MURDER BRIEF (17 page)

When she reached Grimble’s
office, the door was slightly ajar. She was about to push it open
when she heard Grimble and Alice Markham yelling at each other on
the other side. Justine couldn’t hear everything they said. But
Alice accused Grimble of stealing her husband’s book royalties.
When Grimble denied that, Alice said she’d discovered two sets of
accounts showing Rex Markham’s royalties - one true, one fake -
which she had photocopied. She tossed the photocopies onto his desk
and told him to have a look.

Grimble glanced through the
photocopies and told Alice not to tell her husband. If she kept
quiet, he’d make it worth her while.

At that point Justine, afraid
she’d be noticed, retreated to her desk.

A few minutes later, Alice
strode past and got into a lift.

Robyn said: "Did she look
angry?"

"Not really. In fact, she looked
rather pleased."

"Did she return that
afternoon?"

"No."

Fifteen minutes later, Justine
returned to Grimble’s office with the couriered package. As she
entered, Grimble took a sheaf of papers off his desk and shoved
them into a desk drawer.

"Do you know what happened to
them?"

Justine’s voice quivered.
"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes. You see, after Alice got
killed, I got really curious and wondered if they might be
important. So, on Monday evening, after Mr Grimble went home, I
took the papers out of the drawer and photocopied them. I know I
shouldn’t have, but I did. Then I put them back."

Robyn’s emotions soared. "Wow.
And do you still have them?"

There was a long pause while
time hobbled on crutches. Finally, Justine said: "Yeah, I do."

Robyn sighed. "Thank God.
Where?"

"I’ve got them here, right
now."

"Shit. When can we meet?"

"I usually catch the eight
o’clock train to Town Hall. It arrives about 9.10. I can see you
there."

"Great. But why didn’t you
reveal all this earlier?"

"The police never talked to me
and I sorta didn’t want to get involved. I mean, I shouldn’t have
listened at the door and photocopied that stuff. So when they
charged Mr Markham with murder, I just accepted he was guilty. That
was the easiest thing to do. It was only when I spoke to you,
yesterday, that I realized Mr Grimble might be the real killer and
I had to do something. I won’t have to give evidence will I?"

If Robyn had to slap Justine
around and drag her, by the hair, all the way from Town Hall
Station to the Supreme Court and force her into a witness box, she
would. But first she had to lure Justine within range. "That's
highly unlikely."

"Good."

Robyn told Justine to meet her
outside the main exit at Town Hall Station, at 9.10am.

"OK."

Robyn arrived at the station
half-an-hour early and stood anxiously next to the long bank of
turnstiles.

However, by 9.15am, Justine
still hadn’t arrived and Robyn started to worry. Five minutes
later, she was panicking. Then Justine came through the turnstiles,
carrying her pink handbag and a slim plastic shopping bag, looking
desperately afraid. "Oh, sorry I’m late. They’re working on the
track."

"Forget it. You’ve got the
documents?"

She held up the shopping bag.
"Yeah, they’re in here. You want to look at them?"

"You bet."

Fifty minutes later, Robyn stood
at the Bar table in the Banco Court, staring at Hugh Grimble. Brian
had just sat down and she felt incredibly lonely. A great weight
landed on her shoulders. Until this moment, Brian had carried all
of the responsibility. Now her client’s freedom and her career
depended on this re-examination. If it blew up in her face, she’d
have nowhere to hide.

Her bloated tongue stuck to the
walls of her dry mouth. God, she hoped she could speak. Her
father’s voice reverberated in her head.
"Stand up straight and
speak clearly."

His intrusion got her jaw
working. "Umm, ahh, Mr Grimble, umm, yesterday you said you had
dinner with Rex Markham on the night Alice Markham was murdered,
didn’t you?"

Grimble looked quite relaxed,
sensing his ordeal would soon be over. He just had to answer a few
questions from this stupid woman, then disappear. A half-smile. "I
did at first - but I was wrong."

"But initially, you gave him an
alibi, didn’t you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then, during cross-examination,
you denied having dinner with him, correct?"

"That’s right."

"So tell me, Mr Grimble, why did
you initially say you dined with Rex Markham?"

