COUNTY COURTHOUSE
"Your Honor," Eric begins, his deep
voice resonating in the still courtroom. "My client, Diane Bishop, has
been forced to play a secondary role in her child's
life ever since her
daughter was a few months old. While Samantha's father
and his wife raised
Ms. Bishop's daughter every day of the year, my client's interaction with
her daughter was restricted to four particular weekends per year."
All attention is fixed on the tanned
young lawyer as he paces the floor. His hands rest comfortably in the trouser
pockets of his finely cut suit, itself a deep charcoal color that does
him an incredible amount of justice.
"As you are aware," he continues,
"earlier this year, Tim Fisher -- Samantha's biological father -- passed
away. What the court might not be quite so aware of are the circumstances
under which Mr. Fisher met his unfortunate demise."
Claire's gaze cuts from Eric to the
judge to the table in front of her, then to Jim, and then back up at Eric.
And she finds Eric's gaze locked on her as he recounts the details of Tim's
death.
Something burns a bright, fiery red
inside of her. She breaks eye contact with Eric as soon as he continues
speaking.
"Tim Fisher was presumed dead," he
says, "on New Year's Eve of this past year. His last known whereabouts
were by the King's Bay waterfront, lurking around on a pier. Signs of his
presence were later found there and indicated that he had been shot and
likely fallen into the bay."
And here comes the good part,
Diane thinks with relish. She casts a glance over at Claire, who looks
white as a ghost. Serves her right. She put Tim in danger and she lost
him. She should be suffering.
Eric stops his pacing, clasps his
hands together in front of him, and faces the judge. "Why would Mr. Fisher,
a man with a loving family, a wife, two children, and a promising career,
be hiding in the shadows on a pier in the middle of the night on New Year's
Eve? Wasn't it clear that he was jeopardizing everything he had?"
He drops his hands to his sides,
emits a light sigh for dramatic effect, and continues wearing a path back
and forth across the floor. "He was jeopardizing all that, of course. Then
why was he out there? What was he doing?
"Mr. Fisher was on that pier that
night trying to protect those very things that were so important
to him. He was there because his wife, Claire, had decided to conduct a
little investigative work of her own. Her husband was forced to spend the
night on the pier, waiting to listen in on a conversation that never even
occurred, because Claire Fisher felt that a personal revenge mission should
take priority over their marriage and their children."
Diane cannot resist taking another
look at Claire. Indeed, the other woman looks shaken, battered, by what
is going on in the courtroom. There is nothing she can do, of course; Eric
is up there telling her life story, no lies, no erroneous presumptions.
"Now, no one except Claire Fisher
-- and perhaps not even she -- can tell us for certain what happens in
Claire Fisher's head," Eric announces. "But from what can be determined,
Mrs. Fisher's interest in the pier that night stemmed from a pair of men
she has known for many years, men with whom she first came into contact
via her late father.
"Mrs. Fisher's father,
James Robbins,
had a detailed criminal record. Perhaps his greatest crime occurred a few
years ago when, in the chain of events that would lead to his death, Mr.
Robbins kidnapped his daughter's firstborn son and whisked him off to a
secret hideaway in South America. When Tim and Claire Fisher followed,
they were held prisoner as well, and their release came only after Mrs.
Fisher was forced to kill her own father to save her husband and child."
Claire becomes aware that her nails
are digging into Jim's arm. She tries to loosen her grip but succeeds only
minimally. Right now, she needs it, she needs to hold onto something, because
her own life is being laid out on display and it is sounding even worse
than usual.
"I know that this may be difficult
to swallow," Eric says. "Clearly Mrs. Fisher has been the victim of some
unfortunate circumstances. But that does not excuse the fact that her own
husband's life was lost because she insisted upon the reckless pursuit
of revenge, nor does it erase the fact that Mrs. Fisher's life is an extremely
volatile one, rife with complications and consequences that would not only
be felt by, but have a profound impact upon any child she raises."
Every last particle of available
air has been drained from the room, as far as Claire can tell. She sits
there beside Jim, still gripping onto him, not even moving, and holding
her breath -- because she knows that the next time she has to inhale or
exhale, time will have passed and Eric's statements will have registered
with the judge, and her whole world will be destroyed.
END OF EPISODE #230
Will Claire retain custody of
Samantha? Should she? Voice your thoughts on this episode and participate
in a new reader poll over at the Message
Forum!
Next Episode
One .
Two .
Three .
Four .
Five .
Six
Main Page .
Current Episode .
Episode Archives .
Story Recap .
Characters .
Making Prints .
Interact .
Around King's Bay .
Links
