A Matter for the Jury (10 page)

Ben nodded. ‘I'm sure he is, either this year or next,' he replied.

‘Good. I'm sure he'll get it.'

He looked up at the ceiling with a smile.

‘All the same, Barratt,' Ben said. ‘The rumours have been pretty persistent. I don't know Hardcastle myself, and I'm not saying you should be thinking of anyone in my Chambers. But aren't you taking a chance? I mean, in a case like this…'

‘Martin Hardcastle,' Barratt intoned reflectively. ‘Have you heard of Ulysses S Grant?'

‘Yes, he was President of the United States, after the Civil War, wasn't he?'

‘Yes. But before he was President, he was a general in the Union Army under Lincoln. By reputation he was the most competent and fearless of all the Union commanders. He won the decisive engagement at Shiloh, which split the Confederacy in half and shortened the war by a good while. Now,
there
was a man who had a reputation for drinking too much. Do you know what Lincoln said when that rumour reached him?'

‘No,' Ben admitted.

‘He said: “If drink makes fighting men like Grant, then find out what he drinks and send my other commanders a case!” That's the way I feel about Martin. The rumours are grossly exaggerated, as they were in Grant's case – he suffered from migraines, which some mistook for hangovers, deliberately or otherwise. They can talk all they like, but Martin is a good man in a fight, just like Grant. He has been through this kind of case with me before, Ben. I want him by my side again.'

‘I understand,' Ben replied.

‘I will book a consultation through his clerk once I know a little more about what the prosecution have. You, Jess, and I will have to go through everything thoroughly before the consultation. Martin will expect us to be prepared.'

He took another drink of coffee.

‘I'm hoping,
entre nous
, that our friend Mr Singer will bow out of that,' he said with a nod of the head in the direction of All Saints church. ‘I don't mind him praying for divine assistance in the vicar's case, if he thinks it will help, but he will be no bloody use to us in a capital murder. He will just get in the way.'

‘Oh, and by the way,' he added, after a brief pause, ‘don't expect Martin at the committal. He will expect you to handle that. Sort of thing juniors ought to do. You will understand when you meet him.'

16

They walked together
without a word along the narrow path that led from the main door of the George, through the graveyard in front of All Saints Church, where Singer and Little joined them, in the shadow of two large oak trees, into Market Square; then across the square to the fine eighteenth-century Town Hall, where the County magistrates sat. As they entered the small entrance hall, Ben saw Gareth Morgan-Davies leaning against the wall to his right, in conversation with a man he did not know. A black-gowned usher, tall and dignified, with short silver hair and matching eyebrows, carrying a clip-board and a pencil, greeted them.

‘You will be the defence side, then?' he asked cheerfully. ‘The prosecution is already here, Mr Morgan-Davies, of Counsel. And you are the Reverend Mr Little, are you, sir?'

Little nodded reluctantly. The usher made a careful note on the sheet of paper he had on his clipboard.

‘My name is Barratt Davis, Bourne & Davis, with John Singer, solicitors for the defence. Mr Ben Schroeder, of Counsel, and my assistant, Jess Farrar.'

‘Thank you, sir.' Another careful note.

‘The magistrates will be sitting in Court 2 today, sir. That's just through that door to your right. The grand jury room, where they sit most of the time, is upstairs, but we are expecting quite a crowd today, including some gentlemen of the press, so they decided they wanted more room. The clerk today is Mr Philip Eaves, local solicitor, very good on the law, so I'm told. There's a conference room through the door on your far left, which you will have all to yourselves today. It's right next to the cells, but don't let that bother you. It's not a big building, so we have to make use of the space. My name is Paul, by the way. Let me know if you have any questions.'

‘Thank you,' Ben replied. He turned to Barratt. ‘Why don't you take Mr Little and Mr Singer to the conference room. I'm going to have a quick word with the prosecution.'

Barratt nodded. He shepherded his charges to his left and through a low wooden door.

Gareth seemed disconcertingly cheerful.

‘Ah, good morning, Ben. Do you know Philip Martineau, prosecuting solicitor for the County? Philip, this is Ben Schroeder, who is defending Mr Little.'

Ben shook Martineau's hand.

‘Let's have a word,' Gareth said, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder and taking him aside, while Martineau sat and busied himself with a file. They both leaned against the wall.

