‘At last we’ve found something we can agree on,’ shouted Lamont, jabbing a finger at Booth Watson.
‘A little louder please,’ said Booth Watson, ‘just in case the jury didn’t hear you the first time – and might also get it wrong.’ He looked up at the bench and said, ‘No more questions, m’lud.’
Everyone remained on the edge of their seats, waiting for Sir Julian to come out fighting, but were once again taken by surprise when the Crown’s leading advocate rose from his place and said with an exaggerated sigh, ‘That completes the case for the Crown, m’lud. However, I wonder if I might be allowed to make a personal statement?’
Mr Justice Baverstock nodded, and Booth Watson settled back, closed his eyes and crossed his arms, giving the impression of a victorious general awaiting triumphant news from the battlefield. But to his surprise Sir Julian wasn’t yet ready to agree the terms of surrender.
‘It is, as you know, m’lud, an established practice at the criminal bar for a leader to allow his junior to cross-examine a defence witness. So, if Mr Booth Watson plans to call the defendant to give evidence, I shall step aside and leave that responsibility to my junior, Ms Grace Warwick, if it so pleases Your Lordship.’
Booth Watson opened his eyes, unfolded his arms and said in a voice loud enough for those around him to hear, ‘What’s he up to?’
William smiled, but then he knew exactly what his father was up to.
‘I shall look forward to that with pleasure, Sir Julian,’ said the judge, before he added, ‘we will reconvene at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.’
‘I would strongly advise against it,’ said Booth Watson.
‘Why?’ demanded Faulkner.
‘Because you have nothing to gain from it, while she has nothing to lose.’
‘But don’t forget, it’s the pupil I’ll be up against, not the master.’
‘Who has been well tutored by the master over many years.’
‘Then perhaps it’s time to remind the Warwicks exactly who they’re up against. In any case, what have I got to lose?’
‘Your freedom.’
‘But I might never get another opportunity like this to publicly humiliate Sir Julian Warwick and destroy his daughter at the same time, with Hawksby, Lamont and the choirboy all having to watch from the sidelines.’
‘I’ve given you my opinion, Miles. Avoid appearing in the witness box at all costs, because I think you’ll find the curtain has already come down.’
‘Not on my performance it hasn’t,’ said Miles.
‘Which will be unscripted, don’t forget.’
‘Let’s face it,’ said Miles. ‘You were nothing more than the grave digger. They’re now waiting for Hamlet to make his entrance.’
‘And we all know how that ended.’
20
WHEN GRACE AWOKE, she wasn’t sure if she’d slept at all, as her mind was buzzing with fear and anticipation.
She lay still for a few moments, not wanting to wake Clare, before slipping quietly out of bed and padding barefoot across the carpet to the bathroom. She closed the door quietly and turned on the light.
She looked at herself in the mirror. A lot of work to be done, but not now. She needed her brain to be at its sharpest if she were to have any hope of ambushing Faulkner. After dousing her face with cold water and brushing her teeth, she put on her dressing gown, turned off the bathroom light, tiptoed back across the room and out into the corridor, pleased that she hadn’t woken Clare.
As she walked downstairs, Grace realized she must have left the kitchen light on before going to bed, and cursed under her breath. Her dear mother would have chastised her for being ‘fuelish’. But when she opened the kitchen door, she found Clare sitting at the table, pen in hand, surrounded by legal papers.
‘Good morning, Grace,’ she said as if she was sitting in her office at work. ‘I’ve just been going over your questions in preparation for this morning’s cross-examination. I’ve rearranged the order slightly, to make it more difficult for Faulkner to work out where you’re coming from. But you can’t relax for one moment because that man’s extremely sharp and fast on his feet, so you’ll always have to try and remain one step ahead of him. He mustn’t see the sucker punch coming, so when you land the second blow in his solar plexus, he won’t have time to recover, because the third one has to knock him out. And by the way, I’ve gone over Adrian Heath’s testimony again, and your father was right – he did send us a coded message on how to trap Faulkner. Let’s hope he and Booth Watson haven’t spotted it. Now, you sit down and go through what I’ve done, while I boil you an egg, because you must have a hearty breakfast.’
‘Before I’m hanged,’ said Grace. They both laughed nervously. Grace sat down and began to consider the new order of questions. Clare was right, switching a couple of them around would give Faulkner less chance of anticipating ‘Can I rerturn to the eight hundred pounds?’
‘Right,’ said Clare, placing a cup of tea in front of Grace. ‘Now let’s do it for real. I’ll be Faulkner, while you play the leading advocate in the land. Go for it.’
Grace rose from her chair. ‘Mr Faulkner, do you believe Mr Heath was telling the truth when he stated under oath . . .’
For the next hour, they exchanged barbed remarks and sharp rejoinders, jousting with each other as if they were deadly rivals, often stopping to deliver a sentence in a different way, or emphasize a word to give it more impact. After the third cup of tea, Clare threw her arms in the air and exclaimed, ‘ “She’s got it, I think she’s got it!” Now, go and get ready. You
