Mightier Than the Sword (41 page)

“We only have your word for that, Mrs. Clifton.”

Mr. Trelford was quickly on his feet. “My lady, I must protest.”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Trelford, I agree. Sir Edward, that was uncalled for.”

“I apologize, my lady. May I ask you, Mrs. Clifton, if Sir Giles was shocked by your mother’s decision?”

“Sir Edward,” said the judge, even before Mr. Trelford could get to his feet.

“I do apologize, my lady. I’m just an old seeker after the truth.”

“It was a terrible shock for all of us,” said Emma. “My mother adored Giles.”

“But, like you, she clearly didn’t adore Lady Virginia, otherwise she would presumably have made provision for him in her will.” Sir Edward quickly added, “But let us move on. Your brother and Lady Virginia’s marriage was sadly to end in divorce, on the grounds of his adultery.”

“As you well know, Sir Edward,” said Emma, trying to restrain herself, “those were the days when a man had to spend a night in a Brighton hotel with a hired woman before the courts would grant him a divorce. Giles did so at Virginia’s request.”

“I am so sorry, Mrs. Clifton, but on the divorce petition, it merely says adultery. But at least we now all know how you react when you feel strongly about something.”

One look at the jury and it was clear that Sir Edward had made his point.

“One final question concerning the divorce, Mrs. Clifton. Was it a cause of celebration for you and your family?”

“My lady,” said Trelford, leaping to his feet.

“Sir Edward, you are once again overstepping your brief.”

“I’ll try hard not to transgress in future, my lady.”

But when Trelford looked at the jury, he knew that Sir Edward would have felt the reprimand had served its purpose.

“Mrs. Clifton, let us move on to more important matters, namely what you said and what you meant when my client put a perfectly legitimate question to you at the annual general meeting of the Barrington Shipping Company. In the interests of accuracy, I will repeat Lady Virginia’s question: ‘Is it true that one of your directors sold his vast shareholding over the weekend, in an attempt to bring the company down?’ If I may say so, Mrs. Clifton, you deftly and quite brilliantly avoided answering that question. Perhaps you’d care to do so now?”

Emma glanced over at Trelford. He had advised her not to answer the question so she remained silent.

“Perhaps I can suggest that the reason you didn’t want to answer that particular question was because Lady Virginia went on to ask, ‘If one of your directors was involved in such an exercise, shouldn’t he resign from the board?’ Your reply was, ‘If you are referring to Major Fisher…’ although she wasn’t, as you knew only too well. She was talking about your close friend and colleague, Mr. Cedric Hardcastle, was she not?”

“One of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever known,” said Emma.

“Was he indeed?” said Sir Edward. “Well then, let us examine that statement more closely, shall we, because it seems to me that what you were suggesting is that when your close friend—one of the ‘finest men’ you’ve ever known—sold his shares overnight, he did so in order to
help
the company, but when Lady Virginia sold her shares she was doing it to
harm
the company. Perhaps the jury might feel that you can’t have it both ways, Mrs. Clifton, unless of course you can find a weakness in my argument, and explain to the court the subtle distinction between what Mr. Hardcastle did on behalf of the company and what Major Fisher did on behalf of my client?”

Emma knew she couldn’t justify what Cedric had done in good faith, and that the reason he’d sold his shares would be extremely difficult to explain to the jury. Trelford had advised her, when in doubt, simply don’t reply, especially if the answer would damn her.

Sir Edward waited for some time before he said, “Well, as you seem unwilling to answer that question, perhaps we should move on to what you said next? ‘If it was your intention to bring the company down, Lady Virginia, then … you have failed, and failed lamentably, because you were defeated by decent ordinary people who want this company to be a success.’ Can you deny, Mrs. Clifton, that what you were suggesting to a packed audience in the Colston Hall in Bristol that morning was that Lady Virginia is not a decent ordinary person?” He emphasized the last three words.

“She’s certainly not ordinary.”

