The Reckless Engineer (14 page)

‘Deliberate pre-planning,’ Harry said. ‘The person who disposed of it wanted to make sure no one would directly trace it back to him or her.’

What? Oh, yes, the note
. Jeremy swallowed and pulled himself back together.

‘Or someone planted it to point the finger at one of the residents of the McAllen-Connor mansion,’ he suggested.

‘All the same.’ Harry continued with the pages of the post mortem report he was now on. ‘They have found vomit on the house plant in Michelle’s living room by the couch she was found dead on. The analysis in the report clearly identifies by DNA that it is Jack’s vomit. The post mortem report puts the time of Michelle’s death between 5:30 and 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. It also has the analysis of Michelle’s stomach contents and they match the contents of the vomit on the houseplant—it is the meal they had had together the night before. The level of digestion of the food content in the vomit places Jack at the scene of the crime on Thursday morning!’

Harry turned the page over.

Jeremy heard the words and tried to focus. He badly needed some water and fresh air.

‘Marine Electronics access logs and phone records. Several calls to Michelle’s home and mobile phones from Jack’s office phone and his mobile phone Thursday morning, all unanswered. He then left Marine at 10:02 a.m. and didn’t come back to the office until 3:13 p.m. Credit card records: Jack has bought several pints of beer at The Mermaid from 11:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. He’s been seen by the bar staff at The Mermaid heavily drinking in a very agitated state during these hours. CCTV stills from The Mermaid showing Jack drinking in a very distraught state, coming out of the toilet with remnants of food on his face, and washing his face to clean away what looks like vomit right after entering the pub.’

Harry put down the pages.

‘They are arguing that the vial of poison was in Jack’s car and when he saw the police at his gates on Friday that he wiped it and threw it in the bushes in a hurry to dispose of the evidence in the only way he had the opportunity to do.’

‘Poisoning is a pre-planned crime. Jack had ample time to get rid of the vial safely the day before, or even before the poisoning after injecting the poison into the chocolates,’ Jeremy protested. He didn’t want to believe that Jack, his amiable mate, was guilty of this cold blooded deed. He couldn’t be, specially not with his baby in her. There were too many odd things here, right?

‘They are suggesting that Jack was an amateur at this; having never had contact with the police before and having no knowledge of police procedures, that he was purely acting in the moment, reacting to the events. They think that to an extent it was a compulsive crime of desperation rather than a carefully pre-planned execution in cold blood.’

Harry stared at Jeremy for a long moment, his eyes absent, thinking. Jeremy kept quiet and waited. There must be something Harry could do to save his mate.

‘Let’s get Jack.’ Harry finally looked at his watch and dialled Peter’s mobile number.

It was five minutes past 2 p.m. They were due in court in another fifteen minutes. Harry opened the door and headed out.

‘Come on. Let’s get this hearing out of the way and get Jack back home and well enough so that he can talk to us. He has a lot of explaining to do.’

CHAPTER 17

Tuesday, October 19 — Four Days Later

Jeremy stood by the security point while Harry accompanied Jack from the car. Peter had rebelled. He was standing steadfastly by his father’s side, having persuaded Magnus Laird to drive the car for the final stretch.

Blood was thicker than water, Jeremy thought, or maybe so was a guilty conscience.

Some of the reporters were following them, crowding and nibbling at them with biting questions like a shoal of piranhas, though the majority of the media was now setting up cameras inside the courtroom and getting seated in strategic location for reporting the proceedings. A picture of Jack had already made it into the midday regional news reports on TV, Peter had announced on the phone. Marianne had rung Peter and said that she was on her way to the courts; he had not been able to stop her.

Harry helped Jack through the security procedures and they were soon seated on the benches of the court. No sooner were they seated than Marianne ran in through the courtroom doors up to Jack, crouched down, and held his hand.

‘You’re going to be okay, Jack.’

‘Thank you, Marianne.’

Jack, still running a high fever and looking pale and frail, had looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Marianne sat down on the bench behind him next to Peter and kept her hand on Jack’s shoulder, as if she were trying to charge him with strength.

