Where Love Has Gone (24 page)

Dani came through and looked around hesitantly. Then she saw us and ran toward us. Nora half rose in her seat and they were in each other’s arms.

Dani was crying. “Mother. Mother, are you all right?

I couldn’t understand what Nora was mumbling. I looked away for a moment. Even I felt it and I didn’t believe half the act Nora always put on. Another figure appeared in the doorway. It was Miss Spicer, the probation officer. She stood there watching Dani and Nora.

I looked up at the judge. He, too, was watching. I had the feeling that this was somehow important, that the judge had staged this very carefully.

Another door opened on the same side of the room, and a uniformed officer came in. He was brown-haired and of medium height. The blue-and-gold patch on his shoulder bore the insignia of the San Francisco County Sheriff’s office. He closed the door and leaned back against it.

Dani had left Nora and gone on to kiss her grandmother, then came over to me. Her eyes were shining. She kissed my cheek. “Mother did come, Daddy. Mother did come!”

I smiled at her. “I told you she would.”

Miss Spicer came into the courtroom and walked over to the edge of the table. “Sit down here near me, Dani.”

Dani left me and sat down. She looked t Harris Gordon. “Hello, Mr. Gordon.” “Hello, Dani.”

The judge cleared his throat. “This is a very informal sort of hearing. Just so I will know who you are will you please introduce yourselves?”

“May I, Your Honor?”

The judge nodded. “Please do, Mr. Gordon.”

“On my left is Nora Hayden, the child’s mother. On my right, Mrs. Cecelia Hayden, the child’s maternal grandmother. Next to her, Colonel Luke Carey, the child’s father.”

“And you are acting as attorney for the child?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Gordon said. “And also as legal adviser to the family.”

“I see. I assume you are all acquainted with Miss Marian Spicer, who is the probation officer assigned to this case?”

“We are, Your Honor.”

“Then I think we may begin.” He picked up the sheet of paper on his desk. “On Friday night last, the police department, operating under Section 602 of the California Juvenile Court Law, turned over custody of one Danielle Nora Carey, a minor, to the probation officer for detention. The grounds were that said minor had committed an act of homicide, a felony in the State of California. Since that time, with the exception of the first night when the minor was released in custody of Mr. Harris Gordon, an attorney, on the advice of a physician and to protect the health and well-being of said minor, the minor has been held in custody in the juvenile detention home in accordance with the law.

“We are here this morning to hear a petition submitted by the probation department to further detain this minor in custody until such time as the probation department can properly investigate all the factors pertaining to the minor’s being brought before this court.”

The judge put down the paper and looked at Dani. His voice was kind and gentle. “Despite the legal sound of all that, Danielle, this is not a trial, nor are you facing any criminal proceedings. You are here because you have committed a wrong act, a very wrong act, but we are not here to punish you. We want to help you, if we can, so that you will never again do any evil deeds. Do you understand that, Danielle?”

Dani’s eyes were large and apprehensive in her white face. “I think so,” she said hesitantly.

“I’m glad that you do, Danielle. It’s important for you to understand that although you will not be criminally punished for what you have done, you cannot escape certain consequences which result from your wrongdoing. I am bound by the law to inform you of these possible consequences and of your rights before this court. Are you following me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“This court has the power to take you from your home and place you in a state youth home or reformatory until you are of age. Or it can place you in a state hospital for observation. It can even place you in a foster home, if it feels it is not to your advantage to be returned to your immediate family or any other of your relatives. It can, at anytime while you are under the jurisdiction of this court, keep you on probation, so that no matter whom you live with, you will remain in contact with the probation officer assigned to you until you are released from so doing by the court or come of age. But I want you to bear this in mind. Whatever the court decides will not be punitive in nature but only what it thinks is in your best interest. Do you understand that, Danielle?”

Dani nodded. She looked down at the table in front of her. I could see her hands twisting nervously.

