Before the Dawn by Beverly Jenkins
“Back off!” he shouted.
The barking ceased instantaneously. They were given the space they needed to get down from the buggy, but the men immediately pounced again, many of them pushing and shoving. Ryder threw a protective arm around Leah and guided her through the gauntlet toward the doors of the courthouse.
Inside proved no friendlier. The small courtroom was packed with lawyers, the press, and spectators. An area of seating in the back had been segregated from the rest with rope, and inside it sat the few Blacks in attendance. Leah was glad to see Eloise and the Reverend Garrison; she was not pleased to see Seth, Helene, or Cordelia. Sam and Mable waved, but Ryder hustled her to the front, where Daniel Morton stood waiting, so she didn’t get a chance to speak to anyone.
Daniel gave Leah a smile as she approached. “Good morning, Mrs. Montague. Are you ready?”
Leah nodded. “Thank you for taking this on.”
“You’re welcome. This is possibly my most interesting case to date. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He then turned to Ryder. “Mr. Damien, I’m going to ask you to sit behind us, if you would.”
“Whatever you say.” Ryder gave Leah’s shoulder a departing squeeze of support, then took his seat.
Leah could see the lawyers at the other table silently evaluating her, but she paid them no mind. She concentrated instead upon listening to her lawyer’s last-minute instructions.
When the judge entered a few moments later, everyone quieted. It was the same man who’d presided over the case the last time. She didn’t know if his presence would work in her favor or not.
The judge looked out at both sides, then said to Leah, “Mrs. Montague, you’ve got some pretty powerful friends to be able to get this case reviewed.”
Leah had no idea what kind of response he expected her to give, so she didn’t offer one.
He added, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone come to the aid of a Colored woman this way. Makes me feel good about this country. This your back East lawyer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s your name, son?”
Daniel answered.
“You’re pretty young for something like this aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m prepared.”
The judge smiled. “Glad to hear it.”
“Mr. Earle?” the judge then called.
A tall, thin, impeccably dressed man seated at the other table stood. “I’m Jacob Earle.”
The judge looked him up and down. “You got your ducks in a row?”
“Yes, sir, and it’s our opinion—”
The judge cut him off. “You’ll have plenty of time to give me your opinion in a minute. Who are you representing?”
Earle rattled off a list of about fifteen businesses and names. Leah assumed they were the creditors trying to keep their share of the estate.
The judge wrote something down. “All right, Mr. Earle, let’s hear your side.”
Earle stood. He primped importantly for a moment and then began. “Your Honor, not only do we see no clear reason for your first, well-rendered judgment to be overturned, but we question this woman’s right even to inherit Mr. Montague’s estate.”
“Why’s that?” the judge asked.
“We don’t think the marriage is legal.”
The crowd began to buzz. Leah stiffened. Were they going to make her confess to having married Monty on his deathbed? She wanted to turn and judge Ryder’s reaction but kept her attention focused forward.
Earle was saying, “I’d like to call Mr. Seth Montague to the stand.”
Leah could see people craning around to get a look at this first witness. Seth silently made his way to the front. He was sworn in and instructed to sit in the witness chair.
Earle opened the examination by having Seth state his name and his connections to the Montague estate. “So you’re Montague’s only legitimate child?” Earle asked when Seth was done.
“I am, sir.”
“Tell us what you know about the woman calling herself your late father’s widow.”
“I know nothing. Well let me amend that, I do know she’s having an illicit affair with my half brother, but other than that—” Seth shrugged.
Daniel jumped to his feet. “Objection, Your Honor!”
The judge nodded. “Mr. Montague, stick to the straight and narrow, we’re not here for gossip.”
Earle disagreed. “But Your Honor, this speaks to the widow’s overall character. It’s one of the cornerstones of our case.”
The judge seemed to ignore him. “Straight and narrow, gentlemen.”
Daniel sat. His face mirrored his anger.
Jacob Earle went on. He asked Seth when he’d first met Leah.
“I met her the day she arrived.”
“Did she seem to be grieving over her husband’s death?”
“She appeared to be, but she didn’t rebuff me when I volunteered to show her around.”
“So, she attended some social functions with you?”
“Yes, we had lunch also.”
Earle turned to the judge. “Widows are supposed to be reclusive, not kicking up their heels all over Denver, your honor. Mr. Montague, thank you.”
The judge looked to Daniel who responded by saying, “I’ve a question or two for Mr. Montague, Your Honor.”
“Go to it.”
Daniel walked over to Seth and said, “Mr. Montague, did you have any ulterior motives for squiring around your stepmother when she first came to town?”
Seth looked genuinely offended. “Of course not, I was being a gentleman. She claimed to be my father’s widow, I treated her accordingly.”
“So you weren’t doing this in hopes of gaining her heart so you could gain access to your father’s estate.”
Earle jumped up. “Objection, Your Honor.”