Jeremy glanced around the awe-inspiring spectacle that was the courtroom-the ceiling worked in ornate pattern, the carpet a worn gold, the walls papered in patterned gold, the dark wooden benches resembling those in a grand old church, and the altar that was the judge’s seat raised high before them. He felt a low shiver pass through him. Jack should have been in that raised wooden box to their right, but Harry had managed to get permission for him to sit next to Harry on account of his ill health.

‘The Crown versus Jack Connor. All stand.’ The clerk announced Judge Petersen to the court.

Everybody stood up for a minute, then sat down after the judge, leaving Harry and Carl Davis standing.

‘Mr. Stavers, welcome to Portsmouth. You are acting for the defence in this case I gather. I shall take the pleadings now.’

‘Mr. Connor, please stand,’ the clerk announced. ‘To the charge of the murder of Michelle Williams, how do you plead?’

‘Not guilty,’ Jack said weakly.

‘And to the charge of child destruction of Michelle Williams’ unborn child, how do you plead?’

‘Not guilty,’ Jack said, tearing. ‘For heaven’s sake, he was my baby too.’

Harry gestured Jack to sit back down and Marianne replaced her hand on his shoulder.

‘This case is being adjourned to the Crown Court today. Mr. Davis?’

‘Yes, Judge. The case is being adjourned to the Crown court for a pre-trial hearing to a date two to three weeks from now.’

‘Very well. The Crown court will set the date on its calendar and send out the summonses. Now on the matter of bail, what is the Crown’s application, Mr. Davis?’

‘We do not oppose bail on the condition that Mr. Connor wear an electronic tag. This is a murder case, Your Honour. It is true that Mr. Connor’s family, business, and estate are all here and he is unlikely to re-offend given the circumstances of this case. It is in consideration of this that the Crown does not oppose bail. Nevertheless, this being a murder case carrying a life sentence there is always a high probability of flight by an accused with such vast wealth. We therefore make the application that Mr. Connor be electronically tagged and placed on house arrest preventing him from being away from his residence for longer than 24 hours at a time, and that he be bailed back to the Crown Court.’

‘Mr. Stavers?’

‘Your Honour, all of the evidence that the Crown has against my client in this case is circumstantial. It is true that Jack Connor did commit the error of inconveniently and briefly falling in love with the charming victim, which is hardly a crime . . .’

In his peripheral vision Jeremy could see Marianne grimace in her seat and withdraw her hand from Jack’s shoulder.

‘. . . and he was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time because he wanted to do the right thing by her, especially for his unborn son. Jack Connor is the person most affected by this crime. He is distraught that someone he had once loved has been murdered, and particularly that his unborn child is dead. There are many others who had the motive, the means, and the opportunity to commit this crime and take advantage of my client’s unfortunate circumstances to point the finger at him either deliberately or inadvertently. He will be using his so-called “vast wealth” therefore to fight this blight on his character and to clear his name, not to resort to flight and to lose his remaining beloved sons, his life’s work, and the rest of his family. My client has been wrongly accused and has already been put through such hell during a difficult time of loss to him that his health is failing. We therefore apply that he not be burdened with an electronic tag to demean him further that will have an impact on his fragile emotional state and on his health.’

Judge Petersen hesitated for a long minute or two, turning the pages of the bundle on her desk.

From the corner of his eye Jeremy could see Davis glancing at Harry with a newfound respect. He had not faced Harry in court before and it was clear that he was facing an opponent worthy of the reputation—particularly of quick thinking and fast action—that preceded him.

Presently the Judge looked up from her considerations.

‘I’m not judging this case, Mr. Stavers. I’m merely taking the pleadings and adjourning it to the Crown Court. I am ordering that Mr. Connor wear a very discreet tag, which will be hardly noticeable. It will have little impact on his daily life. He must not be away from his house for more than 24 hours at a time. And I’m granting him bail to the Crown Court. The Crown Court Judge who will be assigned this case will look at the circumstances of this case in greater detail and will reconsider this matter of tagging Mr. Connor for the remainder of the proceedings.’

‘Is that all for today, Mr. Stavers, Mr. Davis?’ Judge Petersen laid her hand on her gavel expecting to conclude the proceedings.

‘I have one more application, Your Honour. I need access to the crime scene, Michelle Williams’ house and its grounds, for myself and my forensics team. I need access provided as a matter of urgency and certainly not more than a week from today to prevent contamination and natural passage of time from altering the evidence.’

