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"Despite that, are you of a mind to advise him to accept the CPS's offer?" asked Pearson.
Alex was silent for some time before he said, "Yes, but how does the CPS suggest I dress it up?"
Pearson frowned at Redmayne's choice of phrase. "If your client were to admit that he and Wilson did go into the alley for the purpose of sorting out their differences…"
"And a knife ended up in Wilson 's chest?" asked the judge, trying not to sound too cynical.
"Self-defense, mitigating circumstances-I'll leave Redmayne to fill in the details. That's hardly my responsibility."
The judge nodded. "I will instruct my clerk to inform the court officials and the jury that I do not intend to sit"-he glanced at his watch-"until eleven A.M. Alex, will that give you enough time to instruct your client and then return to my chambers with his decision?"
"Yes, I feel sure that will be quite enough time," replied Alex.
"If the man's guilty," said Pearson, "you'll be back in two minutes."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AS ALEX REDMAYNE left the judge a few moments later and made his way slowly across to the other side of the building, he tried to marshal his thoughts. Within two hundred paces, he exchanged the peaceful serenity of a judge's chambers for cold bleak cells only occupied by prisoners.
He came to a halt at the heavy black door that blocked his way to the cells below. He knocked twice before it was opened by a silent policeman who accompanied him down a narrow flight of stone steps to a yellow corridor known by the old lags as the yellow brick road. By the time they reached cell number 17, Alex felt he was well prepared, although he still had no idea how Da
"Do you require an officer to be present during the interview?" he asked politely.
"That won't be necessary," Alex replied.
The officer pulled open the two-inch-thick steel door. "Do you want the door left open or closed, sir?"
"Closed," replied Alex as he walked into a tiny cell that boasted two plastic chairs and a small formica table in the middle of the room, graffiti the only decoration on the walls.
Da
"Good morning, Da
He knew it would be pointless to ask his client once again to call him by his first name. Alex opened a file that contained a single sheet of paper. "I have some good news," he declared. "Or at least, I hope you'll feel it's good news." Da
Da
Alex was almost as shocked by Da
"But, Da
"What kind of life?" asked Da
"But, Da
"I don't know what the word compromise means, Mr. Redmayne, but I do know that I'm i
"They'll never hear about it, Da
"So be it," said Da
"Perhaps you'd like a little more time to think about it," said Alex, refusing to give up. "You could talk to Beth. Or your parents. I'm sure I could get the judge to hold things up until tomorrow morning, which would at least give you time to reconsider your position."
" 'Ave you thought about what you're asking me to do?" said Da
"I'm not sure I understand," said Alex.
"If I admit to manslaughter that would mean that everything Beth said while she was in the witness box was a lie. She didn't lie, Mr. Redmayne. She told the jury exactly what 'appened that night."
"Da
"I could spend the next twenty years living a lie, and if it takes me that long to prove I'm i
"But the world would quickly forget."
"I wouldn't," said Da
Alex would like to have given it one last go, but he knew it was pointless to try to change the mind of this proud man. He rose wearily from his place. "I'll let them know your decision," he said before banging his fist on the cell door.
A key turned in the lock and moments later the heavy steel door was pulled open.
"Mr. Redmayne," said Da
The door was slammed shut.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NEVER BECOME EMOTIONALLY involved in a case, his father had often warned him. Although Alex hadn't slept the previous night, he still paid rapt attention to every word the judge had to say in his four-hour summing-up.
Mr. Justice Sackville's summary was masterful. He first went over any points of law as they applied to the case. He then proceeded to help the jury sift through the evidence, point by point, trying to make the case coherent, logical and easy for them to follow. He never once exaggerated or showed any bias, only offering a balanced view for the seven men and five women to consider.
He suggested they should take seriously the testimony of three witnesses who had stated unequivocally that only Mr. Craig had left the bar to go out into the alley, and only then after he'd heard a woman scream. Craig had stated on oath that he had seen the defendant stab Wilson several times, and had then immediately returned to the bar and called the police.
Miss Wilson, on the other hand, told a different story, claiming that it was Mr. Craig who had drawn her companions into a fight, and it was he who must have stabbed Wilson. However, she did not witness the murder, but explained it was her brother who told her what had happened before he died. If you accept this version of events, the judge said, you might ask yourselves why Mr. Craig contacted the police, and perhaps more important, when DS Fuller interviewed him in the bar some twenty minutes later, why there was no sign of blood on any of the clothes he was wearing.
Alex cursed under his breath.
"Members of the jury," Mr. Justice Sackville continued, "there is nothing in Miss Wilson's past to suggest that she is other than an honest and decent citizen. However, you may feel that her evidence is somewhat colored by her devotion and long-held loyalty to Cartwright, whom she intends to marry should he be found not guilty. But that must not influence you in your decision. You must put aside any natural sympathy you might feel because Miss Wilson is pregnant. Your responsibility is to weigh up the evidence in this case and ignore any irrelevant side issues."