83: Court Continues

They found themselves in a small anteroom where evidently speakers or actors gathered before going on stage. There was a sofa and a few folding chairs and a small table on which were placed a couple pitchers of water and several glasses. Finrod went directly to the table and poured himself a glass before turning to face the others. His gaze flicked from Amroth to Artemus to Judge Harrison and then to Glorfindel before returning to Amroth.

"Who was Bradford?" he asked as he took a seat in one of the chairs, thereby implicitly allowing the others to find seats of their own. Only Artemus and the judge sat. All the others stood with the Twins guarding the door from which they had entered and the two other spear-carriers standing at another door that presumably led to the stage.

Amroth sighed. "I first met Sam Bradford some sixty-odd years ago during the war. We were both in Germany. He was in military intelligence and I was a smuggler."

Several eyebrows went up and Amroth gave them a thin smile. "I was helping to smuggle Jews and others out of German-controlled territory. Had I been caught, I would have been summarily executed. I was able to pass as Aryan because of my coloring."

"I do not understand all that you are saying," Finrod announced, "but it matters not. I’m sure Glorfindel or others can fill me in later. Pray continue, my lord."

"Well, as I said, I met Bradford in the course of my... um... activities. We happened to meet by accident, as they say, and as our goals appeared to coincide for a while, we continued to work together. But, as in all things pertaining to war, we eventually went our separate ways. It was probably three or four years later that I met him again in Nuremburg during the war crime trials. We struck up a peacetime friendship. He was probably the first real friend I had allowed myself to have in a very long time."

He paused, looking immeasurably sad. Glorfindel poured him some water which he accepted with thanks. After taking a few sips, he continued his narrative. "I made a mistake," he said baldly and with no emotion. "I became careless and in an unguarded moment, revealed to him who and what I truly was. I trusted him as a friend, but he did not return the favor. Instead, he blackmailed me into joining him at the Agency, which was not the Agency as we know it today, for there was no Homeland Security then, but it did have ties with OSS, the precursor of today’s CIA."

"How did he blackmail you?" Finrod asked.

"He told me he had created certain files describing our conversations concerning the nature of Elves, their abilities, their history and their relationship with humans. He told me that if I didn’t join him in working as a spy, he would release those files to certain people and I would find myself under arrest and taken to a lab where they would take me apart to see what made me tick."

"And you believed him," Finrod said.

"I had no choice but to believe him. He showed me the files, or at least some of them. They were very damning. As I said, I was careless, trusting the wrong person, and I paid for that for the next fifty years or so."

"And then Bradford disappeared about the same time as you did, if I’m not mistaken," Finrod commented.

"I was in Tel Aviv," Artemus volunteered. "I was coordinating a project with Mossad when word came down that Bradford never arrived in Geneva for his high-power conference with his foreign counterparts. I never even learned of Elwood’s supposed death until almost a month after the fact when I returned to the States. When Bradford disappeared, though, an alert went out to all the agents and to our allies. We never found him. He was eventually declared legally dead by his family."

"Were you responsible for Bradford’s disappearance, my lord?" Finrod asked.

"I would caution you not to say anything incriminating, Amroth," Judge Harrison interjected. "Murder has no statute of limitations."

"But a body was never found, so it cannot be proved that it was murder," Glorfindel stated, "but I agree with James, Amroth. Say nothing to incriminate yourself."

"Farrell will do that for me," Amroth said.

"He has no actual proof," Glorfindel reminded him. "He doesn’t even have a body. It’s his word against yours. That you had a history with Bradford and faked your own death around the time of his disappearance can be seen as mere coincidence and any good lawyer would say so."

"What do you know of Bradford, Mr. Meriwether?" Finrod asked.

Artemus shrugged. "Nothing. I never actually met the man, though I knew who he was. I saw him and Amroth speaking once but I never heard their conversation. They appeared to be friends and I didn’t really think about it. I never made the connection between Bradford’s disappearance and Elwood’s death, for I believed he was indeed dead. Only recently have I begun putting certain pieces together, but, as Glorfindel has pointed out, no body, no proof."

"At the grotto, Farrell insisted he knew Amroth’s secret, that Bradford confided in him," Glorfindel said. "I have to assume that the secret is the fact that Amroth is an Elf."