Brian whispered to her: "Christ.
Don’t dredge this up again."

She muttered: "Shut up."

Grimble leaned forward. "I was
trying to help him - to give him an alibi. That was a stupid thing
to do." Grimble looked at the judge. "I’m sorry, your Honour, I
really am. I was just trying to help a friend. When Rex came to me,
he was desperate. I wanted to help."

"But Mr Grimble, you suggested
the alibi, didn’t you?"

"No, I didn’t."

"You suggested the alibi, even
though you knew the police would check your telephone records and
discover it was false?"

"No, I didn’t."

"In fact, you wanted to sabotage
Rex Markham’s defence, didn’t you?"

Grimble recoiled slightly.
"You’re mad. I tried to help him."

"No you didn’t. You pretended to
help him, but really wanted him convicted?"

"Utterly untrue."

"Mr Grimble, you now claim,
don’t you, that on the night of the murder you went to the
casino?"

"That’s right."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"So you don’t have an alibi
either, do you?

Grimble’s brow furrowed. "An
alibi? I don't need an alibi."

Robyn had reached the moment of
truth. She took a deep breath, said to herself "here goes", and
gave her voice a grating edge. "Because
you
stabbed Alice
Markham to death, didn’t you?"

A hubbub erupted in the public
gallery. Justice Dobell glared at Robyn. Brian muttered "Jesus
Christ."

Grimble looked shocked. "That’s
ridiculous."

The Mad Monk leapt to his feet.
"I object your Honour. My learned friend is cross-examining her own
witness."

Robyn said: "I’m entitled to do
that, your Honour, because his evidence has become unfavourable to
the accused."

Justice Dobell stared hard at
Brian. "What do you say, Mr Davis? Is this the approach you want to
take?"

Brian half-rose and sighed. "I
suppose so, your Honour."

The judge looked annoyed. "You
don’t sound very sure about that."

"Umm, yes, I am - I am
sure."

The judge looked at the
prosecutor. "Well then, Mr Mahoney, it’s obvious this witness has
proved highly unfavourable. In fact, I can’t imagine a more
destructive witness. So the defence is entitled to cross-examine
him."

Mahoney nodded reluctantly. "As
your Honour pleases."

The judge stared at Robyn. "But
I trust, Ms Parker, that you have a sound basis for the accusation
you just made? I can't even begin to tell you how upset I will be
if you do not."

"I do, your Honour."

"Alright. You can proceed. But I
intend to keep you on a very short rein."

"Yes, your Honour." Robyn looked
at Grimble. "The Markhams decided to get divorced, didn’t
they?"

"So I understand."

"And, because of that, Alice
became very curious about her husband’s wealth, didn’t she?"

Grimble shrugged. "How would I
know?"

"Well, you handled some of Rex
Markham’s financial affairs, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"In fact, you collected his book
royalties and paid them over, after deducting your commission?"

Grimble’s eyes darted about.
"Umm, yes."

"And Alice Markham wanted to
find out how much her husband was earning, didn’t she?"

Grimble shrugged. "Maybe. I
don’t know."

"So, without your permission,
she broke into your office and looked through your records?"

Grimble licked his lips and
tugged his bowtie. "No, not so far as I’m aware."

"And she discovered that, for a
number of years, you’d been siphoning off royalties?"

"No, she didn’t," Grimble
croaked.

"She also discovered you’d
created a whole set of false accounts for her husband?"

Grimble scowled. "No, definitely
not."

"In fact, over a six-year
period, you stole approximately $340,000 from Rex Markham, didn’t
you?"

"No, that’s a lie."

"And on the Friday afternoon,
before she died, Alice Markham confronted you about that, didn’t
she?"

Grimble’s eyes widened.
"No."

"She confronted you and you
promised that, if she kept quiet, you’d buy her off?"

Grimble's voice rose an octave.
"No, that’s a lie - a total lie."

"But rather than buy her off,
you went over to her house on Saturday night and murdered her,
didn’t you?"

"No. Completely and utterly
untrue."

"Then, to make sure Rex Markham
got convicted, you persuaded him to use an alibi you knew the
prosecution would destroy."

Grimble snarled. "Absolute
bullshit."

