The Accused (Modern Plays) (4 page)

Kersley
My Lord, I am enthralled by Sir James’s gift for storytelling and indeed I would go as far as to suggest that
were he to submit this particular scenario to the BBC they might well consider it for
A Book at Bedtime
. But I’m bound to ask what it has to do with the case now being tried before Your Lordship?

Barrington
It goes to the very heart of this case, My Lord, because the Prosecution are claiming that the defendant poisoned his wife, when there is no evidence to show that he was even in the building when she collapsed. It now seems there is a distinct possibility that someone else was and therefore the police could well have arrested the wrong person.

Judge
Ingenious, Sir James. But I do feel the jury might require a little more proof of the existence of your phantom intruder.

Barrington
You may even see them in the witness box, My Lord …

Kersley
(
leaps up
) Is Sir James suggesting that it was Mr Webster who murdered Mrs Sherwood?

Webster
Are you accusin’ me?

Barrington
If Mr Kersley had allowed me to finish my sentence, I would have added ‘before this trial is over’. No further questions, My Lord.

Webster
I did hear her say ‘ ’ow did you get in?’.

Judge
Do you wish to re-examine, Mr Kersley?

Kersley
No, thank you, My Lord.

Webster
I wasn’t tellin’ no porkies.

Judge
You may leave the box now, Mr Webster.

Webster
And I
did
see the door slam. (
Remains in the witness box
.)

Judge
Mr Webster, will you please leave the courtroom. (
Webster
reluctantly leaves
.)

Webster
On my mother’s life, I swear I saw it slam shut! (
He walks off, aided by
Guard.)

Guard
This way, sir.

Webster
I only told ’em what you told me to say!

The lights fade on all members of the court as
Webster
exits. Blackout as sound of bells is heard
.

Later that afternoon
.

When the lights come up
Mr Hussein
is in the witness box. He is between forty and fifty, formally dressed, and speaks with a pronounced Indian accent. The Koran should be wrapped in a cloth
.

Usher
How will you take the oath, Mr Hussein.

Hussein
On the Koran, sir.

Usher
Take the Koran in your right hand and read from the card.

Hussein
I swear by Almighty Allah that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Kersley
Your name is Masood Hussein, and you are the proprietor of Hussein the Chemist, 141 High Street, Wellingborough?

Hussein
Yes, sir I am.

Kersley
Mr Hussein, perhaps you could tell the court how you became involved in this case.

Hussein
I read in one of the medical journals of the premature death of Mrs Elizabeth Sherwood. I wouldn’t have given the matter a second thought, had it not been for an accompanying photograph of the mourners attending the funeral.

Kersley
Why were the mourners of any significance, Mr Hussein?

Hussein
I observed a lady standing a few paces behind Mr Sherwood whom I thought I recognised. I studied her face more closely with a magnifying glass and realised I had seen her before, but couldn’t remember where.

Kersley
And did you eventually remember?

Hussein
Yes, it was some days later when I was making an entry in my register of poisons and came across the signature of a Ms J. Mitchell at the top of the page, and recalled that she had visited the pharmacy several times.

Kersley
Can you be certain that it was the same Ms Mitchell whose photograph you saw?

Hussein
Oh, yes, I checked back through the register and discovered that Ms Mitchell had called in to the pharmacy on six separate occasions during a period of three months, and always on a Saturday.

Kersley
But that doesn’t prove she was the woman in the photograph?

Hussein
But Mr Sherwood’s signature does.

Kersley
Mr Sherwood’s signature?

Hussein
Yes, he had countersigned all the prescriptions.

Kersley
Had he? And what were these prescriptions made out for?

Hussein
Ten millilitres of Potassium Chloride.

Kersley
And did you keep ai six prescriptions?

Hussein
I most certainly did, Mr Kersley. I retain all prescriptions for controlled drugs for the required period of five years.

Kersley
You say you served Ms Mitchell on no fewer than six occasions. Do you recall anything in particular about her?

Hussein
She was a self-confident young woman and although she knew exactly what she wanted, she appeared tense, even a little nervous.

Kersley
And is that what made you suspicious?

Hussein
No, I was more puzzled than suspicious, because I couldn’t work out why Mr Sherwood would want to have his prescriptions made up in my small pharmacy in Wellingborough, when St George’s has a large pharmacy of its own. From my experience, doctors want drugs immediately, not some days later.

Kersley
Mr Hussein, an ampoule of Potassium Chloride was found in Mr Sherwood’s bag on the night of his wife’s death. Could it have came from your shop?

Judge
How can Mr Hussein know the answer to that question?

Hussein
(
turning to face the
Judge)
My Lord, if I could see the ampoule I would be able to tell if it had come from my shop.

Judge
How is that possible, Mr Hussein?

Hussein
Because every dangerous drug has a number displayed on its packaging which, when it is sold, has to be entered in my poisons register.

Kersley
My Lord, both the poisons register and the ampoule of Potassium found in Mr Sherwood’s bag are in the court’s possession. They are numbers eleven and twenty-six on the court’s list of exhibits. Perhaps Your Lordship would be kind enough to check the entry in the register, while I ask Mr Hussein to read out the number on the ampoule of Potassium. (
Judge
nods his agreement
.)

