A Game of Proof

how he had arrested Simon in Scarborough two weeks later.

Phil Turner nodded. ‘When you arrested Mr Newby, did you caution him?’

‘Yes, we did.’

‘So he was told, was he, that there was no need for him to say anything, but that anything he did say might be used in evidence?’

‘He was told that, yes.’

‘Did he appear to understand it?’

‘Yes. He was fully awake and I spoke the words of the caution slowly and clearly.’

‘Very well. And after he had been arrested and cautioned, did he in fact say anything?’

‘Yes. He said that he hadn’t killed Jasmine Hurst and that he hadn’t seen her for several weeks. He repeated those statements several times.’

Sarah glared at the judge. She had argued in chambers for this damaging evidence to be excluded. But Turner had played the tape of Simon’s interview, arguing that although Simon had retracted the statements he had made in the car, he had admitted making them. (‘But you did say it, didn’t you …’ ‘Yes, but …’) To Sarah’s disgust, judge Mookerjee had agreed with him.

‘Where was Simon Newby when he made these statements?’

‘In the police car on the way from Scarborough to York. With DC Easby and myself.’

‘How did you respond?’

‘I said he would be interviewed at the police station. That’s correct police procedure.’

Turner nodded approvingly. ‘Nonetheless, it is also correct procedure, is it not, to make a note of any comments an arrested person may make after caution. Did you make such a note?’

‘I did, yes.’

‘Would you read it to the court, please?’

In his flat estuary English Churchill read: ‘At 3.45 a.m. on Monday 31st May, DCI Churchill of York police, accompanied by DC Easby of York police and DS Conroy and DC Lane of Scarborough police, entered room 7 of Seaview Villas in Whitton Street, Scarborough … After being cautioned, Mr Newby stated that he had not killed Jasmine Hurst, and that he had not seen her for weeks. He repeated this statement several times.’

‘When you arrived at the police station, was Mr Newby given access to a lawyer?’

‘He was, yes. Mrs Lucy Parsons.’ Churchill eyed Lucy contemptuously.

‘Was Mr Newby cautioned again?’

‘He was, yes.’

Sarah shifted restlessly in her seat. In his slow, painstaking way Turner was walling Simon in. The more solidly he built his case, the harder it would be for her to tear it apart.

‘Did you show Mr Newby this note?’

‘I did. I asked him to sign it as a correct record of what he had said.’

‘And what was his response?’

‘He refused. At first he claimed he hadn’t said those things at all. Then when I challenged him, he agreed he had said them but wanted to change his story. He admitted that he had met Jasmine Hurst on the day she was murdered, after all.’

‘I see.’ Turner paused, letting the words resonate in the jurors’ minds. He was making Simon look like a panic-stricken liar, who made up his story as he went along. And it was about to get worse.

‘He changed his story after meeting Mrs Parsons, his solicitor, you say?’

‘That’s right, sir. Yes.’

‘I see.’ Turner gazed at Lucy, sitting stony faced behind Sarah. His look was thoughtful, one eyebrow slightly raised. A brief glance, followed by a long pause, while the jury stared at Lucy too. Thinking, no doubt, she told him to change his story.

You devious old bastard, Sarah thought. Once she might have admired his court craft; now icy fury flooded through her.

‘So what happened next?’

‘Mrs Parsons handed me a statement which Simon had written himself.’ Churchill read the statement aloud.‘I met Jasmine Hurst a year ago and became very fond of her. In October she came to live with me at 23 Bramham Street and she stayed until March, when she left me. She said she was tired of me and had a new boyfriend. His name is David Brodie and he lives with her at 8a Stillingfleet Road. I went there once to ask Jasmine to come back and live with me but she wouldn’t. I’ve met her a few times since then but only briefly. On Thursday 13th May I met her by the river and she came back to my house for a meal. I asked her to come back and live with me but she wouldn’t. We argued about this and then she left. When she left I was upset so I decided to go to Scarborough for a holiday, to try to get over her. I drove to Scarborough that night and didn’t see Jasmine again. I had no idea Jasmine was dead until the police arrested me this morning. I did not kill her and I don’t know how she died. Simon Newby.’

‘So this was quite different to what he had told you an hour before, in the police car?’

‘Yes, it was.’

Turner rubbed his nose thoughtfully. ‘Chief Inspector Churchill, you have many years experience of interviewing criminal suspects, have you not? In your experience, is it usual for a defence solicitor to come into the police station, confer with her client, and then begin the interview by producing a written statement of this kind?’

‘No, it’s very unusual.’ Churchill smiled. ‘In fact, it’s the first time I’ve seen it myself.’

This was too much. Sarah stood up. ‘My Lord, I really must protest. It seems that my learned friend is attempting to imply some form of professional misconduct on the part of Mrs Parsons, but there is no basis for this whatsoever.’

Judge Mookerjee raised his eyebrows. ‘Mr Turner?’

Turner glanced at Sarah in mock surprise. ‘My Lord, I’m merely trying to establish how the defendant arrived at his version of events.’

‘Which implies that he was influenced by his solicitor,’ Sarah insisted. ‘My Lord, there was no impropriety whatsoever in my colleague’s behaviour and on her behalf I most strongly resent the implication.’

‘If there is such an implication of course I withdraw it.’ Turner bowed to the judge. ‘I am happy to agree that Mrs Parsons has behaved entirely within the law.’

Judge Mookerjee studied the two barristers. ‘Does that satisfy you, Mrs Newby?’

Within the law, Sarah saw, was a stroke of genius. It was impossible to challenge and yet it suggested that Lucy had done something wrong, even if technically legal. Probably half the jury had missed Turner’s subtle innuendoes; now she had emphasized them. Not for the first time in her career, she had been outsmarted. There was nothing for it but to back out as gracefully as she could.

‘Indeed, my Lord. For the present.’

‘So, Chief Inspector Churchill,’ Turner resumed. ‘What was your response to this unusual written statement?’

‘Well, Mrs Parsons said that if I had no evidence against Mr Newby, he should be released immediately. I said that we did have evidence. I showed him the trainers which we had found in his house, with the mud and grass stains and blood on them. I explained that they matched the footprints near the body.’

‘And what was his response?’

‘He said they weren’t his trainers.’

‘Did he suggest who else they might belong to?’

‘No sir. I asked if anyone else kept their trainers in his house, and he said they didn’t.’

‘Did you show him any other evidence?’

‘Yes. I showed him the breadknife, and told him it had blood with Jasmine’s blood group on it. AB negative. The same blood group as on the trainers.’

‘What was his response to that?’

‘He was very angry. He got to his feet and threatened me. At first he said it wasn’t his knife at all. Then he said that it couldn’t be her blood because he didn’t kill her.’