Daniel said, “Your Honor, I’m not impugning the witness, I’m simply trying determine what type of man Mr. Montague considers himself to be. If he says he was just being gentlemanly, I believe him.”
The judge gave Daniel a warning look then told Earle, “Objection overruled, but son, this better be going somewhere.”
“It is, Your Honor.”
“Continue.”
“All right, Mr. Montague we’ve established that you’re a gentleman, or at least you consider yourself one. Am I correct?”
“You are correct.”
“Then why in heaven’s name are you so deep in debt?”
Earle jumped to his feet, yelling his objections, but Daniel proceeded to read the names of Seth’s creditors from a handwritten list two pages long. The spectators added their decibels to the din, and the judge pounded his gavel, yelling for order.
Finally, quiet settled over the courtroom and Judge Moss looked at Daniel Morton and said, “Son—”
“Your Honor, Mr. Earle put Mr. Montague on the stand as someone capable of judging Mrs. Montague’s character. I just wanted to show that character’s in the eye of the beholder.”
“Don’t you ever disrupt my courtroom like that again. You hear me?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Daniel looked to the visibly furious Seth and said coolly, “You may return to your seat.”
Leah wanted to cheer.
For the next hour or so they heard from the various parties who’d claimed financial injury in the original case thirty years ago. There were suppliers, former employers, and business associates. On the surface the claims seemed ironclad. According to the law, the original judgment had to be brought before the Colorado court once a decade, and Mr. Earle’s father, one of the original plaintiffs, had done that. When he died, five years ago, his son took up the gauntlet.
Judge Moss asked a question. “Mr. Earle did you send notice to the Massachusetts court that this judgment was on the books here?”
“I did, Your Honor, but we only learned of Mr. Montague’s whereabouts a few weeks before he died.”
“How?”
E
Leah knew that meant someone in the telegraph office had alerted Earle. She wondered if that was against the law.
Judge Moss continued, “So why didn’t the court in Massachusetts enforce the judgment?”
“By the time we got all the documents in order, Mr. Montague’s money had already been put into an account set up for Mrs. Montague.”
“I see. Continue.”
Earle then called a few more of the claimants to the stand. Daniel remained silent but had a question for the last witness, a man who claimed to have been swindled out of thousands of dollars because he’d taken Monty’s investment advice. “Mr. Carson, when did you get this advice?”
“September of ’56.”
“Yet, Mr. Montague left Colorado in June.”
“That’s what he wanted everybody to believe, but he was still taking investments in the Faith Mine that September.”
“This was the mine he owned, am I correct?”
Carson nodded.
“Are you sure that money went to Mr. Montague?”
“Sure, I’m sure. He sent me a receipt. I kept it all these years. Mr. Earle has it now.”
Daniel looked to the judge and said, “Your Honor, I’d like to see Mr. Carson’s receipt if I may?”
The judge nodded. Mr. Earle searched through his documents and handed over the small yellowed letter.
Daniel scanned the document for a long few moments, then asked Carson, “Is this your receipt?”
“Yep. It has Montague’s signature on the bottom.”
“Had you ever seen Mr. Montague’s signature before receiving this letter?”
“No, I was a first-time investor.”
“So you don’t truly know if he signed this?”
Carson thought a moment, then admitted, “No, I don’t, but—”
Daniel cut him off. “Thank you, Mr. Carson. Your honor, I submit that Mr. Louis Montague didn’t sign any of these letters or bills. If I can get you to compare the signature on Mr. Carson’s receipt with this signature on his will, you’ll see that although they’re very similar, they aren’t the same.”
All hell broke loose in the courtroom at this startling turn of events. Earle started yelling objections. The plaintiffs were on their feet protesting, and Leah was inwardly smiling. Monty’s old friend, Judge Raddock had indeed sent her a worthy representative.
The judge was banging his gavel trying to restore order. Leah turned around and met Ryder’s smile. Daniel Morton on the other hand was standing patiently.
Silence finally prevailed. The judge took the two documents from Daniel and peered at each one closely.
Daniel added, “If you’d concentrate on the letter G, Your Honor, you’ll see that they’re written differently. Again they’re very close in nature, but Mr. Montague didn’t pen the signature on Mr. Carson’s letter.”
The judge looked up. “Then who did?”
Daniel shrugged. “Someone who made quite a bit of profit thirty years ago by fraudulently using Mr. Montague’s name.”
Leah knew that both Seth and Ryder were too young at the time to be guilty, so that only left—
“I’d like to call Helene Sejours to the stand,” Daniel announced.
Whispers ricocheted through the crowd. Helene stood. Her blue eyes were steel-hard as she stepped up to be sworn in. Leah wondered if Helene would lie under oath?
Daniel asked her who she was and what relationship if any she had with the deceased Louis Montague.
“He was married to my sister, so that made me his sister-in-law.”
“After your sister’s death, you raised Seth, am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Explain that please?” Helene asked.
“By how, I mean, what was the source of your income?”
“I made my money on mine futures and investments.”
“From where?”
