‘You got a problem, Brian?’
‘No, guv.’
‘Good, because we don’t have one and we are going to get that piece of karate shit put away for a long stretch.’
‘I hope Jane will be able to handle being questioned in court… It’ll be her first time and some of these barristers are lethal.’
Moran walked into his office, kicking the door open wider with his foot.
‘Do me a favour… he’s going to plead guilty for a string of assaults as well as the rape. We have his confession, so she might not even be called to the witness box.’
Edwards said nothing as Moran’s door slammed shut. He hoped it would run that smoothly. He jerked his tie loose and his collar button came off and rolled onto the floor. He knew that if Tennison was called to give evidence he would be too, and just the thought of it brought him out in a sweat.
CHAPTER SIX
A week later, Jane paced nervously up and down the police officers’ waiting room at Old Street Magistrates’ Court, going over her notes on the arrest and interviews of Peter Allard. She had given evidence at the Magistrates’ Court during her probation, but they had only been minor offences for shoplifting, criminal damage and drunk and disorderly where her evidence was straightforward and the defence solicitor asked only a few questions in cross-examination. Giving evidence at Crown Court was a different matter.
On his first appearance at court earlier in the week Allard was granted legal aid and represented by the duty solicitor. He offered a plea of guilty to the indecent assault charges and assault on a police officer. However, when he was told about his client’s initial denial concerning the rape charge and the alleged confession, Allard’s solicitor had requested an old-style committal on the rape alone. On hearing the evidence the magistrate would decide if the case should be committed to the Old Bailey for trial by jury.
DC Edwards sat quietly, biting his fingernails, while DI Moran read The Sun and drank tea from a polystyrene cup.
‘It’s not as if you’re gripping the rail at the big house, so bloody well sit down and stop worrying, Tennison,’ Moran said sternly, then, licking his finger, flicked over to page three as usual and commented on the breasts of Jilly Johnson.
Jane sat down next to DC Edwards and spoke quietly. ‘What’s he mean by gripping the rail?’
‘Giving evidence at the Old Bailey under a hostile defence barrister,’ DC Edwards replied.
‘Allard’s got a barrister representing him today, hasn’t he?’ Jane asked apprehensively.
‘Yes, a QC, and by all accounts he’s a bit of an ogre who likes to attack police officers in the witness box.’
DI Moran closed his newspaper and threw it down on the table next to him.
‘Would you two shut up! The magistrate will have read your statements and you’ll be cross-examined by Allard’s counsel, that’s all… it’s no big deal.’ He looked at Edwards. ‘What are you doing? Trying to put the fear of God in her? Allard made the confession to me, so I’m the one who’ll get all the flack, not you!’
‘I was just trying to prepare her, sir.’
‘Oh shut up, Edwards.’
Moran looked at Jane.
‘You’ll be fine… Just stay calm and answer yes or no, three bags full, sir… all right?’
At that moment the door to the waiting room opened and the court usher stuck her head round the door.
‘Right, your case is under way in Court One.’
Jane jumped up, brushed her uniform down and headed towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’ the usher asked.
‘To sit in court,’ Jane replied, somewhat confused by the question.
‘I’m sorry but DI Moran is on first. You have to wait in here and not discuss the case with your colleague. I will come and get you when it’s your turn to give evidence.’
Moran sighed as he stood up.
‘She’s fairly new to all this. You can sit in after you’ve given your evidence, Tennison, but not while another officer is giving evidence – otherwise you’d know the questions that were put to me and the answers I gave, which kind of goes against the course of justice.’
That’s rich coming from you, Jane thought to herself, as Moran left the room.
After the usher closed the door Edwards looked at Jane with a worried expression.
‘Moran wants me to say I saw him search Allard at the scene of the arrest. He’s adamant he had the flick knife on him-’
Jane shook her head as she interrupted Edwards. ‘But we both know you didn’t see him search Allard, and neither of us saw the knife until Moran produced it out of thin air in the charge room.’
‘Yeah, but if the confession wasn’t genuine then why would Allard even sign it? Allard could just be trying to muddy the waters and Moran could be telling the truth. Maybe we’re wrong.’
‘Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself? I agree it’s strange that Allard should sign a confession if it was false, but for all we know Moran could have threatened him about his wife and kids, or tricked him somehow… who knows? There’s no way I’m fabricating evidence and saying that I saw Allard searched at the scene, and neither should you. Like Moran just said, he’s the one who will take the flack… besides it’s his career on the line, not ours, if he’s lying.’
‘You’re right, Jane, and at the end of the day the magistrate will decide if there is enough evidence to commit for trial.’
‘Which is unlikely when you look at the facts of the rape compared to the indecent assaults. I took another look at the rape victim’s statement and the way he smelt of body odour and…’
Edwards stood up and moved towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’
‘I need the loo again,’ Edwards said, as he hurried out of the room. Jane shouted after him to get her a coffee then continued reading over her notes. She was now feeling more nervous than before after everything he had just said.
When Edwards returned fifteen minutes later he looked pale, almost as if he’d been sick. Jane suspected he had, though she didn’t ask. She stood up and moved towards the door.
‘You need a pee as well?’
‘No, I asked you to get me a coffee. Do you want one?’
‘Sorry, I forgot. I’d better not have one in case I’m called next.’
Jane went into the cell area of the court and asked the custody sergeant if she could get a coffee. He smiled and told her to help herself, but to leave five pence in the small metal tin next to the kettle. She took her time as she didn’t want to get into a deliberation about the case with DC Edwards, so she had a quick chat with a PC whom she recognized from the section house. As she returned to the officers’ waiting room with her coffee she crossed the entrance hall of the courts and saw Marie Allard coming out of Court One in floods of tears.
‘Are you all right, Marie?’ Jane asked, as she approached her out of concern.
Marie slowly looked up at Jane with a mixture of contempt and loathing in her eyes.
‘You all in this pack of lies together, aren’t you? You don’t care about the truth. My husband admitted the indecent assaults, but he never confessed to rape, did he?’
Jane felt apprehensive. She didn’t really know what to say, but she was upset by the state Marie was in.
‘I don’t know, Marie… I wasn’t present when DI Moran took the confession.’
‘I just sat in there and listened to him lie. Peter deserve whatever he get for assaulting those poor women, but not to go to prison for years for something he not do.’
‘It may not come to that, Marie. The magistrate could decide there’s not enough evidence to send your husband for trial.’
‘And if he go to trial, what happen then? Will you stand up for him and tell truth?’
Jane didn’t know what to say and regretted ever approaching Marie Allard. The courtroom door opened and the usher looked surprised to see Jane.