Harry was living up to his reputation.

Carl Davis had become highly antagonized by Harry’s application. Jeremy could see Edwards glaring at them from two benches behind Davis, his jaw clenching and unclenching in agitation.

‘Your Honour, the crown cannot have the defence contaminating or altering any evidence at the scene of the crime. The crown has a forensics team with excellent reputation on this case. As Mr. Stavers well knows his team will be granted full disclosure, access to any photographs, video footage, and actual objects or material taken in evidence from the scene during discovery.’

‘And how about the evidence your team will have missed or omitted, Mr. Davis? Your Honour, the State has had the crime scene to itself for five day already. From the reports I have, the State has already wrapped up active examination of the scene. Certainly the State is free to take as many records, photographs and video recordings as needed to ensure that my team does not contaminate the site, and I am willing for my team to conduct its examination under the State’s officers’ supervision, as long as they are not obstructive. As you know, Your Honour, precedence for this has already been set in the Penny Darlington proceedings in London. I have the judgment here.’

Harry handed the case citation and the judgment to the clerk, and a copy to Davis.

Judge Petersen took a few minutes to browse through the documents presented.

‘I’m going to grant the defence access to the crime scene under the State’s supervision. How much time do you need to complete the investigation and secure the scene for the defence, Mr. Davis? And how many officers do you need for supervision?’

‘Might I have two minutes to confer with my officers, Your Honour?’

‘Certainly. The court will remain in session while you do so, Mr. Davis.’

Davis gestured to Edwards, who was seated two benches behind him, to come forward. The two men conferred with restrained agitation, both of them clearly annoyed by Harry’s move. Jeremy could hear the antagonism in the sharp jabs in the tone of their lowered voices.

‘Your Honour, the detailed toxicology report and the medical examiner’s final report are due Saturday. My team will need at least 3 days after that to secure the scene in adequate detail for the defence. Inspector Edwards will need three of his officers to supervise the defence.’

‘Very well, the defence team led by Mr. Stavers is granted access to the crime scene—the victims’ home and its grounds—for a period of 48 hours starting 9:00 a.m, on Wednesday the 27
th
of October. You can have a maximum of three people at the scene at a time supervised by the State’s officers, Mr. Stavers. No material should be removed from the scene of the crime without the permission of the officer in charge, DCI Edwards, and a part of any material removed with his permission should be placed with DCI Edwards’ team.’

Harry nodded.

‘I expect that is all, Mr. Stavers, Mr. Davis? This case now stands adjourned.’

Judge Petersen rapped her bench with her gavel.

Harry bowed his head and gestured for them to stand. They filed out of the courtroom, heads bowed.

Once outside, they hurried Jack out of the courts and into the car Magnus had pulled up right up front through the flashing lights and the shooting questions of the media. A startled and excited Magnus was crying ‘Get in, get in,’ gesturing wildly with his left hand. Once they were inside, Magnus pulled off with a screech as if he were driving a getaway car, the back door still open. It took both Harry and Jeremy shouting loudly at him to stop before he brought the car back to an equally sudden and screeching halt several yards down the road.

Once they were safely stationary by the roadside again Harry took the car keys from Magnus and looked around to make sure that nobody had any broken bones. Jack was holding onto his side and writhing in agony.

‘What’s wrong?’ both Harry and Jeremy cried, alarmed.

‘It’s the injury I got when Sally drove her heel into my ribs. She was kicking around while I was trying to herd her back into her car. My fault, I should not have touched her. She dug the three-inch heel of her boot into my ribs and fractured two of them. I have had it X-rayed and treated at the hospital, but I think I have injured it again.’

Ouch, that should be painful.
Jeremy had been the painful recipient of a fractured rib while playing rugby at college. They needed to take Jack to the A&E.

Peter had hurried out with Marianne to her car parked further down the road, protecting her from the reporters’ onslaught. He was now standing by the car looking worriedly at the commotion. Harry called him on his mobile.

‘Peter, it is best that you drive Marianne home. We shall take Jack to the hospital and then home and wait for him to be tagged. He needs to get a fractured rib seen to. Peter, listen.’ He paused for emphasis and for the stressed and worried young man’s attention. ‘You can trust us.’