“The Faith Mine.”
“But according to the documents on file here in the courthouse, Mr. Montague left that mine and the house you’re living in to his other son, Ryder. How did you get possession?”
Helene seemed calm. Leah sensed Ryder leaning forward as if he were particularly interested in her answer.
Helene stated, “I knew the mine wouldn’t last long in the hands of an ignorant Indian, so I paid her off and took control, in Seth’s name.”
“And who was this ‘ignorant’Indian you are referring to?”
“Ryder’s grandmother, Little Tears.”
“How much did you give her in exchange for a mine that was bringing in a profit of over ten thousand dollars a month.”
Helene appeared smug.
“Fifty dollars and a promise to pay for his schooling.”
The crowd reacted with gasps. Some in attendance laughed at Helene’s cleverness.
The judge banged the gavel.
When it was quiet again, Daniel echoed skeptically, “Fifty dollars?”
Helene responded proudly, “Yes.”
“And did you sign your brother-in-law’s name to any documents in Seth name?”
“No.”
She was lying. Daniel knew it; the judge knew it; everyone in the courtroom, including Mr. Earle, knew it. However Daniel didn’t press her any further. “Thank you, Miss Sejours, you may step down.”
The judge asked Earle, “Do you have any questions for the witness?”
The nattily dressed barrister shook his head. “No, Your Honor.”
Mr. Earle, like everyone in attendance, realized the air was slowly leaking out of his case. Daniel Morton had cast enough doubt upon the validity of Monty’s signature to call into question the legitimacy of all the other claims. Daniel might have been young, but he was good.
Daniel looked to the judge. “In the face of what we’ve just learned, I respectfully submit that the thirty-year judgment against my client’s late husband has been proven to be illegitimate based upon the fraudulent signatures on the documents set before this court.”
The judge told him, “I’ll take it all under advisement when I make my final ruling, Mr. Morton.”
He then turned to Mr. Earle. “Mr. Earle, unless you have any objections, I’d like to get some lunch.”
Earle sighed. “That’s fine, Your Honor.”
The judge banged his gavel. “This court is in recess until one o’clock.”
As the judge stood and departed, noise swept the courtroom. Leah slumped back against her seat weak with relief.
Daniel looked her way and smiled. “Almost home.”
From behind them, Ryder asked, “Will they put Mrs. Montague on the stand next?”
Daniel nodded. “Probably. Earle doesn’t have much else, but if I were he, I’d be filing papers against the Sejours woman. It’s obvious she’s at the center of this whole affair.”
Ryder looked up in time to see Helene and Seth making their way to the door. Helene’s white-powdered face was stiff with anger as she tried to force her way past the barking pack of newspaper reporters. The press wasn’t being the least bit cooperative. They had her and Seth hemmed in and were shouting questions at her as if she were running for political office.
Leah’s party slipped out of a side door and reconvened in Ryder’s office, where Sam, Eloise, and Mable waited with a prepared lunch of sandwiches, coffee, and pie. As they ate, Ryder said to Daniel, “How’d you know about the signatures?”
“I didn’t. I was bluffing.”
Leah’s eyes widened. “Bluffing?”
Daniel nodded around the pie in his mouth. “When Carson said his letter was dated in September, I knew I was on to something. One of the most valuable lessons I learned in school was that if you don’t have a case, dance around until you find something to waltz with. In this case I found a grand partner.”
Ryder shook his head with amazement. Had Helene really forged Louis’s signature? He supposed she’d looked upon he
Eloise then asked a question they’d all been thinking about, “So, does this mean Helene is responsible for the threatening letter Leah received also?”
No one knew.
When the court proceedings recommenced, Ryder stood at the back of the room with Sam. Word of the morning’s revelations must have spread like wildfire because there wasn’t a seat to spare. There were dozens more people in attendance now. Ryder and Sam wanted to be near the exit so that when the hearing ended one of them could hustle out and retrieve the rig while the other worked to spirit her out of here as quickly as possible.
Daniel had been correct. Mr. Earle called Leah to the stand as his first witness of the afternoon.
“Your name please, ma’am?”
“Leah Jane Barnett Montague.”
“According to your marriage certificate you married Mr. Montague when?”
Leah gave him the date.
“And when did your husband die?”
Leah glanced back at Ryder, then replied, “The same night.”
Ryder stiffened with amazement as the crowd reacted noisily. Had he been correct? Was she really nothing but a scheming adventuress? Even Sam looked distressed.
The judge’s gavel sounded. “Quiet down!” he demanded. “Or I’ll have you all removed!”
The room grew silent.
Mr. Earle was smiling at Leah like a patient shark. “So, tell us where you worked before you married, or allegedly married, your husband.”
“I owned a tavern.”
“A tavern previously owned by your mother, am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“What was the nature of your mother’s relationship with your late husband?”
Once again, Leah’s eyes slid to Ryder’s, and the ice she saw reflected there burned coldly into her soul. “They were companions.”