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preferred not to think about the ultimate weapon he could use against Stacy if he was forced to. His purpose was to demolish Stacy's testimony -- not wreck his career in the police force. No doubt Stacy was a good copper, but if it came to a choice between him and two possibly innocent people going to jail, then there Page 83 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html would be no hesitation. As Golding faced-up to his showdown with Stacy, he had the dubious comfort of knowing that he didn't invent the rules of the deadly game he was about to play. "Sergeant Stacy, said Golding softly. "In answer to a question by my learned friend, you said that when Sven Richards was brought ashore, Rosemary Richards behaved with contrived hysteria." "Yes." "Did you ask her if her hysteria was contrived?" "No." "Have you ever seen her in a hysterical state before?" "No." "Or angry?" A slight pause, then: "No." "Not even on a diving trip to Lulworth Cove last summer?" Edgy now. Tiny fear-induced speckles glinted on his forehead. "No." "Or angry when trying to change into a two-piece swimsuit?" Stacy's eyes strayed briefly from their target on the wall. "No." Sinclair frowned. "Or in a Torquay hotel?" A louder, more emphatic, "No." Golding paused. Even the jury had sensed something. Twelve pairs of eyes were trained on Stacy, monitoring the swelling beads of sweat on his forehead and the white hands gripping the sides of the box -- assessing every involuntary movement. "No," said Stacy again. "I haven't asked a question yet. Why did you say her hysteria was contrived?" "Because it was." "Because you thought so?" Stubborn repetition of, "No." "What then?" Silence. Page 84 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Golding, louder: "What then?" Silence. Judge: "Answer the question." "I don't understand the question!" Golding: "Was it the same sort of hysteria she showed in the bedroom?" "What hysteria? What bed -" "You're familiar with her in a hysterical state to know when it's contrived!" "It was a figure of speech." "It was an invention. Admit it!" "I admit it was an exaggeration!" "Just as those incidents you claim to have seen between the defendants is an exaggeration?" Look at me. "No! It was common knowledge that she was putting it about!" You're on your own, thought Anders. "Putting what about!" Look at me, damn you. "You know." "No I don't know. I don't know how your mind works. I don't know how much you're exaggerating again. Putting what about?" "Herself." "You saw it being put?" "Yes!" "But not your way?" "I don't know what you're talking about!" "The Torquay hotel bedroom." "That was an exaggeration I tell you!" Stacy froze. He realised he had made a mistake. Don't make another one - don't look at his eyes. In avoiding them he encountered Rosemary Richards hard, unforgiving eyes. The same expression as the time she had backed away from him clutching the hotel bath towel in front of her. Stacy was now badly frightened. His fear affected his judgment for he decided to attack. Page 85 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "No matter how you try to twist everything I say, nothing can change the fact that those two were committing adultery together. Nothing! I've seen them together - seen the way they've carried on, and then there were the times that they were alone together in the house when Sven was abroad I" Golding decided to ease the pressure. It wasn't needed now -- Stacy was providing his own. "Rosemary Richards is the club secretary?" Golding asked mildly. "Yes." "And Colin Freeman edits the club magazine Fathom Five?" "Yes." Golding picked up a small magazine and skimmed through the pages. "Quite a lively little journal. Well-written and well printed." "Yes." "A lot of work's gone into it." "I suppose." "Virtually every article written by the editor - Colin Freeman, and the typing and artwork done by Rosemary Richards." "They always made a good job of it. I'm not exaggerating that." Golding smiled faintly at the witness box. Stacy was recovering his composure. Let him. "Which means they have to spend a great deal of time together? Is that an exaggeration?" "No." "But what you think they get up to when they're busy preparing this monthly magazine is?" "No." Golding struck. "So you admit that your accusations are based on what you thought^" Stacy was confused. "I didn't say that." "You agreed with me when I suggested that --" "All right!" snapped Stacy. "I admit that I may have been putting two and two together to some extent. But that doesn't change " "Sergeant Stacy," Golding interrupted. "All this court is asking Page 86 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html you to do is to try and put the whole truth together without delving into your fantasy world of half-truths, quarter-truths and downright exaggerations I Can you do that?" "She's nothing more than a common whore," Stacy snarled. "Sven Richards didn't deserve to have that sort of wife. And that's not a half-truth or an exaggeration. Ask any member of the club." "What other organizations do you belong to, Sergeant Stacy?" The question surprised Stacy. "None." "No other clubs?" Nervously. "No." "Boxing activities?" "No." What the hell was he driving at? "No local committees?" Come on. Look at me. Lie once more and you're on a perjury charge. Stacy's white face turned slowly towards the counsel's bench. His eyes met Golding's unwavering gaze. A hideous black serpent of writhing, gnawing terror twisted savagely in his guts as he stared into the hypnotic, fathomless pupils. He knew then that he was irrevocably doomed. The final witnesses for the Prosecution, the other two divers, threw no additional light on the matter. Neither had seen or heard anything amiss until Donaldson had started yelling for help. One thought the wind had been strong and the other was convinced it had been a light, variable breeze. Golding's submission of no case to answer because the prosecution had failed to produce substantial medical evidence as to the cause of Sven Richards death other than by drowning, was rejected by Mr. Justice Sinclair Vice. He ruled that the deposition taken in the magistrates' court from a pathologist who was now too ill to appear in the Crown Court contained sufficient grounds to continue the case. Golding's first witness, after an involved tussle for leave to Call the defendants last, caused a minor sensation: Jane Milton marched into the witness box as Jane Milton. The Dorothy Perkins outfit had gone; in its place was a long skirt, unbuttoned nearly all the way up at the front, and a tight, semitransparent sweater. She recited the oath, glanced round the courtroom, spotted Sergeant Stacy sitting on the witnesses bench and smiled at him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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