Grace

thought they’d been playing the game perfectly, but the ghoul, with Frank’s help, created a sudden tornado that knocked down their house of cards.

The Frank who had cross-examined Leah disappeared. That kindly, sympathetic old gentlemen became a direct, confident lawyer, asking the ghoul questions about her experience of Leah at Magdalene House-“rebellious, defiant, clearly sexually deviant”-and after Grace’s birth- “depressed, belligerent, anxious.” He asked her matter-of-factly about the assault-that’s what he called it, “the assault,” and he kept calling it that, saying it so many times Leah lost count-detailing her injury, asking her about the diagnosis and treatment, whether or not the doctor said she would be permanently disfigured.

Donald objected-“Hearsay, your honor!”-and that was sustained, so Frank started asking the ghoul, in her “professional opinion,” what kind of person assaults an elderly woman in such a way? Donald objected to that too, but the judge allowed it, saying the witness was, after all, a professional and it spoke to the point. So Leah had to sit there and listen to the ghoul throw out diagnosis after diagnosis- neurosis, borderline, depression-doing just what Donald said they would do, proving to everyone that Leah was unfit to be Grace’s mother, she was unfit to be anyone’s mother, and the more they talked, the more she started to believe them herself. Frank asked the ghoul if she believed a psychological evaluation was warranted, and of course the ghoul recommended one be done immediately, because Leah just wasn’t a danger to herself and others she knew, she was a much bigger danger to “society at large.”

Leah looked at the judge, who had been smiling before, but not anymore. By the time Donald got up to cross-examine the ghoul, Leah felt so small she was sure she was invisible next to her husband, whose jaw was working again. She could hear his teeth grinding. But of course there was nothing they could but sit there, sit there and wait for them to nail the coffin shut and seal her in.

It didn’t seem to matter what Donald asked, the woman was as slippery as a fish.

“Mrs. Goulden, I didn’t ask you your opinion of Mrs. Nolan’s mental state, I asked you where her baby had been placed.”

“As you know, that information is confidential.”

The ghoul looked bored, Leah thought. No, not quite bored-she looked like she had better things to be doing than being cross-examined by Donald Highbrow.

“It’s only confidential after the adoption has been finalized.” Donald corrected her with a wag of his finger. “Until the mother has signed over her rights, she is allowed visitation. Was Mrs. Nolan informed of her rights to visit her child?”

“In my opinion, Mrs. Nolan isn’t fit to visit her child.” The ghoul sneered, emphasizing the Mrs. in Mrs. Nolan as if Leah was misrepresenting herself as a married woman. “She’s a danger to herself and others. I have the scars under here to prove it.”

The ghoul tore off her bandage and, as if on cue, the whole courtroom gasped. It felt so staged and dramatic to Leah, she wondered if the ghoul and Frank had planned it somehow. Not that it mattered. Leah sank down further in her seat, feeling everyone’s eyes on her.

“She could have blinded me, you know!” the ghoul snapped, tossing the bandage aside.

“Again, I didn’t ask your opinion of Mrs. Nolan’s mental state.” Donald ignored the woman’s drama, not looking at her but at the judge. “Can you please direct the witness to answer the question, Judge Solomon?”

The judge frowned at the ghoul, leaning over and asking, “Mrs. Goulden, where is the baby now?”

The ghoul touched her cheek, which was healing, Leah saw, just in the two days since their altercation. Erica said there was a lot of blood and there were gouges on the woman’s face-she made it sound like mincemeat-but from where Leah was sitting, it didn’t look that bad. Like surface scratches made from fingernails maybe.

The ghoul sighed and relented, looking up at the judge. “We placed her in foster care at our facility on the other side of the state. She needed special care, Your Honor. We believe she’s exhibiting signs of her mother having some sort of drug habit. The doctor’s aren’t sure.”

Leah had had enough. She sat bolt upright, protesting out loud, “That’s not true!”

Judge Solomon frowned, glancing in her direction. “Mrs. Nolan, please be seated.”

Leah leaned forward, feeling Rob’s hand on her shoulder. “Your honor I’ve never even smoked a cigarette!”

“Enough!” The judge banged his gavel, making her jump. “So help me, you will be held in contempt! Do you understand?”

She nodded, too afraid to speak, shrinking down against her husband’s side.

“Mrs. Nolan-do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Leah croaked, clearing her throat and repeating it. “Yes, Judge. I’m sorry.”

Donald gave her a stern look too and Leah felt her mother’s hand in hers, squeezing, reassuring, as the questioning resumed.

“Did you or did you not inform Mrs. Nolan of her rights.”

“All the girls at Magdalene House are informed,” the ghoul snapped. “They sign a statement of rights upon their admission. It’s kept in their file.”

“Did you read Mrs. Nolan those rights?”

The ghoul looked directly at Leah. “It would be Mrs. Nolan’s responsibility to do so.”

“So you don’t know if Mrs. Nolan read the statement of rights?”

The ghoul threw up her hands. “She signed a statement of rights. It’s in her file. Would you like to see it?”

“No, thank you, I’ve seen it. Mr. Talley was kind enough to send me a copy.” Donald leaned against the railing of the witness box, like they were just having a conversation, asking, “Did you tell Mrs. Nolan that she had six months to change her mind?”

The ghoul rebuffed him. “That information is in the statement of rights.”

“Did you inform Mrs. Nolan that her baby had already been promised to an adoptive couple?”

“No I did not.”

Leah gaped at her. Now she wasn’t just avoiding his questions. That was a flat out lie. She felt her mother squeeze her hand again, a warning, and she looked down at her lap, trying to keep from jumping out of her seat again.

“Did you tell Mrs. Nolan that she would be responsible for the hospital bills, and that she would have to pay them before she would be allowed to leave with her baby?”

“Of course not.”

Another lie.

“Did you tell Mrs. Nolan that there was social assistance available to her if she wanted to keep her baby?”

“That information is in the statement of rights.”

“Of course, you said that.” Donald gave a nod, turning as if he was done, and then turning back again. “Did you happen to give a copy of those rights to Mrs. Nolan?”

“They’re in her file.”

“So you said, but did she get a copy?” Donald asked. “She’s an adult, she can sign a legally binding contract. Did you give her a copy of that contract?”

“I’m sure I did.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Donald nodded. “Was Mrs. Nolan offered independent legal counsel to explain the legal document to her and protect her rights? Was she informed of the legal ramifications of what she was signing?”

The ghoul blinked at him. “Mrs. Nolan is an adult, as you said, Mr. Highbrow.”

“Being an adult doesn’t exclude you from having the right to legal counsel.”

“We don’t provide legal counsel,” the ghoul replied. “It would be up to Mrs. Nolan to retain legal counsel, if she wanted it.”

“Was legal counsel present when Mrs. Nolan signed the adoption agreement?”

“No.”