may not be."

"What if he is?"

"I don't understand your concern."

"Well, kids sometimes say things."

"Is there something you haven't told me about that he might say something about?"

"No!"

"Well, there's no need to worry, is there?"

"I suppose not."

The court convened in chambers so there was no public access. It was still a large room but there were no wigs or gowns all in deference to the possible appearance of Larry. He was not present. He would only come in if called as a witness.

All rose to their feet when Mrs Mary Davidson entered. She bowed to Gerry and the two solicitors. They all sat when she did.

"Good morning, Mr du Puys," she said. "I don't believe we've met."

Gerry rose to his feet again. "No, ma'am," he said. "I have not had the privilege."

"Hmph! You clearly take after Sir Norman. No more standing though please, Mr du Puys. Good morning, Miss Harris, Mr Corsellis and Miss Shepherd we have all met before. And finally, good morning to you, Mr Ellis. We haven't met before, have we?"

"No, ma'am."

"Hah! No barrister flannel from you. Right let's begin. Mr du Puys."

"Ma'am you will doubtless recall that Mr Corsellis and Miss Shepherd had a separation agreement which detailed my client's access to their son. In your ruling at their divorce you ordered that access agreement to continue." Gerry ran through that and then called on Arthur.

"Mr Corsellis, you have been divorced for approximately three years during which time I understand that you have met with obstruction to your access to Larry."

"Yes."

"Would you expand on that?"