‘I’m afraid for her it was personal,’ said Sir Julian.
‘But God knows, I told her often enough to remain calm, whatever Booth Watson threw at her,’ said Grace.
‘What makes matters worse,’ said Sir Julian, ‘is thanks to PC Bailey’s faltering performance, Booth Watson can now advise his client there’s no longer any need for him to give evidence from the witness box.’
‘I agree,’ said Grace. ’But surely the jury will realize which of them is the guilty party?’
‘I know he’s guilty, you know he’s guilty, and BW certainly knows he’s guilty,’ said Sir Julian. ‘But in the end, it’s the jury who will decide which one of them they believe.’
‘I still think we have a fifty-fifty chance,’ said Clare. ‘After all, the jury’s choice is between a susceptible young woman and the man she was taken in by, who won’t even appear in the witness box to defend himself.’
‘Which is his right in law, as the judge will point out,’ Sir Julian reminded them. ‘No, we’ll have to hope the jury remember William’s evidence, and the fact that BW chose not to cross-examine him after he’d testified that Summers supplied drugs to known criminals in return for cash.’
‘But we don’t have any of those numbered notes to prove it,’ said Grace, ‘otherwise Lamont would have had to join Summers in the dock.’
‘But we do have the stolen diamond ring that he passed on to his next girlfriend, who just happened to be the drug dealer’s daughter,’ said Clare.
‘We can only hope the jury has worked that one out,’ said Sir Julian.
‘Yet another reason Booth Watson won’t allow Summers to appear in the witness box,’ suggested Grace.
‘Booth Watson even managed to misquote Congreve in support of his case,’ said Sir Julian.
‘Is that why you rose to interrupt BW?’ asked Grace.
‘Look the quote up,’ said her father.
‘Well, at least you’ll be able to put the record straight when you deliver your closing remarks,’ said Clare, as they reached Essex Court.
‘Misquoting Congreve won’t cut much ice with the jury, while BW keeps repeating the words, “arrest record”, “commendations”, and “beyond reasonable doubt” during his closing remarks, while forgetting to mention the ring or any other stolen goods Nicky managed to destroy.’
‘Then you’ll have to mention them again and again during your summing-up,’ said Clare.
‘I will. It’s just a pity BW will have the final word.’
‘No, the judge will have the final word,’ Grace reminded her father, as they climbed the steps to the senior partner’s chambers.
‘But he will have to present both sides of the case dispassionately, while reminding the jury that their verdict must be unanimous, and more important, beyond reasonable doubt.’
‘I still think we’ve got a fifty-fifty chance,’ said Clare.
30
Sir Julian rose early the following morning, and not just because he couldn’t sleep. He needed to rehearse his closing summation to the waking birds and seek their approval.
He switched on the bedside light, put on his dressing gown, and padded across to his writing desk. He picked up his notes, looked in the mirror and began, ‘M’lud, members of the jury, what an extraordinary case this has turned out to be, and I would suggest that in the end, it simply comes down to who you believe. On the one hand...’
Forty minutes later, he ended with the words, ‘I am confident the jury will use its common sense when reaching a verdict, well aware who is the guilty party.’
But would they? he wondered as he put the script to one side. He still couldn’t be sure which way the jury would fall, and it didn’t help that Booth Watson would speak after him and have the final word before the judge’s summing-up. He decided to make himself a cup of tea before getting dressed and going across to chambers to find out if Grace or Clare had any last-minute suggestions.
On his way to the kitchen, he stopped to pick up the morning paper from the doormat. He looked at the Telegraph’s headline and swore out loud. After reading the front-page article he swore again, even louder.
‘Do you think they’ll find him guilty?’ Beth asked as she scooped a second fried egg out of the pan and dropped it on William’s plate.
‘It’s going to be a close-run thing,’ William replied. ‘They may feel there’s not enough evidence to convict him, after Booth Watson invented a line about revenge that Congreve never wrote.’
‘Why didn’t your father correct him?’
‘He couldn’t while Grace was representing the Crown.’
‘But you told me only a week ago you considered it an open-and-shut case.’
‘And it might have been if our undercover agent had been able to arrest Summers when he came out of Payne’s house, and relieve him of the Sainsbury’s bag he was carrying.’
‘Then why didn’t he?’
‘It’s not that easy to arrest two people when you have no backup, unless of course you’re James Bond.’
‘What about at the Playboy Club, when you were given a second chance?’
‘Same problem, although thanks to Nicky at least I found out what Summers and Lamont were up to.’
‘But you were still able to produce the ring as evidence,’ said Beth, as she began to feed the twins.
‘Yes, but it didn’t help that Nicky took her time admitting when she first saw it,’ said William, glancing across at Beth’s copy of the Daily Mail.
‘That’s all I need,’ he said, after he’d read the banner headline on the front page.
Grace didn’t bother with breakfast that morning as she went over her leader’s closing remarks one more time before leaving for chambers.
‘It’s your father at his most persuasive,’ said Clare after she’d read the peroration.
‘I agree,’ said Grace as the morning paper landed on the doormat with a thud. ‘But will the jury end up giving Summers the benefit of the doubt?’
‘We’ll find out soon enough. Why don’t you grab the paper while I make us coffee?’
Clare switched on the kettle as Grace left the kitchen. A few moments later she heard a string of expletives coming from the hall, which only increased in volume as her partner returned to join her. Not the sort of language one would expect from someone who was hoping to be appointed a QC.
Grace burst back into the room and threw the Guardian on the kitchen table, saying, ‘That won’t help our cause.’
Booth Watson still felt the verdict was in the balance as he went slowly over his final submission to the jury. He was enjoying a full English breakfast at his favoured table in the Savoy Grill. He was pleased he’d been able to convince Summers he shouldn’t give evidence. A risk not worth taking, he’d repeated, several times. Sir Julian would probably mention Banquo’s ghost during his summing-up, but at least he had the advantage of following his old rival and responding in kind before the judge addressed the jury.
He made one or two small emendations to his script before pushing it to one side and picking up his copy of The Times. His coffee went cold as he read the front-page article a second time.
‘Would you care for more coffee, sir?’ asked an attentive waiter.
‘No,’ said Booth Watson abruptly. ‘Get me a copy of every morning paper and put them on my bill. Immediately.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said the waiter, who scurried off.
Booth Watson read the article for a third time and smiled. The odds were no longer fifty-fifty. He began to rewrite the last paragraph of his closing speech.
The court was full long before the judge was due to make his entrance, the audience waiting expectantly for the curtain to rise on the final act.