‘Have you thought about advising your chap to plead?' Gareth asked. ‘He could ask to be dealt with by the justices today, instead of going up to Quarter Sessions. It's his first offence, and the prosecution are prepared to tell the court that the boy is making a full recovery, and has probably suffered no lasting harm. I doubt they would send him inside: especially as his plea would spare Raymond the ordeal of giving evidence.'

Ben shook his head.

‘Have you seen what the local papers have been saying about this case? They might feel they have no choice but to send him inside. Besides, Gareth, he's a clergyman. It's not just a question of whether he goes inside. He will be defrocked, or whatever they call it. His life will be over.'

‘His life as a clergyman is over already,' Gareth said. ‘This will follow him around for the rest of his life. There's no point in making things worse than they already are. Martineau says the boy is going to be a good witness. A jury is going to believe him.'

‘I'm not so sure,' Ben replied. ‘And even if they do, the judge will have to tell them that it is dangerous to convict in the absence of corroboration. It's his word against Raymond's, and he
is
a vicar.' He smiled. ‘It's a case for the Morgan-Davies credibility index, isn't it? Vicars win against most other witnesses – anyone except bishops, nuns and…'

‘And War widows. I knew I shouldn't have taught you so bloody much,' Gareth returned the smile. ‘Now it all gets turned back on me and used against me, doesn't it?'

‘Certainly,' Ben replied.

Gareth nodded, smiling.

‘Well, that's fair enough, I suppose, and you have a point,' he conceded. ‘But, in fairness, I should warn you that you are not completely up to date with the evidence. We do actually have some corroboration, as it happens.'

Ben was taken aback. He had asked Little in detail about the events of the evening, and had detected nothing which offered the prosecution case support from a source other than Raymond. Without such evidence, the case was legally uncorroborated.

‘I'm sure you will call the organist, Sharples,' Ben ventured tentatively. ‘That puts Raymond in church on the Wednesday evening, perhaps even in the vestry. But it doesn't implicate Little in the commission of an offence.'

‘I quite agree,' Gareth replied. ‘But that wasn't what I was referring to.'

‘So…?'

Gareth turned his head away slightly.

‘I'm sure your client knows all about it,' he said, ‘and he will hear it once we start the evidence. So, what's it to be? Last chance.'

Ben took a deep breath.

‘No, Gareth, I can't deal with it like that. You've got to tell me what to expect. You can't expect me to talk to him about a plea unless I have the full picture. If it's something that takes me by surprise and my solicitors have to make further inquiries about it, I will have to apply for an adjournment. I don't think either of us wants this case to drag on longer than it has to.'

Gareth appeared to hesitate, but then turned back to face Ben.

‘Your client as good as admitted it to the boy's father that same evening,' he said. ‘That's why the father called the police. He wasn't sure he would, just based on what Raymond told him when he got home. And it wasn't because he didn't believe him. The Stones are church-going people and it goes against the grain for them to make a complaint against a minister. So Stone phoned Little and told him what Raymond had said.'

Ben exhaled heavily and looked away.

‘And what did Little say, according to Stone?' he asked.

Gareth made a show of opening the file he was carrying and finding the right document though, knowing Gareth as well as he did, Ben was quite sure that he had no need to refresh his memory. Whatever had been said he would have memorised, word for word.

‘He said:
“I'm sorry. If anything happened, I didn't intend it. I don't know what came over me.”
'

For some time, Ben stared into space, then he recovered himself.

‘And you were going to ambush us with that?' he asked quietly.

‘Not at all,' Gareth said. ‘I'm calling Stone to give evidence about it this morning. I assumed that your client would remember speaking to Stone on that evening and would have given you instructions about it.'

He paused.

‘But I will tell you this,' he added confidentially. ‘Don't blame Martineau for not telling your solicitor about it. If you cross-examine Stone or the officer in charge at some stage, you will find out that Stone only came forward with this evidence rather late in the day.'

‘How late in the day?' Ben asked.

‘Monday. Three days ago,' Gareth replied.

‘That doesn't make sense,' Ben pointed out. ‘If that was his reason for going to the police in the first place, why wouldn't he…?'

‘A point that you will no doubt explore with him and hammer home to the jury, as I would in your shoes,' Gareth said. ‘It's more of a frustration for us than for you, believe me.'

Ben shook his head.

‘Thank you for telling me, Gareth,' he said. ‘I won't be cross-examining anyone today. We will be reserving our defence for trial.'

‘I'd have you drummed out of Chambers if you did anything else,' Gareth smiled.