Barrington
My Lord, I must object. This parlour game adds nothing to the evidence. After all, the ampoule of Potassium found in Mr Sherwood’s bag was unopened so what possible bearing can it have on the case?

Judge
A great deal Sir James, because if this is not one of the ampoules collected from Wellingborough, it will surely work in favour of your client, as it will show that there is no proof that the other five ever left the hospital. (
Jury Bailiff
hands the register up to the Bench, while the
Usher
hands over the ampoule of Potassium to
Hussein
.) Please read out the number on your package, Mr Hussein.

Hussein
107293 AZ.

Judge
(
nods, and faces the audience
) They are identical.

Kersley
So there can be no doubt that the ampoule of Potassium picked up by Ms Mitchell on March the nineteenth from Mr Hussein’s shop, was the one found in the defendant’s bag on the night of Mrs Sherwood’s death, and therefore we can assume that the other five …

Barrington
My Lord, that is outrageous. We can assume nothing…

Kerlsey
Other than that my learned friend will always interrupt whenever he finds his client in any real trouble. No more questions, My Lord. (
Resumes his seat
.)

Judge
Do you wish to question this witness, Sir James?

Barrington
I most certainly do, My Lord. Mr Hussein, do you keep a box of dusting powder and a brush under your shop counter?

Hussein
(
puzzled
) No, sir, I do not.

Barrington
What about a fingerprint pad?

Hussein
A fingerprint pad?

Barrington
A pair of handcuffs, perhaps?

Hussein
Why should I do that?

Barrington
Because you seem to enjoy playing the amateur detective.

Hussein
I’m not sure I know what you mean, Sir James.

Barrington
Then allow me to explain. You come across a photograph of Mr Sherwood in a medical journal attending his wife’s funeral With the help of a magnifying glass you spot a lady in the crowd whom you think you recognise. You discover her name in your drugs register and suddenly you’re the Sherlock Holmes of Wellingborough.

Hussein
(
looks puzzled
) I don’t know a Mr Holmes.

Barrington
You don’t?

Hussein
I don’t recall him ever coming into the shop.

Barrington
When did you arrive in this country, Mr Hussein?

Hussein
Just over two years ago.

Barrington
Only two years ago, so you’re probably still unfamiliar with our ways, not to mention our literature?

Hussein
I have long been an admirer of the British, Sir James.

Barrington
I feel sure you have, Mr Hussein, but that doesn’t make you British. Did you qualify in this country?

Hussein
No, sir, I did not.

Barrington
Then why are you allowed to dispense dangerous drugs?

Hussein
Because I have been a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for the past twenty years.

Barrington
On what grounds, may I ask?

Hussein
Because in my own country I am a qualified doctor.

Barrington
But you are not in your own country, Mr Hussein, so I must ask you, do your qualifications permit you to practise, as a doctor, in this country?

Hussein
No, sir, but … that is purely …

Barrington
No buts, Mr Hussein. They do not permit you to practise as a doctor in this country!

Hussein
Sadly, not yet.

Barrington
Or perhaps not so sadly, for the patients.

Kersley
My Lord, is my learned friend going to be allowed continually to insult the witness in this manner?

Judge
Mr Kersley, this is a charge of murder and, within the bounds of reason, I shall allow the Defence every latitude.

Kersley
Is that latitude to be extended to Sir James asking questions to which he already knows the answer?

Judge
Only a foolish lawyer asks questions to which he does not know the answer, Mr Kersley. Please carry on, Sir James.

Barrington
Thank you, My Lord. Mr Hussein, have you ever visited St George’s Hospital?

Hussein
No, sir, though I have …

Barrington
Have you ever come into contact with Mr Sherwood?

Hussein
Yes, I attended a lecture he gave to the King’s Fund.

Barrington
Along with how many other people, may I ask?

Hussein
There must have been over a hundred people present.

Barrington
I doubt if even Mr Sherlock Holmes would have gleaned enough evidence from going to a lecture,
attended by over a hundred people, to conclude that the lecturer should be charged with murdering his wife. If that were sufficient evidence, you’d be claiming we’re old friends simply on the strength of this cross-examination.

Hussein
I wouldn’t dream of doing so, Sir James, especially as we have met before.

Barrington
And when, pray, was that?

Hussein
It was just over a year ago, when you were chairman of the Bar Council and addressed the Anglo-Indian Society - of which I have the honour of being Secretary.

Barrington
And how many people were present on
that
occasion.

Hussein
Just over three hundred.

Barrington
Just over three hundred.

Hussein
Yes, but we did sit next to each other during dinner. At the time you left the Society in no doubt that you felt most Indians ran corner shops and you thought it amusing that you were still unable to tell one from another. However, I would not ask Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to consider that as evidence of anything.

Barrington
I’m delighted that we’ve finally found something we can agree on, Mr Hussein, because convicting Mr Sherwood will depend on substantiated evidence, and not on the arm’s-length opinion of an unqualified chemist. No further questions, My Lord.

Judge
Do you wish to re-examine, Mr Kersley?

Kersley
Yes, thank you My Lord. I do have one question for Dr Hussein … I beg your pardon, My Lord … Mr Hussein, may I ask you why you were so willing to assist the police in their enquiries, even agreeing to appear in this case as a Crown witness?