Julie Garwood - For the Roses

" Harrison, what's this about? Why are you questioning him about the town folk?" the judge asked.

"Goes to character, Judge," Harrison answered. "If a man says he's telling the truth, I have to find out if I can believe him."

The judge agreed. "What about Catherine Morrison? What nice thing did you have to say about her to Dooley and Henry and Ghost?"

"I don't recall."

"Well, now, I do. I had Henry write it down, too, and sign it. We'll get him on up here if we need to and let him say what happened."

Harrison walked back to the table and took the top paper. He handed it to the judge. "Lionel called our Catherine a man-sniffing whore, and that he was sure she'd had most of the men in Blue Belle. He suggested to Henry that she go into business with Belle. He had a few things to say about her mama too. I'm not going to repeat them. They're too foul. You can read them to the jury if you want."

The judge did just that. Harrison deliberately avoided looking at John Morrison. He went back to the table and collected four other signed papers, and when the judge had finished reading what Henry had written down, Harrison handed him the other evidence.

He went back to Lionel. "The fact is simple for all of us to understand. You hold all of us in contempt, don't you, Lionel. We aren't citified and probably not very sophisticated by your southern boy standards, and so we're lower than snakes to you, aren't we? You've spent the last week mocking all of us and laughing at us. Half the town heard you."

Lionel straightened up in his chair and glared at Harrison. His hatred was more than evident now. "So what if I think you are? I've suffered intolerable conditions this past week so that I could see justice served. Yes, my brother and I think you're all dirty, uncivilized swill. What we think doesn't change a thing. My mother signed the confession, saying the nigger's guilty. That's all that matters."

"But you just perjured yourself, now didn't you, Lionel?"

"I merely tried to be tactful."

"Why now? You've been anything but tactful all week. Did you coerce your mother into signing that paper?" Harrison shouted his last question.

"No, I did not, and you can't prove otherwise," Lionel shouted back.

"Your Honor, when this is finished, I want this man locked up for perjury. I'm not finished with him, but I would like to call him back to the stand after you hear from another witness."

The judge was glaring at Lionel. "All right. Get out of the chair, Lionel, but don't leave the court."

Harrison called Alfred Mitchell to the stand. He took the time to swear him in by having the man place his hand on the Bible.

The judge took over. "Do you swear to tell the truth?"

"I do."

"I don't believe the Bible's necessary. Once court's in session, everybody's got to tell the truth."

"Tell who you are and why you're here, Alfred," Harrison began.

"My name is Alfred Mitchell. I'm an attorney in the law offices of Mitchell, Mitchell and Mitchell. My two brothers are the other two Mitchells," he explained.

"I received a wire from you, Harrison, asking for certain information. You wanted quite a few things done, and you also wanted me to get here before the two weeks were up, so I enlisted the assistance of my brothers, and we all went to work. I got everything you wanted… and more, I'm sorry to say. I gave you the signed and witnessed documents yesterday."

Mitchell turned to the jury. He was young, but he'd already learned how to charm people.

"I happen to like Blue Belle. I've only seen a little bit of your town, but it reminds me of a town near the one where I grew up. I'm a farm boy at heart. I like having dirt under my nails because it's proof to me I put in a hard day's work."

Harrison didn't smile, but he felt like it. The jury responded to Mitchell's candidness. Morrison even grinned.

"Tell me about Livonia Adderley," Harrison ordered.

The smile left Mitchell's face. "She wasn't in her cottage. A neighbor told me she was in a nearby hospital, and so I went there to interview her. The doctor stayed with me the entire time, and Livonia told me what happened. I wrote it down the way she told me to, then read it to her, and Livonia signed it."

Harrison paused in his questioning to go back to his table. He took the signed paper and gave it to the judge.

Burns read it to the jury. "John Quincy Adam was not responsible for my husband's death. Walter Adderley stumbled and hit his head on the edge of the mantel. The blow caused his immediate death."

"Please read all of it, Judge," Harrison asked.

Burns looked at Cole and then Adam before he agreed. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure."

"All right then. She says, I do not hold my sons responsible for their behavior and I will not press charges against them. Rose has also made this same promise to me, and my faithful friend will keep her word. I love my sons. They frighten me only when they allow their anger to get the better of them. They didn't mean to hurt me, but I had refused to sign their paper, and they then felt they had to force me to. They didn't want the truth, and I couldn't take any more of the beating because I'm a weak woman, just as Walter Adderley always believed, and so I signed the paper. God forgive me my lie."

A hush fell over the crowd. Judge Burns looked sick. Harrison thought everyone did. He didn't let up though. There was still more to tell, and he wanted all of it out.

"Besides the doctor, was there anyone else in the hospital room with you?"

"Yes," Mitchell answered. "Mama Rose was there. Livonia calls her that and she gave me permission to call her Mama Rose too."

"Where was she, in Livonia 's room or was she waiting outside of the hospital?"

"Sitting in a chair next to the bed. She was holding Livonia 's hand and comforting her."

Harrison took a breath. He hated what he was going to ask now. "And how did Mama Rose look?"

Mitchell shook his head. "She was almost in as bad condition as Livonia was. Her face was swollen. She had two black eyes and bruises on her arms and legs. She should have been in a hospital bed herself, but she refused to leave Livonia 's side. Each time Livonia would wake up, she would call out to Rose. As soon as she heard her answering voice, she would smile and go back to sleep again."

"Did Mama Rose also sign a document saying Adam was innocent?"

"Yes."

Harrison handed the paper to the judge. "Will Livonia recover?"

"The doctors don't believe she will. She was severely beaten. Her poor body may not be able to regain any strength."

"And Mama Rose?"

"The doctors take care of her while she sits in the chair. It was against hospital rules to let her sleep there, but after one or two days, the nurses saw her kindness and they carried in a cot for her to sleep on. It's going to take her a while to recover, but she's getting the best of care."

Harrison turned to Adam. Mary Rose's eldest brother looked frantic. His hands were flat on the table, and he was about to jump to his feet.

Harrison waited until Adam was looking at him, and then he slowly nodded. The brother immediately calmed down again. Adam remembered Harrison was going to nod when he lied.

Cole's hand had gone to his empty gunbelt, and he was thinking hard about snatching his gun from Burns's table and putting a bullet through Lionel's heart. He too saw Harrison 's nod and quickly pulled himself together again.

When he nodded, it meant he was lying. Cole had to repeat what Adam had said three times before his breathing settled down.

"Tell the jury who was responsible for beating Livonia."

"Lionel Adderley."

There were several loud mutters in the room. Harrison ignored the noise and turned to Lionel. "Like father, like son."