“During any of the proceedings before this court,” the judge continued, “you have, of course, the right to counsel. You have the right to summon witnesses on your own behalf, and the right to question any witness whom you may consider prejudicial to your best interest. Do you understand that, Danielle?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m bound further to inform your parents that they are entitled to the same rights to counsel, witness and cross-examination.

“We will now open the hearing on the petition. Miss Spicer, will you please state your reasons for requesting the court to detain this minor?”

The probation officer got to her feet. She spoke in a soft, clear voice. “There are two reasons for this request, Your Honor. One, the nature of the act committed by the child indicates an emotional disturbance far deeper than a preliminary psychological and psychiatric examination could reveal. For the welfare and well-being of the child, we request additional time to complete such examinations in depth. Secondly, we also need additional time to investigate further the child’s environment and family life in order to help us make a proper recommendation for the child’s future care and treatment.”

She sat down.

The judge turned to us. “Do you have any objection to the petition?”

Harris Gordon got to his feet. “No, Your Honor. We have the utmost faith in the experience and judgment of the probation department and in its ability to make a proper evaluation and determination of all the factors in this case.”

The judge’s voice was mildly amused. He knew that Gordon couldn’t say anything else, that he had no choice. Petitions for detention were always granted. “Thank you for your display of faith, Mr. Gordon. We trust that we may be truly worthy of it.”

He looked down for a moment, then went on. “It is the decision of this court that the petition by the probation department
in re
Danielle Nora Carey, a minor, be granted, and further that she be declared a temporary ward of this court until such time as a final determination shall be made. I will set the date for a complete court hearing on this matter for a week from today. At that time I shall expect all parties present to return, and all evidences and examinations pertinent to this matter to be placed before me. I shall also expect all plans for the future custody and welfare of this child to be presented to me, in writing, not less than twenty-four hours before the hearing.” He rapped his gavel smartly on the desk.

He looked down at Dani, his voice kind and gentle again, completely unlike its official tone. “This means that you will go back to the cottages again, Danielle, while your case is being investigated. Be a good girl and cooperate with Miss Spicer and the others and everything will be that much easier and better for all of us. Do you understand?”

Dani nodded.

He looked at the probation officer. “You may take Danielle and her parents into my chambers before you return her to the cottages, Miss Spicer.”

The probation officer nodded and got to her feet. We rose also. “Thank you, Your Honor,” Gordon said.

The judge nodded and we followed Miss Spicer through the door behind the dais.

3

__________________________________________

The judge’s chambers consisted of two small rooms, the smaller his clerk’s, the larger belonging to the judge himself. Miss Spicer led us into the larger office. One wall was covered with law books, on the others were photographs and framed diplomas. A neat desk and several chairs completed the furnishings.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Miss Spicer said tactfully. “I have to go to my office for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

When the door closed behind her, Nora turned to Dani. “You look thin. And why didn’t you wear that pretty dress I sent you? What kind of an impression do you think that made on the judge? He’ll think we don’t even care enough about you to dress your properly. Where did you get those terrible things? I never saw them before.”

I watched Dani. A curiously tolerant patience came over her face. She waited until Nora had finished her outburst, then a faint note of sarcasm came into her voice. “This isn’t Miss Randolph’s School, Mother. I have to wear what all the girls wear. They give you the clothes.”

Nora stared at her. “I’m sure if you’d asked them, they would have allowed you to wear your own things. Probably they do that because most of the other children haven’t anything of their own.”

Dani didn’t answer. I took out a cigarette. She looked at me. I threw her the package and she caught it deftly.

“Dani!” Nora’s voice was shocked.

“Oh, be quiet, Nora!” Old Mrs. Hayden’s voice was annoyed. “You can stop acting now, there’s no audience. You now she smokes. I asked you to stop her enough times. But you said you didn’t see any harm in it.”

She looked at Dani. “Come here, child.”

Dani walked over to her. “Yes, Grandmother.” “Are they treating you all right?’

“Yes, Grandmother.” “Getting enough to eat?”

Dani smiled. “More than enough. I’m not very hungry though.”

“You have to eat to keep up your strength. We can’t have you getting sick on top of everything else.”

“I won’t get sick, Grandmother.”