“I agree with you, Mrs. Clifton, she’s extraordinary. But I put it to the jury that the suggestion that my client is not decent, and that her purpose was to bring your company down, is libelous, Mrs. Clifton. Or is that, in your view, also nothing more than the truth?”

“I meant what I said,” Emma replied.

“And so convinced were you of your righteousness that you insisted your words be recorded in the minutes of the AGM.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did the company secretary advise against this course of action at the time?”

Emma hesitated.

“I can always call Mr. Webster to give evidence,” said Sir Edward.

“I believe he may have done so.”

“Now why would he have done that, I wonder?” said Sir Edward, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Emma continued to stare at him, well aware that he wasn’t expecting her to reply. “Could it have been that he didn’t want you to add libel to the slander you had already committed?”

“I wanted my words to be on the record,” said Emma.

Trelford bowed his head, as Sir Edward said, “Did you indeed? So we have established, have we not, Mrs. Clifton, that you took against my client on the day you met her, that this intense dislike was compounded when you were not invited to your brother’s wedding, and that years later at your company’s AGM, in front of a packed audience of the shareholders, you sought to humiliate Lady Virginia by suggesting she was not a decent ordinary person, but someone who wanted to bring the company down. You then went on to overrule your company secretary in order to ensure that your slanderous words were repeated in the minutes of the AGM. Isn’t the truth, Mrs. Clifton, that you were simply seeking revenge on an ordinary decent human being, who is now asking for nothing more than retribution for your ill-considered words? I think the Bard best summed it up when he said,
He that filches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.
”

Sir Edward continued to glare at Emma, while holding onto the lapels of his ancient, well-worn gown. When he felt he had created the desired effect, he turned to the judge and said, “I have no more questions, my lady.”

When Trelford looked at the jury, he thought they might burst into applause. He decided that he would have to take a risk, one that he wasn’t sure the judge would let him get away with.

“Do you have any further questions for your client, Mr. Trelford?” asked Mrs. Justice Lane.

“Just one, my lady,” said Trelford. “Mrs. Clifton, Sir Edward raised the question of your mother’s will. Did she ever confide her feelings about Lady Virginia to you?”

“Mr. Trelford,” interrupted the judge before Emma could reply, “as you well know, that would be hearsay, and inadmissible.”

“But my mother recorded her opinion of Lady Virginia in her will,” said Emma, looking up at the bench.

“I’m not sure I fully understand you, Mrs. Clifton,” said the judge.

“In her will, she spelled out her reasons for not leaving anything to my brother.”

Trelford picked up the will and said, “I could read out the relevant passage, my lady. If you felt it might help,” he added, trying to sound like an innocent schoolboy.

Sir Edward was quickly on his feet. “This is undoubtedly nothing more than another libel, my lady,” he said, knowing only too well what Trelford was referring to.

“But this is a public, notarized document,” said Trelford, waving the will under the noses of the journalists sitting in the press box.

“Perhaps I should read the words concerned before I make a judgement,” said Mrs. Justice Lane.

“Of course, my lady,” said Trelford. He handed the will to the clerk of the court, who in turn passed it up to the judge.

As Trelford had only highlighted a couple of lines, Mrs. Justice Lane must have read them several times before she finally said, “I think on balance this piece of evidence is inadmissible as it could well be taken out of context. However, Mr. Trelford,” she added, “if you wish me to adjourn proceedings so that you can argue a point of law, I will be happy to clear the court in order that you may do so.”

“No, thank you, my lady. I am happy to accept your judgement,” said Trelford, well aware that the press, several of whom were already leaving the court, would have the relevant passage on their front pages in the morning.

“Then let us move on,” said the judge. “Perhaps you would like to call your next witness, Mr. Trelford.”

“I am unable to do so, my lady, as he is currently attending a debate in the House of Commons. However, Major Fisher will be available to appear at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

39

H
ARRY WATCHED
from his wooden bench in the third row as Colonel Marinkin entered the makeshift courtroom. He stood to attention in front of the state prosecutor, saluted, and remained standing.

