his visitor rather than succumbing to the asthma that had dogged him over many years: then at least there might have been a crime for which the murderer could be put away. He had ascertained in casual conversation before Benny left where he had been at the time of Miller’s death. At a video industry conference in Mayfair had been the easy reply. It had lasted until lunchtime on Sunday, Benny claimed. If he thought he was being quizzed for a purpose, he gave no sign of it, but Harry had already decided that Benny Frederick was nobody’s fool. Never mind the openness of his manner: if he had anything to hide, he would hide it well.
Would the same, he wondered, be true of Clive Doxey?
He spent so long mulling over what he had learned that he was almost late for the meeting of the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation. When he finally arrived, Kim Lawrence was chatting to a girl who sat behind the desk at the door of the conference room in Empire Hall. Next to them stood a noticeboard bearing MOJO’s logo of a pair of handcuffs that had been snapped in two and
in huge red letters the legend TONIGHT’S LECTURE — WHY THERE MUST NEVER BE ANOTHER WALTERGATE, BY PATRICK VAULKHARD.
‘He’ll be talking himself out of a job if he’s not careful,’ said Harry.
‘No danger of that in this bloody society,’ said Kim with a wry smile. To his surprise she bent her head forward and brushed his cheek with her lips. ‘Glad you could make it anyway.’
‘Thanks for inviting me,’ he said, as he tried to guess if the kiss meant anything more than a simple social greeting. ‘Sorry I only made it at the eleventh hour.’
‘No problem.’ She gestured towards the rows of empty chairs in front of the vacant speaker’s podium. ‘We need all the support we can get. We’re due to start in a minute and the place is three-quarters empty.’
‘It was a mistake to fix a date that clashed with Everton’s replay.’
‘Are you suggesting soccer fans are connoisseurs of injustice?’
‘Have you never heard them complain about dodgy refereeing decisions?’
She laughed. ‘How did I get into this? I can never tell whether you’re being serious or not.’
‘I promise you,’ he said quietly, ‘I am serious about genuine injustice. Whether it occurred thirty years ago or yesterday.’
‘Any more news about the Sefton Park case?’
He nodded. ‘I’ll tell you later.’
‘I think,’ she said, ‘Edwin Smith would have been glad of you as a champion in 1964. Just as the Walters were lucky to have you — as well as Patrick.’
‘My ears are burning.’ said the barrister’s voice.
‘Hello, Patrick,’ said Kim. ‘Ready to wow them?’
‘I crave only your approval,’ said Vaulkhard, bending to kiss her hand. Harry told himself it was a gesture she endured rather than enjoyed. ‘Lovely to see you, Kim. As well as to find you’ve roped in young Mr Devlin here. Not noticed you at any of these meetings in the past, Harry.’
‘Pressure groups aren’t usually my cup of tea. Compulsory membership of the Empire Dock Occupiers’ Association causes me enough hassle. It’s like belonging to the Mafia but with rules more elaborate than the Law Society’s. Anyway, I couldn’t miss this one, could I?’
‘It was a hell of a case,’ said Vaulkhard. ‘Sorry I seem to have hogged the publicity.’
‘Hardly, in comparison to our Jeannie.’
A foxy grin. ‘When they made Jeannie Walter, they broke the mould.’
‘Thank God,’ said Harry.
‘I see Sir Clive is giving me meaningful looks,’ said Kim. ‘Perhaps we’d better make a start.’
She led Vaulkhard to the podium and Harry stole a glance at Doxey. He always found it strange to see in the flesh people he had come to know through television. So often they seemed smaller in real life and much less august. Sir Clive Doxey, however, was an exception to the rule: an imposing figure even when seated, a man whose silver mane had not a single hair out of place. His lips were pursed, as though he was unaccustomed to being kept waiting and it was a habit he did not intend to acquire. Even the way his arms were folded seemed to exude distinction and to make the statement that this was a rare man, a man of principle. It was impossible to remain indifferent on a first encounter with someone so formidable. For Harry, it was a case of deep dislike at first sight.
Patrick Vaulkhard began to speak. He had mastered this particular brief long ago and he glided with ease through the facts of the Walter case, conserving his energy for a scathing and comprehensive attack on those whose misdeeds had led to the original false conviction and those whose contempt for truth had caused them to keep Kevin inside, even after it became clear that he had not committed the crime for which he had been imprisoned. In passing, he paid tribute to Harry’s efforts on his client’s behalf, as well as expressing his admiration for everything that Jeannie had done — ‘although,’ he said with a faint smile, ‘I could never be as eloquent an advocate on that particular subject as she herself has proved to be in the splendid newspaper serialisation about her campaign.’ Occasionally, Harry noticed Kim shooting him a glance, her expression conveying amused annoyance. His lack of concentration must be showing. He guessed she must realise that his thoughts were drifting back to a miscarriage of the distant past.
He found himself beginning to chafe with impatience until the talk finally came to an end and Vaulkhard dealt with questions that ranged from the earnest to the absurd. Kim offered thanks and the small audience gave ragged applause. Harry jumped to his feet, anxious not to miss the chance to buttonhole Clive Doxey, but he need not have worried. Kim gently manoeuvred Doxey through the throng and towards where Harry was standing.
‘Clive, I’d like you to meet a professional colleague of mine, a partner in another firm in the city centre. Harry Devlin, this is Sir Clive Doxey.’
They shook hands and Kim added, ‘As you will have gathered, Harry instructed Patrick Vaulkhard on Kevin Walter’s behalf.’
‘A disgraceful episode,’ said Doxey. ‘It shows how appallingly easy it still is for miscarriages of justice to occur.’
‘Very true,’ said Harry, ‘and another case I’ve been looking at over the last few days bears that out. As it happens, I wondered if I could bend your ear about it, since I’m sure that you can cast light on one or two aspects that have been troubling me.’
Doxey gave a tolerant smile. ‘Well, I don’t need to be off home for another half hour, but I think from the expression of the caretaker standing at the back there that we may have to move elsewhere.’
‘There’s a bar next door. Perhaps you’d let me buy you a drink. You too, Kim, unless you have to dash off this minute.’
‘I’d love to come,’ she said. ‘Harry’s told me a little about this case, Clive, and although it’s an old one which wouldn’t fall within MOJO’s sphere, I’m sure you’ll have a special interest in what he’s uncovered.’
‘I am intrigued,’ said Doxey. ‘Shall we adjourn?’
They found seats in the Empire Bar on the first floor, looking out over the black Mersey to the lights of the Wirral peninsula beyond. Harry brought the drinks over and then settled down in a chair facing Clive Doxey. Doxey was amiable and relaxed, unwinding after a long day. He had asked for a Southern Comfort; Harry was drinking beer, Kim a glass of aqua libra.
‘Now then, Mr Devlin, how can I help you?’
‘I’d like to take you back in time,’ Harry said. ‘To 1964, in fact.’
‘The world was very different then,’ said Doxey reminiscently, ‘and I was a young man, still full of illusions about political progress.’
‘Which you shared with your good friend Guy Jeffries.’
Doxey gave him a sharp look. After a brief silence he said in his most equable tone, ‘Yes, that’s right. Dear Guy, I believe he had the finest mind of our generation.’
‘And yet he died a broken man.’
‘He had — personal problems. His daughter died, you know.’
‘Yes, I do know. Her murder is the reason I wanted a word with you. It turns out that the man convicted of the crime was innocent after all.’
No actor could have feigned the shock on Doxey’s patrician features. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’
Harry told him. From his first meeting with Ernest Miller to his conversation with Renata Grierson, he missed