As Ben was walking away, Gareth called him back.

‘Ben, just a moment. Martineau tells me you are going to be junior counsel for that chap they arrested for the house-boat murder.'

‘Yes.' He paused. ‘Martin Hardcastle is leading me.' He paused again. ‘I know. I have spoken to Barratt Davis about it, but…'

Gareth nodded. ‘Look, I've known Martin for years,' he said. ‘I've been against him a number of times, and it is never an easy assignment. He's quite a force in the courtroom and the prosecution will underestimate him at their peril. It is a bit of a risk these days, but Barratt knows him as well as anyone, and if he is happy with him I wouldn't worry too much. It's Barratt's responsibility, after all. Just keep your eyes open. Prepare everything thoroughly. Martin is obsessive about that. And don't get upset when he treats you as if you don't exist. It's just his way.'

‘Very reassuring, Gareth,' Ben replied. ‘Thank you.'

Gareth laughed.

‘Oh, Ben, one other thing. I expect you've heard that I'm taking on Clive Overton as a pupil?'

‘Yes, Donald Weston told me. He and Clive are good friends. Donald wouldn't say much else, but wasn't there…?'

‘A scandal? Yes, there was. I don't know all the details. Clive was involved in some kind of prank at college that went wrong, and resulted in the death of another undergraduate. No charges were brought, but Clive's father, the fearsome Miles Overton QC, sent him abroad, to America, until it had all died down. Bernard Wesley got involved in bringing him back, and Bernard asked me to take him as a pupil once he had been called to the Bar. He's passed all his exams, and he is being called this month. I just wondered whether I could send him to court for a day or two so that he can see a murder – assuming I don't have one myself. I think it's something he ought to see. I will tell him to make himself useful, take a note, do any research you may need, and so on.'

‘Yes, of course,' Ben said, ‘as long as Hardcastle has no objection.'

‘Much appreciated,' Gareth said.

Ben moved to leave, but suddenly turned back.

‘Gareth, why did Bernard get involved in bringing Clive into Chambers?' he asked. ‘I always heard that he and Miles Overton were not exactly close. Harriet Fisk and I heard rumours that it was somehow connected to our being asked to join Chambers. I don't want to pry, but…'

Gareth was silent for some time.

‘I will tell you what I know about that at another time, Ben,' he promised. ‘I have always intended to. I think it's only fair that you should know. But I'm not sure I know the whole story, and I may have to insist on your confidence as to what I do know.'

‘Of course.'

‘Also,' Gareth added, ‘I would need the fortification of several glasses of wine to get started on that.'

‘Now I
am
intrigued,' Ben said.

* * *

The group in the conference room looked around expectantly as Ben opened the door. The conference room was small and cramped. There was barely enough room for them all to stand.

‘Did you learn anything useful?' Barratt Davis asked.

Ben ignored him, and walked straight up to Ignatius Little, looking him straight in the face.

‘Is there anything you would like to tell me, Mr Little?' he asked. ‘Something you may not have told Mr Davis or myself until now? Have we not made it sufficiently clear to you that you make it very difficult for us to defend you if you are not completely frank with us?'

‘I don't understand,' Little's voice was quiet, hesitant. ‘What kind of thing are you talking about?'

‘Something like having a conversation over the phone with Raymond's father on the evening in question,' Ben replied. ‘That kind of thing.'

Ben heard the sharp intake of breath to his right.

‘What's this?' Barratt asked.

‘Prosecuting counsel has told me that he intends to call evidence from Mr Stone,' Ben explained, ‘to the effect that Mr Stone phoned Mr Little later on the Wednesday evening, after Raymond had returned home and given his father his account of what happened. I am told he will say that, when confronted with the allegation, Mr Little replied:
“I'm sorry.
If anything happened, I didn't intend it. I don't know what came over me.”
Does any of that sound familiar to you?'

Little sat down heavily.

‘Well,' Barratt said, in exasperation, ‘that's their corroboration, isn't it?'

‘Assuming that Mr Stone's evidence is true,' Ben replied. ‘Is it true, Mr Little?'

Little buried his head in his hands for some time. Eventually he looked up.

‘Yes… no… I mean… yes, Stone did phone me. It was very late, 11 o'clock or even later. I was about to go to bed. I was very tired.' He paused.

‘What was said between you?' Ben asked. ‘Leave nothing out.'

He turned towards Barratt to ask for a note to be made, but Barratt already had pen and notebook in hand.