"Which is an open secret here in Wiseman," Judge Harrison said with a grin.

"It had always puzzled me why Farrell was so insistent that Amroth be eliminated and that I should be the one to do it," Artemus said, "for those were not my orders when I left Washington. I keep wondering if Maddy knew about Farrell’s relationship with Bradford and allowed him free reign to wreak his revenge on Amroth in the belief that he was responsible for his uncle’s disappearance. If that’s so, then something is very rotten in Denmark."

"Your words make little sense, for I do not know this Denmark, but your meaning is clear enough," Finrod said. He paused for a long moment, clearly thinking, for his brows were furrowed and his gaze was on his lap. Finally, he looked up. "We will continue with this court. Valandur, Daeron, continue with your questioning of Lord Amroth, but let us leave Bradford out of it for now. I will eventually call Mr. Farrell back for questioning and then we will see what he has to say. I doubt that his revelation will be much of one to the good people of Wiseman, but we will allow him his moment of glory, as it were, before we put him in his place. Also, I wish for Madison Washburn to testify."

"We did not think to ask for her statement," Daeron said. "Indeed, we did not think she would cooperate."

"Nevertheless, we will call her to an accounting," Finrod said coldly.

"When?" Valandur asked.

"Let us first have testimony concerning the kidnapping of my son and the others and then we will call her," Finrod replied and the two Questioners nodded.

"What questions should we ask her, though?" Daeron asked. "She was never involved with what happened here."

"You might ask her about Shanna Machell and what really happened to her," Artemus said, quickly explaining the circumstances of his contacting her and then learning of her death. "You can ask her if she ever knew about Farrell and Bradford’s relationship. I was never sure that any of my emails reached her, for she rarely replied to them except to say that I was to continue as I was until further notice."

Valandur and Daeron looked to Finrod who nodded as he stood. The judge and Artemus followed suit. "Those questions and others certainly should be asked of the Deputy Director," he said. "Well, let us return to court. Erestor, you may announce us. Mr. Meriwether, Judge Harrison, you may return to your seats. Lord Amroth, please join us, for your testimony is not yet complete."

Artemus nodded and left with the judge. Harrison stopped to speak with Michaelson and Graff and Artemus wended his way past a number of people who were standing around talking. He saw Derek and Zach still seated. They looked up at his approach.

"So, what’s the deal?" Derek asked.

"The deal is that the show goes on," Artemus answered and even as he took his seat, Erestor was striding across the stage, banging with his staff, calling everyone to order. Once the hall was quiet, the anteroom door opened and everyone rose as Finrod came out, this time first with the four spear-carriers bringing up the rear. Standing before his throne, he bade everyone to be seated.

"We will continue this court," Finrod said after everyone was settled. "Mr. Farrell will be brought in later, once he has time to calm down, for there are questions only he can answer. In the meantime, we will continue with Lord Amroth’s testimony. My lords," he nodded to Valandur and Daeron as he sat on his throne.

After a moment of quiet consultation between the two Questioners, Daeron addressed Amroth. "My lord, if you would tell us about your relationship with Mr. Meriwether and Mr. Farrell."

"Meriwether was one of my prize pupils and I treated him as if he were my own son," Amroth stated. "I trained him and did what I could to protect him from spiritual harm, for the lives of agents are often brutal and short and they are forced to do things most people would consider repugnant and even evil. Of Mr. Farrell, I can tell you nothing, for I never met him, nor did I know he was an employee of the Agency until he showed up in Wiseman."

"Thank you, my lord," Valandur said. "We will excuse you for the moment as we now wish to discuss the events which occurred on Monday of this week. There are many key witnesses to what happened and we will take them one at a time and in chronological order. To begin with, we call Mr. Zachary Austin."

Zach fairly leaped to his feet at the sound of his name. His testimony, such as it was, was very short but from there the Questioners moved on to Derek’s testimony, then they called Fred Steiner, who gave his rendition of what happened at the farm. Calandil and Elennen were called together, along with Findalaurë who stepped from beside his father’s throne to join his gwedyr. They described their part in the action and then Artemus was recalled. He mainly corroborated everyone else’s testimony, then explained his part in the fracas at the grotto. The final testimony was given by Glorfindel, who described the Elves rescuing Derek and Zach and then the confrontation with Farrell, Amroth’s attempt at diverting Farrell and the subsequent shooting of Finrod.