Marinkin was dressed in a smarter uniform than the one Harry remembered from the time he was arrested; the one for special occasions, no doubt. The six buttons on his tunic shone, the crease in his trousers was sharp, and his boots were so finely polished that had he looked down, he would have seen his reflection in them. His five rows of medals would have left no one in any doubt that he had stared the enemy in the eye.

“Colonel, could you tell the court when you first became aware of the defendant?”

“Yes, comrade prosecutor. He came to Moscow some five years ago as the British representative at an international book conference and gave the keynote speech on the opening day.”

“Did you hear that speech?”

“Yes I did, and it became clear to me that he believed the traitor Babakov had worked for many years inside the Kremlin and was a close associate of the late Comrade Stalin. In fact, so persuasive was his argument that by the time he sat down almost everyone else in that hall also believed it.”

“Did you attempt to make contact with the defendant while he was in Moscow?”

“No, because he was traveling back to England the following day, and I confess I assumed that, like so many campaigns the West gets worked up about, it would only be a matter of time before another one came along to occupy their impatient minds.”

“But this particular cause didn’t go away.”

“No, the defendant had clearly convinced himself that Babakov was telling the truth, and that if his book could be published the whole world would also believe him. Earlier this year, the defendant traveled to the United States on a luxury liner, owned by his wife’s family. On arrival in New York, he visited a well-known publisher, no doubt to discuss the publication of Babakov’s book, because the following day he boarded a train to Pittsburgh with the sole purpose of meeting the defector Yelena Babakov, the wife of the traitor. I have in this folder several photographs taken during this visit to Pittsburgh by one of our agents.”

Marinkin handed the folder to the judge’s clerk, who passed it to the tribunal chairman. The three judges studied the photographs for some time before the chairman asked, “How much time did the prisoner spend with Mrs. Babakov?”

“Just over four hours. He then returned to New York. The following morning he visited his publisher once again, and later that day boarded the ship owned by his wife’s family and traveled back to England.”

“Once he had returned, did you continue to maintain a high level of surveillance?”

“Yes. One of our senior operatives monitored his daily activities and reported that the defendant had enrolled for a Russian language course at Bristol University, not far from where he lives. One of my agents signed up for the same course and reported that the accused was a conscientious student, who studied far harder than any of his classmates. Shortly after he’d completed the course, he flew to Leningrad, just weeks before his visa expired.”

“Why didn’t you arrest him immediately he arrived in Leningrad and put him on the next plane back to London?”

“Because I wanted to discover if he had any associates in Russia.”

“And did he?”

“No, the man’s a loner, a romantic, someone who would have been more at home in ancient times when, like Jason, he would have gone in search of the Golden Fleece, which, for him in the twentieth century, was Babakov’s equally fictitious story.”

“And was he successful?”

“Yes, he was. Babakov’s wife had evidently told him exactly where he could find a copy of her husband’s book, because no sooner had he arrived in Leningrad than he took a taxi to the Pushkin antiquarian bookshop on the outskirts of the city. It took him only a few minutes to locate the book he was looking for, which was concealed inside the dust jacket of another title, and must have been exactly where Mrs. Babakov had told him it would be. He paid for the book and two others, then instructed the waiting taxi to take him back to the airport.”

“Where you arrested him?”

“Yes, but not immediately, because I wanted to see if he had an accomplice at the airport he would try to pass the book on to. But he simply bought a ticket for the same plane he had flown in on. We arrested him just before he attempted to board it.”

“Where is the book now?” asked the president of the tribunal.

“It has been destroyed, comrade chairman, but I have retained the title page for the records. It may interest the court to know that it appears to have been a printer’s proof, so it was possibly the last copy in existence.”

“When you arrested the defendant, how did he react?” asked the prosecutor.

“He clearly didn’t realize the severity of his crime because he kept asking on what charge he was being held.”

“Did you interview the taxi driver?” asked the prosecutor, “and the elderly woman who worked in the bookshop, to see if they were in league with the defendant?”