“Is there anything I can send you?”

Dani shook her head. “No, thank you, Grandmother.”

The old lady kissed her forehead. “You do as the judge says, Dani. Be a good girl and cooperate and we’ll have you out of here in short order.”

Dani looked up at her and nodded. There was a strange wisdom in her eyes. As if she knew better than the old lady what was going to happen to her. But she didn’t say anything.

Instead, she turned to me. “Do you still own that boat down at La Jolla?” I shook my head. “No, Dani.”

“Too bad,” she said. “I’d have liked to go out with you again.” “Maybe we will someday, Dani. When you get out of here.”

She nodded and I could see that she didn’t believe that either. “One of the matrons told me that she saw a picture of your wife in the paper. She said she was very pretty.” She looked into my eyes. “The paper said that the reason she didn’t come out with you was because she’s going to have a baby.”

“That’s right, Dani.” “When?”

“Very soon now,” I said. “The doctor thought it would be better if she didn’t travel.” A sudden smile cross her face. “Then it’s true what the papers said? I’m glad.”

“It’s true.” I smiled back at her. “Did you think she’d have any other reason for not coming?”

Dani glanced at Nora out of the corner of her eye. Nora was applying her lipstick in apparent boredom over our conversation. “I don’t know,” Dani said in a low voice. “At first I thought she wasn’t coming because she hated me.”

I laughed. “Where’d you get that idea?”

Again the side glance toward Nora. “I don’t know. It was just an idea.”

The door opened and Miss Spicer came back into the room. Through the open door I could see the figure of a matron waiting. “You’ll have to leave now, Dani.”

“Okay,” Dani answered. She tamped the cigarette out in an ashtray and kissed me. “‘Bye, Daddy.”

She kissed her grandmother and then walked over to Nora. Nora put her arms around her. She looked into Dani’s eyes. “You know I love you, don’t you, Dani?”

Dani nodded.

“Better than anyone else?” Again Dani nodded.

“How much, dear?”

I could see that they were playing a game they had played many times before. Whether it really

meant anything to Nora or not I couldn’t tell. “The most, Mother.”

Nora glanced at me to see if I had heard the answer. I laughed. Dani turned and looked at me, her eyes startled. There must be something to this thing called telepathy because I was sure she knew what I was laughing at. She turned and kissed her mother. “’Bye, Mother.”

Nora looked at me. Her face was flushed and angry. She started to say something but bit her lip and remained silent.

“While you’re all here,” Miss Spicer said smoothly after she closed the door behind Deni, “I was wondering if we might arrange our appointments. It would expedite maters.” She went behind the desk and sat down. “Could I come out and see you tomorrow afternoon, Miss Hayden?”

“Thursday would be better,” Nora said. “The servants would be off and we’d be alone. We would have time to talk.”

“It would be more helpful if the servants were available,” Miss Spicer said. “I’d like to talk with them about Dani, too.”

Nora looked at Gordon. “I don’t know.” She hesitated. “I don’t particularly relish the idea of discussing my affairs with the servants. It seems to me that they have nothing better to do than gossip as it is. You wouldn’t learn anything from them.”

“It’s my job to find out as much as I can about your daughter, Miss Hayden. You may be sure that I’ll be most discreet.”

Nora looked at Gordon again. He nodded. She turned to the probation officer. “Could you come tomorrow morning?”

“The afternoon would be better. I have an appointment at Miss Randolph’s School in the morning.”

“Wednesday afternoon then,” Nora agreed petulantly. “Two o’clock.”

“Two o’clock will be fine.” Miss Spicer looked at Nora’s mother. “Is Thursday good for you?” The old woman nodded.

“Nine o’clock in the morning too early?” “I’m up early,” the old woman replied.

Miss Spicer turned to me. “When would be a good time for you, Colonel?” “Anytime. You name it.”

“I don’t know your plans, Colonel Carey,” she said. “I know your wife is pregnant. I wasn’t sure whether you’d want to return to Chicago and come back again for the hearing. I can make it at your convenience.”