‘That is your prerogative,’ Isaac said. ‘However, there are serious allegations against your client. Allegations that hopefully he will be able to answer to our satisfaction.’
‘Very well, proceed.’ Isaac recognised an attempt by Westfield to commandeer the proceedings. He was not going to let it happen.
‘Mr Adamant, we can prove that your father, Gerald Adamant, was a criminal.’
‘Prove or hearsay?’ Westfield interjected.
‘Prove. He is no longer here to answer for his crimes, but his son is. Mr Adamant, you were a character witness for your father’s third wife, Helen. Is that correct?’
‘It is. I, and my brother and sister, never doubted her sincerity, her acting in self-defence. Our father was becoming unreasonable, unpredictable.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s in the records. He was starting to get old, he had a medical condition, and he didn’t like it. Helen was there for him to deny the ageing process.’
‘Did he marry her for love or for lust?’
‘Both. None of us objected.’
‘You did at first.’
‘We didn’t know who she was, although our father was smitten, more so than he had been with any woman for a long time.’
‘You must have known her history.’
‘Not then, and out of respect for our father, we did not hire private investigators to check.’
‘Why? A woman, young and provocative, entered into your house. Aren’t you suspicious?’
‘We were, but we’re not a poor family. If he wanted to squander some of his money on her, it did not concern us, as long as she made him happy.’
‘Did she?’
‘Yes, but this is well known. She proved to be the ideal wife, loving and caring, devoted to the causes he held dear to his heart.’
‘This is all very well,’ the QC said, ‘but why is my client here, and why the handcuffs? He’s not been charged with any crime.’
‘We had been forewarned that Mr Adamant was about to leave the country. In fact, there was a plane waiting for him not more than ten miles from his house.’
‘Is that an issue?’ Adamant said.
‘Not in itself, but the flight plan had been lodged at the last moment, and it was an executive jet on hire to you.’
‘I often use executive jets.’
‘We will be checking the financial records of your businesses and those of the charitable trust. Will we find any anomalies?’
‘No.’
‘We will also be questioning your brother and sister. Will they corroborate your story?’
‘They will, although Howard, he doesn’t want to become involved, and Abigail, she’s not interested.’
‘We’ve arrested two men in connection with the death of Ben Aberman. One of those men will state that your father gave the order for his murder.’
‘I don’t believe it. My father was a good man who helped others.’
‘He was not there when it happened. He was a man who controlled from a distance. Are you such a man?’
‘No. I have taken over my father’s interests, business and charitable, that’s all.’
‘Successfully?’
‘Not as successfully as my father, but both are sound.’
‘Why not?’
‘My father was a unique individual. People instinctively liked and trusted him. I do not have the ready ease he had. It’s my personality, and I can’t change it. I can only do what I feel is best for the Adamant family.’
‘Even if that includes murder?’
‘I must object,’ Westfield said. ‘You are not accusing my client of any crime, only questioning him. Where’s the proof that he’s done anything criminal?’
‘There are enough bodies. Mr Adamant is not the person, nor was his father, to commit any act of violence personally. That is always left to others. We can put forward a strong case showing that Gerald Adamant was behind the death of Ben Aberman. We can also show that Helen Langdon was aware of who killed Aberman and that she executed a plan to marry your father, and to ultimately kill him.’
‘That’s rubbish. You never saw the two of them together. I did. Helen loved my father. The verdict against her at the trial was erroneous. All three of us knew it, but they dragged up her past history, and she was damned.’
‘My client is not here to answer questions regarding his father,’ Westfield said.
‘We have a statement from Barry Knox, a man who has admitted to killing Helen Langdon, James Holden, and two prostitutes. He has stated that you were the person behind the scenes, giving the orders.’
‘For two prostitutes? What for?’
‘They’re collateral damage. One of them had figured out what was going on, and the flatmate of the other woman had identified Knox as the murderer. We can prove his guilt, and he has given us a full confession. Mr Adamant, yours is not so easy. You’ve inherited the skill of staying out of sight from your father,’ Isaac said. ‘Both Detective Inspector Hill and I were in Slater’s office when he and his receptionist were killed. Knox did not commit those murders, although you, Mr Adamant, are a good shot. Did you kill Slater, realising that he was getting scared, or he was the only one who could positively identify you?’
‘Objection,’ Westfield said. ‘This is conjecture, not proof.’
‘We will obtain the proof. There is enough evidence to overturn Helen Langdon’s acquittal. It will show her guilty of the murder of the man who ordered Ben Aberman’s death. We can also prove that Slater was at Aberman’s house when he signed the documents ceding his clubs to a company associated with your father. Mr Adamant, your defence is based on your father’s reputation. Within the next few months, that reputation will be shattered.’
‘It’s a tragedy what you are doing. My father helped a lot of people around the world.’
‘And that