All this time, the audience hardly stirred, enthralled by the telling of the events, most of which had been unknown to them, save for some rather garbled rumors. When Glorfindel finished his testimony, he resumed his place on Finrod’s left. Finrod nodded to Valandur and Daeron. Valandur stood.

"We have heard the testimonies of all but two people concerning the events of this past Monday. One is Mr. Farrell and I believe he will be returned to court now, my lord?"

Finrod nodded, looking at the officers who still stood behind the other three agents. "Please bring Mr. Farrell back in."

There was a long pause and then a rather subdued Farrell was brought in and made to sit. "Mr. Farrell, we will allow you to speak soon, but for the moment, we ask that you curb your temper and remain silent during the rest of these proceedings. My lords, call your next witness."

"The Crown calls Deputy Director Madison Washburn," Valandur said in a ringing voice.

"What?!" Maddy Washburn jumped from her seat.

"If you would please come up here, Deputy Director," Valandur said, "we would appreciate it."

"I will not!" Maddy exclaimed. "I do not recognize this as a legitimate court of law. You have no right."

Artemus was tempted to call out and dare her to give testimony but wisely kept silent. He saw Sanderson plucking at Maddy’s sleeve. She bent down to hear what he had to say and then straightened, her expression still one of anger.

"Very well, I will answer your questions." She made her way to the front of the stage. Judge Harrison was there with the bible, but she merely sneered at him. "I will not be sworn in. This is not a legal court. Don’t worry, though. I won’t lie but neither will I say anything that may threaten the security of our country."

"Fair enough," Finrod said. "If you would, Deputy Director." He gestured for her to climb the steps and she complied.

Daeron asked the first question. "Please tell us about Shanna Machell," he said.

Artemus saw the woman start and turn a sour look his way. He merely shrugged, as if to say that he had nothing to do with it. After a few seconds she answered. "Shanna Machell was an employee of the Agency. She wasn’t a field agent, though she had been trained as such. Her greatest asset was her research and analytical skills. She died in a car accident earlier this month."

"What relationship did she have with Mr. Meriwether or Mr. Farrell?" Valandur asked.

"As far as I know, she had no relationship with either man."

"Surely, she must have known them or known of them," Daeron retorted. "I understand that Mr. Meriwether sent her an email asking for information about Mr. Farrell. What can you tell us about that?"

Again, Maddy cast a dark look Artemus’ way before answering. "She came to me, showing me a copy of the email, asking my advice. I told her to forget about it, that it wasn’t her concern, that I would handle it."

"But, of course, we know that you didn’t, did you, Maddy?"

Everyone turned at the sound of the dark, melodious voice. Artemus recognized it and his eyes widened as he saw ‘Nate’ striding down the center aisle. He was still sporting the black duster and wide-brimmed hat, but he had changed his jeans and flannel shirt for black slacks and a black silk dress shirt with a white tie. Finrod immediately stood and so did every Elf. Artemus, Derek and Zach found themselves standing as well, though the rest of the Mortals just sat, many of them looking on with curiosity or puzzlement.

Artemus saw Maddy pale at the sight of Nate and wondered if she might have had her own confrontation with him. That thought intrigued him and he watched with interest as Nate climbed the steps and Maddy moved back out of his way. Finrod bowed deeply.

"My lord, you honor Us with your presence, but We are somewhat confused as to why you are here."

Nate, or rather Námo, removed his hat, giving the Elf prince a smile. "Let us just say that I’m here to keep certain people honest." He glanced briefly toward Maddy who paled even more. "Now, I believe you were in the middle of questioning Ms Washburn about her actions, or lack of them, with regards to Shanna Machell."

Before Finrod could reply, a Man in the audience stood up. "And just who is this person and why are you all so agog at his presence?"

Námo turned to face the audience, his expression one of amusement. "My name, for the moment, is Nate. I have other names by which I am known to certain people, but for now Nate will suffice."

