I laugh as an idea pops in my head. Then I look at a confused reporter and asked, “How would you like to help me come running to the rescue? I need a good investigator to help me find out who this will girl’s mother really is. Course you’re not going to be doing it alone. For legal help we have the Judge here, and the law firm back in Los Angeles.”
Michelle looks at me, with that what did I get myself into expression before she asked, “What do you need?”
Judge Thurgood thinking like I am says, “First we figure out, who’s sleeping beauty over there is. Then find out what happened or how it happened that put that little girl in her hands.”
I continue, “Michelle Collins here can have the magazines research people track that down probably faster than anyone else on the planet. Sell it to your boss as a human interest story. Or you can just do some independent work for me.”
The Police Chief comes in carrying a folder. The fingerprints had come back, and her boyfriend had numerous outstanding warrants in at least three states. He’ll spend the next two years on trial. Apparently she’s also as wanted as he is she has several outstanding warrants as well. The two will stand trial here then be extradited to stand trial elsewhere. They had no information on Samantha. Nicole Smith is the woman’s name; they are still trying to retrieve more information on her. There’s very little in the system other than her outstanding warrants.”
The Judge shares with this what information he can, which is little more than her name, his name and their last known address. Michelle giggles, “With that my research people can give you more information on her in ten minutes then law enforcement could over three days. But they won’t be in until tomorrow morning.”
I say, “The only problem I have is Kathryn is becoming more attached to Sam, and Sam is becoming more attached to Kathryn every second. I hate to see the two of them hurt. I know what it is like if she was my daughter, and I was trying to look for her. Every second apart would be agony.”
Just then Sam’s voice again cuts the quiet, “Mommy it hurts!”
You hear the doctor’s mumbled voice, “Tried to hold still Princess Sam. It will be over real soon. I know it stings a little. It will make you feel much better.”
We get a glance through the door. His gloved hand is applying a medicine to Sam’s back and Sam lies nude on an exam table. Although the glance was brief it will remain a painful memory for me. There are many welts across Sam’s lower back, buttocks and legs. Judge Thurgood and Michelle see this as well.
Michelle says, “I will text a friend of mine who’s on the research division at the magazine. When I tell her what it’s about I’m sure she’ll help.”
Michelle sends an e-mail using her blackberry to her friend. Michelle describes a situation to her friend including sending a picture of Sam as the doctor treated her. Within a few minutes Michelle gets a phone call back. Michelle’s friend informs her, she will have the information within the hour.
As a doctor walk by the Judge ask him about Nicole, he informs him that the drug screens have come back and she’s on several illegal drugs at the moment. Their little concerned about the amount in her system and they have her connected to numerous IVs trying to flush her system. They have evacuated her stomach with a pump and several balloons of drugs were found, along with several damaged balloons. It looks like she was smuggling drugs in her stomach and several balloons burst. There’s a bruise on her stomach where she was struck.
The Judge calls back to the County jail and asks if there were an incident with the girl. The on-duty officer informs the Judge, “She seemed to be just a little high until her boyfriend struck her in the stomach as they were being in processed. Their restraints were removed to obtain the fingerprints. It’s at this point he punched her in the stomach. We have videotape of it.”
It’s at this moment her vitals cease, and several doctors and nurses attempt to revive her. It doesn’t go well, after fifteen minutes of trying they call the time of death at just about 6:45 PM.
Judge Thurgood called the DA, he informed them of the two circumstances, the incident at the jail which was caught on videotape. The woman he struck just passing away from a massive drug overdose. He continued informing what the doctor found. The Judge said he’s going to accuse himself due to the fact he witnessed so much of the events. He was willing to be a witness for the prosecution in the upcoming trial.
The Judge called the chief of police who came to gather the evidence from the doctors.
This is given enough time for Michelle’s friend to gather the information from several news sources and other methods. The obituaries of her father, mother and grandmother provided the most information.
Nicole was actually Sam’s aunt, half-sister to her biological mother. Although they never spend any time together growing up. Sam’s grandfather had divorced her grandmother while her mother Nancy was still young. He remarried but then divorced again. Nicole had grown up without a father in her life. Nicole had been Sam’s last living relative, her grandmother dying just recently, her mother and father both where the military and died in action on the same day. Sam was their only child. She had been living with her grandmother only six months when she died. Less than a week ago her aunt had taken custody of Sam.
I wonder if Nicole’s death actually is good for Sam. Nicole possibly could’ve been a good mother if she had changed her life for Samantha. It seems she was unwilling to do that, or give up her boyfriend who used her as a prostitute. What I hate most about him is the fact he is the one who punished Sam in such a way that it was abusive. I don’t feel badly about her no longer being able to take care of Sam. She obviously had done a very poor job so far of protecting Sam. Any chance she had to straighten her life up was taken away from her. I can’t help but feel sorry for her because of that.
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