Bold Counsel (The Trials of Sarah Newby) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nose. Like you do. And her nose unfortunately bled on his hands. Whereupon she got out of the car and flounced off into the night. Never to be seen again.’
    ‘And the torch. With his bloodstained fingerprint?’
    ‘He found it in the car and got out to look for her. Wandered round saying he was sorry and offering her a lift. Only she’d disappeared. So he chucked it in the bushes and drove off.’
    A waiter appeared, pushing a trolley. Sarah took a black coffee, poured elegantly from a china pot. Lucy had a cappuccino and croissant. As the waiter left she buttered it enthusiastically, spreading flakes of hot croissant over the papers between them.
    ‘Well, the main thing is the false confession.’
    ‘Yes. If I get that into court we stand a chance. Otherwise we’re sunk. Amanda Carr is incidental to that, really. And the other thing, of course, is this detective - what’s his name? Baxter. The one who led the investigation.’
    ‘Yes, nasty piece of work. I’ve made notes on him.’
    They fell silent again, sipping coffee and studying the details of the confession their client was alleged to have made to Brian Winnick while on remand. Winnick had been a drug dealer who occasionally supplemented his income by informing to the police. Jason’s original defence team had tried hard to get Winnick’s evidence excluded, on the grounds that the man had been told what to say. The investigating officer, Robert Baxter, had denied this strongly.
    ‘It stinks,’ Sarah said. ‘It’s a classic police ploy when they can’t get enough evidence. The judge should have thrown it out on the spot. Trouble is, once a decision has been made, it’s not easy to overturn it. Judges are like everyone else; they protect their learned friends. Especially from northern fishwives like us.’
    She and Lucy spent the rest of the journey re-reading the transcripts of the original trial and first appeal, as well as the statements of Raymond Crosse and Amanda Carr. Sarah’s first struggle would be to get this evidence into court at all. Even if she managed that, she still had a mountain to climb. Approaching London, two hours later, both she and Lucy felt daunted. They saw, more clearly than before, why none of the senior partners in Lucy’s firm had taken the case on.
    Travelling in a taxi to Pentonville, Sarah asked what their client was like. Lucy wrinkled her nose in distaste.
    ‘Average lowlife thug. Hates the world for what it’s done to him. Hates women because he never sees any. Apart from that he’s quite nice.’
    Sarah laughed - her first that day. ‘So tempting you make him sound! And we’ve travelled all this way to see him.’
    ‘Don’t expect much intelligent conversation. He’ll be undressing you with his eyes the moment you walk into the room. Me, he didn’t bother.’
    Lucy’s prediction proved accurate. Jason was a short man in a black sleeveless teeshirt. The muscles of his arms and upper body bulged in a way that suggested long hours in the prison gym. He was light on his feet, and his hair was cut short, close to his scalp. His face was set in a bitter, cold sneer and, as Lucy had predicted, his eyes focussed first on Sarah’s blouse, and then travelled lower.
    ‘Where’s the brief?’ he asked, without glancing at Lucy.
    ‘This is your barrister, Mrs Newby,’ Lucy said, emphasising the Mrs. ‘She’s come to meet you before the hearing tomorrow.’
    ‘You a QC?’ he asked, his eyes travelling up to Sarah’s face for the first time.
    ‘Not yet,’ she answered coolly. ‘In a few years maybe.’
    ‘Christ.’ He shifted the gum in his mouth, and glared at Lucy. ‘Not even a QC!’
    ‘Mrs Newby’s a very competent lawyer,’ said Lucy firmly. ‘She’s fully up to speed on your case. More competent than many QCs, in my opinion. That’s why I chose her.’
    Jason studied Lucy, considering. ‘She’d better be,’ he said at last. He turned to Sarah. ‘This matters to me, you know, it’s