"And just what is your part in all this?" the Man asked, giving him a suspicious look. "Why weren’t you here from the beginning?"

"You are out of line, Tom Peterson," Glorfindel said coldly as he stepped forward to stand next to Námo.

"Am I? Am I, indeed?" Peterson retorted. "I think we have the right to know who this… gentleman is and why he is here, especially when you all are acting as if he were someone important, calling him ‘my lord’ and all."

Artemus watched as Námo cast a sidelong glance at Glorfindel, who shrugged, and then addressed the suspicious Peterson. "Well, I suppose it was inevitable. We have endeavored to keep our presence undetected by most of you, but I think the time has come to introduce myself as I truly am. I am Námo, Lord of Mandos, and a Vala, what you might consider an archangel."

Peterson snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, sure."

Námo smiled and Artemus did not think it was a warm smile. "Your disbelief is understandable but misplaced. Very well, if you desire proof…."

There was a moment in which Námo stood perfectly still and then his features seemed to shift and in place of the slacks, shirt and duster, he was now wearing a black velvet tunic with a matching open-front robe. Instead of the wide-brimmed hat, his head was graced with an intricately carved coronet with a single large ruby in its center and his long hair was braided with opals and pearls. Every Mortal there gasped in shock. Peterson, Artemus noticed, looked as if he were about to faint, but Námo was not yet done with any of them.

"This is how I generally appear to incarnates but in my true form…."

There was a sudden flash of multi-colored lights that blinded them all and brought screams to a number of throats. It lasted only a second or two and then the lights were gone and in their place was Námo in his Nate disguise. A few of the Mortals had fainted outright and were being looked after by those around them, but many were on their knees, their expressions ones of awe. Only the Elves seemed unaffected by Námo’s display. Artemus, Derek and Zach were blinking rapidly to clear their sight but remained seated.

Námo frowned and shook his head. "Do not kneel to me, my children. Kneel only to the One who created us all. Now, get up off the floor. I don’t think it’s been cleaned recently."

The very incongruousness of that statement startled the Mortals to their feet and they were now looking embarrassed. Námo turned to Finrod. "I apologize for disrupting your court."

"No apologies are necessary, my lord," Finrod said with a gracious bow of his head.

Artemus took a quick look across to where the prisoners were. Armstrong, Pegg and Grieve were as stunned-looking as the rest, but Farrell had no expression at all and Artemus wondered about that. Námo, meantime, had moved to stand between Findalaurë and the Questioners and Finrod asked everyone to be seated so they could continue with court.

"I believe, Deputy Director, you were going to explain about Shanna Machell," Daeron said at Finrod’s nod.

For a moment, Maddy just stood there, then she sighed. "I failed her," she said softly, closing her eyes briefly. "Shanna died because of my negligence. She did not follow my orders but went ahead and checked out Farrell for Meriwether. Someone, I haven’t learned who, discovered what she was doing and… and arranged for the accident that took her life and the lives of three others. After her death, I accessed her computer and found notes which she evidently was collecting about Farrell. They were incomplete and when I had our computer geeks check her computer out, I was informed that certain files had been erased. I have no idea what those files contained, but I decided that Shanna had to answer Meriwether and so I sent him an email saying there was no information about Farrell."

"What reason did you have to send that particular email?" Daeron asked.

"I figured it would buy me time to find out what was really going on," Maddy answered. "I could not prove it, but I had the feeling that I was being stonewalled by certain people higher up when I went looking for answers."

"Did you send Mr. Farrell to Wiseman, knowing who he was?" Valandur asked.

Maddy shook her head. "I never sent Farrell or the other eight agents. I sent just one agent and that was Artemus Gordon Meriwether."

"Yet you told Mr. Meriwether that you would send other agents as back up," Daeron insisted.

"And so I had planned to do, but it would’ve been only one or two agents and then I decided at the last minute to wait and see what Meriwether discovered."

"Then who sent Mr. Farrell and the others?" Finrod asked.

"And who sent me the list of the agents' email addresses and why?" Artemus asked from his seat. "I always assumed the list came from you, Deputy Director."

