Chapter 120
Room Eleven
Room Eleven was a courtroom without a judge.
Rows of empty benches faced a wooden desk. On the wall hung a family court seal, but the center of the seal had been scraped away.
Claire entered with Aster and Rowan. Daniel stayed near the door. Mara refused to sit.
The clerk's desk held one file.
FAMILY WITNESS ORDER — ROWAN HOUSEHOLD.
Claire opened it.
The first page was signed by her mother. The second by a judge. The third by Everett Bell's mother.
“They made the clinic part of the family court,” Daniel said.
“No,” Mara answered. “They made the family court part of the clinic.”
The courtroom lights turned on.
A child appeared in the witness box.
Lena.
She was six years old.
“State your name,” an unseen judge said.
Lena looked toward Claire. “My sister knows.”
“Is your sister responsible for you?”
Lena hesitated.
Claire stepped forward. “No.”
The room marked her answer as interference.
The judge's voice returned. “The witness must not answer for the patient.”
“Then stop asking me to.”
The witness box opened.
Lena walked out.
The courtroom doors locked.