Chapter XVI
AS MAE RETRACED her steps back toward home, the chill winter air cleared her muddled mind.
What could she do to get Simon back once she was in Kansas?
She had to work through this plan logistically.
They would need to prove that Simon was her son.
She had to prove that the judge had ruled incorrectly against her.
Simon’s case was very similar to Lily’s.
She needed to draft a similar motion. Then she needed to see Judge Matthews.
He would sign off on the motion if for no other reason but respect for Henry.
She could get the case vacated if she could just reach him.
Yes… She could file for restoration of custody.
Her mind turned over the various case law that she had read just last week.
It had something to do with the natural rights of the parent…
If she could show that Simon's removal for truancy didn’t meet the requirements for negligence, she might be able to sway the judge…
She had found it before. The precise gap. She had sat in the law library three days ago and watched ink pool at a single word.
* * *
Before The Note
Mae pored through the volume. Removing her notebook from her bag, she jotted down various important notes and details regarding more recent cases and their imposing limitations on the Court’s authority.
After reviewing the digests and their summaries, Mae pinpointed the exact cases that she wanted to read through fully.
Using her citations, she pursued the section of reporters to find the volumes that aligned with her citations.
Looking at the stack of reporters that lay on the desk, she settled down to investigate the reasoning more thoroughly. As she opened the first volume and zeroed in on the page number, she felt a presence hovering over her seated frame while a shadow appeared on the page before her.
“Finding everything alright, Ma’am?” She jumped at the sudden break in silence coming from over her left shoulder. She found the librarian leaning over her to get a better look at the reporter laid out in front of her.
“Y-yes,” she stammered, trying to collect herself. “Thank you.”
The librarian ambled back to his desk. Mae looked at the four volumes on the desk and then at the clock ticking away at the far end of the room. It was past noon—she’d been here for over an hour now, and she had yet to read a full opinion.
She scanned the page she had opened to. If she could find the right wording, it could be the case’s linchpin.
Henry excelled at arguing in court, but Mae knew most cases were won long before a judge entered the room.
A single line placed in the right motion could force an opponent to defend something he had never intended to explain.
Refocusing on the initial verbiage, her neck craned forward as her eyes widened and focused on the text:
The child was taken into custody … temporary absence of a parent… papers before us are incomplete. … authority of the Children’s Court may be presumed …
Mae quickly copied down the section in her notepad, ensuring that the citation was thoroughly transcribed.
As her pen tip lingered on the page, a pool of ink welled at the word ‘presumed.’ If presumption was all the court needed for removal, how could any mother fight it? She snapped the volume shut.
As she prepared to leave, she considered whether to bring the volumes back to the librarian’s desk. Glancing in his direction, she caught the librarian watching her over the rim of his glasses. She left the volumes on the desk instead and walked out.
* * *
If presumption was all the court needed for removal, then a challenge to the presumption was all she needed to crack it open. She had found this for Lily Kerr. She could use it for Simon.
The more she walked, the more solidified the plan became in her mind.
She must get to the courthouse. But first, she must see to it that she had all of the pertinent information that she would need to argue her case.
She could swing into the courthouse law library.
It would only take an hour at most. That would give her plenty of time to make it over to the courthouse and find the judge.
After amending her direction, Mae arrived at the library.
As she pushed open the heavy walnut door, the smell of musty books filled her nose.
This dark, cavernous repository had always been her refuge.
The familiar tick of the overhead clock welcomed her like an old friend as she crossed the foyer to sign the logbook.
Returning to the familiar card catalog, her hands hovered over the drawer labeled ‘CHILDREN — NEGLECT / CUSTODY.’ Pulling the length of it out with both hands, she noted that there were fewer cards than the last time she had been here.
The drawer was still heavy, but she remembered feeling taxed trying to get it over to the research desk last time.
Today, she could balance it with one hand.
Setting it down, she flipped through each card quicker than the last, looking for the Children’s Court Act of 1902.
As she approached the cases that held the ‘C’ cards, she saw that it jumped from Andrews to McGrath.
She tilted her head to the side and bit down on her nail.
She went to the front of the file to find the cross-reference cards.
Maybe the library had moved the cases to another drawer…
These cards were gone too. That’s strange…
A hush fell over the library and suddenly the clock was ticking too loudly.
She knew the cards had been there the other day.
She shoved the drawer back into the catalog rack and pulled out the next most likely drawer.
This time she didn’t remove it entirely, just scanned through the cards stuffed tightly together.
This drawer didn’t hold any neglect cases.
Or custody cases at all, for that matter.
Slamming the drawer back into its home, she whirled around and caught a jacketed arm slipping between the last two rows of card catalog registers containing all of the obsolete and overruled cases.
Had the cards been purposefully removed?
She shook her head to herself and rolled her shoulders.
That would be inconceivable. It had to be.
She told herself—twice—as bile rose in her throat.
The silence that usually comforted Mae became unbearably loud. A faint rustling of pages could be heard from somewhere to her left as the gas lights hummed. Her stomach continued to turn over while she struggled to reason out why else the cards would be missing.
As she waited for the librarian, Mae thought of Simon.
While she was researching case law, he was all alone on a train headed for who knows where.
Time in this library had always soothed her, but as she hovered near the reference desk, the ticking of the clock tore at her nerves instead of soothing them.
The consistent beat took on the tone of a countdown and had her toe tapping in rhythm on the polished floor.
She turned around to check the time. As she noticed the hand click over another minute mark, footsteps sounded from behind her. She spun around, gripping the desk with sweaty hands.
Mae breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the librarian as she rounded the doorway of the office. She smiled pleasantly, and a gleam of recognition came to the librarian’s eyes as well. “And how are the cases going with you today, Miss?” she inquired congenially.
“Well, em… I was in just the other day…” Mae wasn’t sure how she should phrase her concerns.
“Yes, I remember. You were ruminating over the child custody cases, if my memory serves me?” Again, she threw Mae a knowing smile that brightened her entire face.
Mae hesitated. “I seem to have lost track of where I found the cases from the other day. Would you happen to know where to find the Children’s Court Act of 1902? I must be looking in the wrong card drawer.” She blushed as if the misfiled cards were her fault.
“Oh, not a problem…” She marched out from behind the desk and motioned Mae to follow. “I believe I know the digest for that case. Please follow me.”
Mae followed the woman’s swift and confident stride down along the rows of Digests and stopped so abruptly that Mae almost ran into the back of her.
“Here we are…” She slid a book from its place and flipped it open on the research desk a few feet away.
Her fingers skimmed through the thin, yellowing pages and landed momentarily on the ‘Domestic Relations’ section, then immediately went to the ‘Custody’ subdivision.
Mae should have tapped into this resourceful woman straight away.
She was like a walking and talking card catalog.
The librarian turned back to her and smiled again. “Were there any other cases that I might help you with, Miss?”
“I was also looking for several of the other cases that I had pulled, but the names seem to elude me at the moment…” Mae relayed sheepishly. “I think the name began with an M?”
“Barry v. Mercein?” the woman supplied readily.
“Yes!” Mae's face lit up as the name clicked back into her mind. “There was another one as well… It related to the demonstration of parental fitness.”
“Ah, yes…” the woman touched her finger to her chin as her eyes glazed over in thought. “Perhaps Doyle or De Laney?”
“Doyle… That sounds correct.”
“If you’d like, you can begin your notations, and I will search out the other volumes and bring them to you?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you very much!” Mae's gratitude to this woman felt like a lifeline after struggling to keep afloat. As she began her notes, she started to think methodically. She knew these case law findings would bolster her appeal. She couldn’t keep from mirroring the woman’s brisk certainty.