NINE
It was late Friday afternoon when Cobb finisheddictating a summary of his interviews and adding some final remarksto his report. Wilfrid Sturges was attending a meeting with themayor and aldermen, but arrived back a few minutes after GussieFrench blew the last grain of blotting sand away from the paper infront of him. Cobb handed the report to his chief and waited withGussie in the anteroom while Sturges took it into his office toread it over. Cobb was pleased to see that he was not limpingtoday.
Time dragged on. Gussie grumped and whinedabout his teenager, whom the mumps had not made any moremanageable. Constable Brown clumped in and went into theconstables’ room. At last the Chief called Cobb inside. Sturges wassitting and staring at the report as if expecting it to burst intoflames at any moment. Cobb sat down quietly and waited for theChief’s reaction.
“What a mess!”
This remark was not among the ones Cobb hadanticipated. “I thought the chain of events was pretty clear,” hesaid.
“They are, Cobb, they are. You are to becongratulated on the job you did this afternoon.”
“Then what’s the problem, sir?”
Sturges sighed. “What we have here – whatyou’ve unearthed – is a series of circumstantial events, welltestified to, that surround a single witness’s claim that theperson he saw assaultin’ Betsy Thurgood was Seamus Baldwin.”
“That’s the way I see it, too.”
“The trouble is not in the details you setout, it’s whether they point clearly to laying a charge of rapeagainst a revered member of a prominent family.”
“You’re not sure whether to charge him ornot?”
“What I’m sayin’ is we’re damned if we do anddamned if we don’t.”
“And if we do?”
“If we do, we’ll bring the house of Reformdown upon us like a rock-fall. They’ll claim the witness didn’t seethe culprit’s face and that the police went out of their way tofind testimony to incriminate their man. They’ll screamwitch-hunt!”
“And if we don’t?”
“The Tories, includin’ most of thegovernment, will accuse us of gatherin’ facts and findin’ witnessesand then coverin’ them up! Witch-hunt or cover-up, take yer pick.This report, you see, can be turned either way, dependin’ on yerprejudices.”
“But who else coulda done it?” Cobb said,beginning to get miffed.
“Nobody that I can tell. I agree with youthat Jake Broom’s account is very believable, and everythin’ -everythin’ – you’ve dug up supports his claims. But it’spossible he lied to cover up fer Mullins or Clift, who were freefrom observation at the time of the crime. To think he might’vedone it himself is crazy. If he did, or if he saw one of his matescommit the crime, he never in a million years would’ve come in hereand brung the whole business up when it was long forgotten. Thatmakes no sense at all.”
“That’s right. He comes back to the millyesterday and hears nothin’ about the rape business, does he? If hewas the culprit, he might’ve expected the girl would’vecomplained, and so on. Instead, he only hears about Betsy’s deathafter a botched abortion.”
“Why come back at all, eh?”
Cobb looked warily at the report betweenthem. “So what are ya gonna do?”
“I’m goin’ to take this report straight overto the Court House and show it to James Thorpe. I’ll let himdecide. I don’t fancy chargin’ a Baldwin, however elderly anddodderin’, with seduction and statutory rape, even though I got thepower to do so.”
“But the magistrate’s a Tory!” Cobb cried.“We know perfectly well what he’ll do and why.”
“Maybe so. But Thorpe’s an honest man.However, once the Attorney-General and them other Tory hounds getone whiff of what’s in yer report, there’ll be no stoppin’ ‘em.Still, I want the charge and any prosecution left in theirhands. I want it to be seen that we done our jobs – fairlyand diligently.”
“You sure you wanta retire?” Cobb said.
***
It came as no surprise that at noon on Monday, awarrant was issued for the arrest of Seamus Baldwin. There was onesurprise, however: the charges were multiple – seduction andcorruption of a minor, having carnal relations with a minor, andinvoluntary manslaughter. The hand of the Tory establishment wasevident, it was whispered everywhere, in that last unexpectedcharge. Apparently, Humphrey Cardiff, the Attorney-General, haddecided to throw the book at the elder statesman of the firstfamily of Reform. Sturges selected Rossiter and Wilkie to drive outto Spadina to effect the arrest. He didn’t want Cobb harassed orcompromised. Dr. Baldwin greeted them courteously and asked forhalf an hour to prepare his brother. His request was granted.Wobbly on his pins but with much dignity, the old gent, emotionallydrained, was helped to the carriage. There was no thought ofmanacles.
He was arraigned within minutes of hisarrival at the Court House, the charges read, a plea of not guiltyentered and, considering his age and state of health, he wasreleased into the hands of his younger brother. The Baldwin namealone was surety enough for his later appearance in court. Again,political chicanery was assumed when the trial date was set for twoweeks hence, the first Monday in November. Three other cases in theassizes had to be rescheduled to accommodate the Baldwin trial.
It was Wednesday before Robert Baldwin couldbe summoned back to face the gravest crisis in his family’sillustrious history.
***
They met on Thursday morning in the spacious libraryof Francis Hincks, who lived next door to Baldwin House: Robert,Dr. Baldwin, Hincks, Marc Edwards and Robert Baldwin Sullivan. Itwas here that many of the important conferences of the Reformcaucus had been held, and critical decisions taken in the longstruggle for a system of responsible government in the province.And although everyone here was eager to hear Robert’s report of hisjourney to the western counties, no-one was surprised that thefirst and principal topic of conversation was to be the upcomingtrial of Uncle Seamus. A copy of the Crown’s indictment lay open onthe table. It ran to five pages. They had all read it, silently andsolemnly.
“Before we discuss the particulars,” Hinckssaid to get things started, “we need to decide who is to be UncleSeamus’s defense counsel.”
“It has to be you, Marc,” Robert saidmatter-of-factly, then looked beseechingly at his friend. “I am fartoo close to the situation.”
“And I have to be in Kingston on business thevery date of the trial’s beginning,” his cousin said withoutapparent regret. He was a brilliant courtroom performer, butimpatient with research and the petty details that were often ascrucial as the grand gesture. “But in the interim I’ll do all I canto help.”
“Thanks, Bob,” Robert said. “We allappreciate your concern. As you know full well, these spuriouscharges are a direct attack on our family and our party.”
“And whether you are comfortable with it ornot, Robert,” Hincks said, “we may need you to return to Windsor tocalm the waters there.”
Robert nodded, then looked at Marc again.
“It’s a terrible responsibility,” Marc said,“but I’d be a coward and no friend if I refused.”
“That’s settled, then,” Dr. Baldwin said withevident relief. He was still pale and weak from several bouts oflumbago. “I’ll try to pitch in, but my brother’s in worse shapethan I am. He needs a physician close by whenever possible.”
“So, Marc,” Hincks said, “what do you make ofthe indictment at first glance?”
Marc picked up the document. “I’m surprised,and disappointed, in that third charge. You can see from theallusion to the events and witness-statements that the Crownintends to link the girl’s death and the rape, as cause and effect,deed and consequence. We’ll know more when we see theirwitness-list in a day or two.”
“Isn’t involuntary manslaughter a bit of astretch,” Hincks said, “even for our Attorney-General, who hasambitions as big as his belly?”
“It is, and even if he were able to provethat Uncle Seamus financed the abortion, which they can’t, he can’tbe convicted of manslaughter or even criminal negligence. Afterall, no-one but Betsy knew who would be asked to perform thatbutchery.”