"That’s what I was trying to find out when Shanna Machell died and everything began going pear-shaped around me," Maddy replied with some bitterness. "I had to be careful, though, for I was never sure who was on my side or not. I was sure I was not receiving Meriwether’s emails, or at least, not receiving them in their original forms. I had a friend of mine check that out. Apparently, someone was diverting my emails from Meriwether, and other agents, then resending them in modified form, so that certain information that should’ve been given to me was not. However, one email did get through without being tampered with." She turned to face Artemus. "The one where you mentioned the termination order, an order I never authorized."

Artemus raised an eyebrow and nodded. Maddy turned back to face Valandur and Daeron. "That’s when I decided I needed to check things for myself and came here. The rest you know."

"Do you know why that one email reached you untampered when none of the others did?" Námo asked before either Valandur or Daeron could open their mouths.

"Frankly, no, and at first I thought it was another diverted email but the wording was not the same as the others. Meriwether has a certain way of saying things and it suddenly occurred to me, reading this last email, that the other emails lacked the wording that Meriwether tended to use whenever he contacted me."

Finrod cast a shrewd look at Námo. "I assume that was your doing, my lord?" he asked.

Námo shook his head. "Eönwë," he said and then there was the mingled scent of lavender and lovage and Eönwë was there, standing in the middle of the aisle. He was dressed much as Artemus had seen him last. Again, all the Elves rose in respect but the Mortals, for the most part, simply gasped, many of those sitting on the aisle shrinking away.

"My lord," Eönwë said, giving Námo a bow.

"Explain to Ms Washburn your role in all this," the Vala said.

The Maia smiled. "My lord sent me to do battle for you, Madison Washburn, though you were unaware of my presence. You were surrounded by enemies and never knew it, trusting that those with whom you had worked were still your allies. That is not true. As you suspected, the one who took over the running of your agency after the disappearance of Samuel Bradford, has been less than truthful toward you."

"So, just what did you do on my behalf?" Maddy asked. "Because, quite frankly, I don’t recall getting any help. I found myself walking very softly around certain people, especially Director Dolan."

"My orders were very specific," Eönwë said. "I was not to interfere directly with what was happening at the Agency, but I could inspire you and others who were still allied with the Light to persevere. Only once was I given a direct order and that resulted in you receiving Artemus’ last email to you, the email that brought you here."

"Thank you, Eönwë," Námo said, gesturing for him to come up to the stage. "Please remain, for I will need you presently."

"As my lord wishes," Eönwë said, giving him a bow. He climbed the steps and went to stand behind the chair facing the Questioners.

"Are there any other questions to be put to this witness?" Finrod asked and both Valandur and Daeron looked over to Námo with enquiring expressions. The Vala smiled in amusement.

"No, Finrod," he said. "I think we’ve learned what we needed to learn from Ms Washburn."

"Then you may return to your seat, Deputy Director, with our thanks," Finrod said formally.

Maddy shook her head and without another word, left the stage and reclaimed her seat.

"And so, we come to you, Mr. Farrell, you and your cohorts," Finrod said, looking toward the prisoners. "Let us hear what you have to say. Officers, please escort Mr. Farrell to the stage. He may sit in the chair."

Two of the sheriff’s deputies pulled Farrell out of his seat, keeping a hand on his elbows as they brought him to the stage and made him sit. They took positions on either side of the chair, seemingly ignoring the Maia standing right behind them, though one of them gave him a furtive look.

"No, you need not remain," Finrod told the deputies. "Lord Eönwë is more than capable of handling Mr. Farrell if he causes any trouble."

Reluctantly, the deputies left the stage. For a long moment, no one spoke and there was a restless rustling among the audience, which stilled when Finrod raised his hand. He did not even look at the audience, his attention fully on Farrell, leaning slightly toward the prisoner.

"Mr. Farrell, I will not ask of you any oath to tell the truth, but I will warn you that Lord Námo and Lord Eönwë, being who and what they are, will know if you are lying and will so inform this court of that fact. So, I would advise you to stick solely to the truth. Your future may well depend on it."

There was another silence that lasted slightly longer than the last before Finrod leaned back. "So, Mr. Farrell, let us hear about Samuel Bradford and how it is you and these others came to be in Wiseman and why."