Robyn had already photocopied
the records Justine Pearson provided. Now she now got a Court
Officer to place them in front of Grimble.

Robyn said: "Mr Grimble, please
look closely at the bundle of documents that has been placed before
you."

Grimble’s face and hands
trembled. He spent five minutes leafing through the twenty-page
bundle, as if it might be infected. The only sound was the rustle
of pages. He looked up like a startled rat. "Ah, yes, I’ve looked
at them. Where did you get them?"

Robyn felt a surge of power as
Grimble exposed his flank and she closed in for the kill. "Mr
Grimble, I’m here to ask the questions, not you."

Robyn spent the next half-hour
taking Grimble slowly through the bundle to show it, in fact,
contained two different versions of Rex Markham’s royalty
entitlements.

Robyn said: "So you agree with
me, don’t you, that one set of accounts must be fake?"

Large beads of sweat appeared on
Grimble's forehead. "Maybe, but I didn’t fake it."

"Really? You kept both sets in
your office, didn’t you?"

"Ah, no. Only one set."

"Really? Which one?"

Grimble shakily held up a pile
of papers: "These are the accounts I kept in my office." He held up
a second pile. "I don’t know where these documents come from. I’ve
never seen them before."

A Court Officer handed the first
pile to Robyn, who saw that Grimble had verified the false accounts
which understated Rex Markham’s royalty income by $340,000. He
really had no choice.

Robyn said: "Well, Mr Grimble, I
intend to show that all of these documents came from your office."
He turned to the judge. "Your Honour, could these documents be
marked for identification?"

The judge stared at her
intently. "You intend to call someone to prove both sets came from
his office?"

"Yes I do, your Honour."

"Alright then." The judge
assigned each set an identification number.

"Thank you, your Honour. I’ve
finished my cross-examination."

As Robyn sat down, Brian
muttered softly: "I hope you can prove all that."

"Don’t worry, I’ve got a
witness."

"Wow. A good one?"

"I’m not sure."

"Where is she?"

"Outside, I hope."

"You hope?"

"Actually, I'm praying she's
there - praying very hard."

Justice Dobell told Grimble he
could leave the witness box. Face crimson, Grimble rose and lurched
towards the side door.

The judge asked Brian to call
his next witness.

Brian looked inquiringly at
Robyn, who shot to her feet and said: "Your Honour, the defence
calls Ms Justine Pearson."

Grimble turned and looked
horrified before scurrying out the side door. Most of the jurors
noted his reaction.

Robyn turned to Bernie Roberts
and whispered: "She’s outside, I hope. Short skirt. Pink
handbag."

Robyn had had enormous
difficulty persuading Justine to give evidence and prayed the
receptionist hadn’t bailed out. But Bernie soon returned with
Justine in tow, wide-eyed and shaking. Thank God.

Justine looked at Robyn for
reassurance. Robyn smiled and pointed towards the witness box.

Justine stumbled across the
courtroom and sat down, looking like a trapped faun. She grabbed a
glass of water and took a big gulp.

The oath was administered and
Robyn patiently led Justine through her story. Haltingly, Justine
described how she overheard Alice Markham accuse Hugh Grimble of
skimming off royalties and later photocopied the two sets of
accounts.

Robyn sought to tender both
sets.

Mahoney objected.

The judge looked surprised.
"Really? On what basis?"

"They’re not relevant, your
Honour."

A wry smile. "Mr Mahoney, you're
not serious, are you? I allow the tender."

Robyn said: "Thank you, your
Honour. I’ve finished my examination of this witness."

As Robyn sat down, Brian
muttered, "fantastic". Then he leaned close to Mahoney and smiled.
"Sorry Sam, I forgot to mention that
we
had a trick up
our
sleeve. Hope you’re not too surprised."

Mahoney grunted, got to his feet
and immediately attacked Justine for not telling the police what
she’d seen and heard.

Justine was soon on the verge of
tears and wailed, "Why should I? The police said Mr Markham was the
murderer, right? I thought they knew what they were doing."

Mahoney kept accusing Justine of
lying. But the louder he yelled, the more determined and confident
she became. Eventually, he realized he was pounding sand and
huffily told the judge he had no further questions.