The Redeemed (39 page)

'Yes?'

Defying the
threatening glares coming from Stern, he turned to the jury.

'Exorcisms.
People like my colleague, Joel Nelson, and his friends believe that people's
afflictions are caused by evil spirits that possess them. We're talking about
people with mental illness - depression, anxiety, paranoia, schizophrenia;
sick, unhappy people in need of God's help, but not like that. It was Eva who
told me it was happening. They would meet in the prayer rooms at the back of
the church, the old part of the building that we're still fixing up - that's
where those fibres come from, we had rolls of the stuff waiting to go in the
roof. Joel and his friends would take them there to drive out the devils, in
the little room at the far end where you can't be heard. It was Freddy who
first told Eva about this practice. He was going along with it. He said it was
making his voices go away, but it didn't sit right with her, nor with me.'

'Did you or Eva
witness these exorcisms?'

'She did. She
walked in on them praying over Alan Jacobs. He was crying like a child, she
said, begging them to make him clean. She didn't know what to do - he was there
of his own free will, but it's not the way we would pray for people, telling
them they're possessed by devils. I went to the trustees thinking that as
pastor they'd respect my wishes.' He dipped his head in shame. 'I was told that
Bobby DeMont exorcized homosexual people all the time and that I should be
grateful we were doing God's work. The next day I was called in by Mr Prince,
the lawyer. He made me sign a document promising I wouldn't discuss any church
business with anyone outside the organization. If I did, I'd lose my job. Eva
held out for a few weeks, but eventually he bullied her into signing too.'

'When was that?'

'March. She was
furious. She said Michael and Christine were running the church like a cult. I
tried to talk her down, tell her we'd sort it out, but she disappeared inside
herself. She would hardly talk to me.'

Jenny said,
'What was going on the night she was killed?'

Lennox shook his
head. 'I came into the office about quarter to seven looking for her. Joel was
making phone calls saying he didn't know where anyone was, not Eva, Michael or
Christine. We had four thousand people coming and I was the only one of the
team who'd showed.'

Annabelle Stern
suddenly rose and stepped forward to Sullivan's vacant seat. She was
brandishing her phone. With no trace of emotion, she said: 'Ma'am, I have to
inform you that as of this moment, these proceedings are stayed pending full
judicial review. Any attempt on your part to call further evidence will not be
lawful.'

All Jenny could
do was stare at her and wonder what unearthly hour she had to get up in the
mornings to look that perfect.

At five-thirty
she was locking the office door and thinking of what she would wear that
evening for Steve. She had a daisy-print sundress which she'd only worn once,
but which he'd gone wild for, saying it made her look girlishly beautiful and
innocent.

'Mrs Cooper?'

Startled out of
her daydream, she looked left to see Sean Coughlin climbing out of his
double-parked BMW, the engine still running and the roof down. Father Starr was
in the passenger seat wearing sunglasses, a character from a gangster movie.

Coughlin walked
towards her. Starr stayed in the car, letting the detective handle the business.

'I hear you've a
problem,' Coughlin said.

Jenny wondered
which one he meant. 'The police at Weston? I doubt that'll go much further.'

'With the
inquest.'

'It's been
stopped, Mr Coughlin. I did my best to explain to everyone present - Father
Starr was there.'

'I understand
that they got you on a technicality - not enough evidence to justify the
inquiry.'

'Something like
that.'

He nodded.
'That's good, because I've found you some.'

He let the
statement hang in the air, waiting to see her reaction.

Jenny said,
'It's over.'

'We've taken
advice from a friendly lawyer: with evidence, you could start another
inquiry.'

'Now really
isn't the best time. Why don't you call me on Monday?'

She started
towards her car. Coughlin's footsteps followed her.

'It's only circumstantial,
but it's solid. A detective constable in CID took a statement from a woman who
lived across the road from Eva. She said she saw a maroon- coloured sports car
taking off from outside her house, at about eight forty-five on the night she
was killed. He was trying to trace the vehicle when Craven put his hands up. DI
Goodison told him to forget it and put him on another case.'

Jenny stopped at
the driver's door of her Golf and stuck the key in the lock. It jammed halfway.
Damn. She been meaning to do something about it for weeks.

Coughlin came to
her shoulder, close enough that she could hear him breathe. 'This came from a
colleague of his, one of the faith. I've no doubt it's true. Mrs Cooper, do you
know who happens to own a maroon-coloured sports car?'

She stopped her
struggle with the key. She'd just remembered the car she had seen parked
outside the Mission Church.

Coughlin said,
'What do you know, Mrs Cooper? What happened on your trip to London that made
them so panicky?'

Jenny looked
from Coughlin to Starr and noticed they had the same stillness about them, the
same certainty behind the eyes. A pair of celibate warriors who wouldn't have
much sympathy with her plans for the evening.

'I'm not sure
how much good this will do any of us,' Jenny said.

'It's not about
us, is it, Mrs Cooper? It's about a man who's in prison for a crime he didn't
commit. Surely you can't sleep easy with that on your conscience?'

'Take my advice
and get him a good lawyer.'

She tried the
key again. It refused to turn.

'We're all
afraid of the dark, Mrs Cooper,' Coughlin said, 'none more so than those of us
who have found ourselves lost in it.' He spoke to her softly, like a priest.
'Don't you believe that we find ourselves at these crossroads for a reason?
It's a privilege to be truly tested, don't you think? Imagine a life without
even the opportunity for redemption.'

He reached for
Jenny's car key and turned it in the lock without effort.

She touched the
handle, but her fingers stiffened. An image of Freddy's fragile body lying on
the mortuary slab flashed before her eyes, and she experienced a moment of
overpowering grief. Coughlin sensed it and leaned in even closer.

'Let your
conscience speak, Mrs Cooper.'

Jenny felt her
resistance fall away. She began to talk.

'Before he was
saved, Turnbull had parties for his business associates,' Jenny said, the
words spilling out of her.

'Eva was at one
of them as part of the entertainment. It seems she reminded him of it when she
was arguing for a pay rise. He got a court order gagging her. Her lawyers can't
discuss her affairs with anyone - it's a total blackout. I persuaded a judge to
grant an exception for the purposes of my inquest, but the Ministry of Justice
stepped in to shut me up.' She paused. 'This bit I shouldn't tell you . . .'

Coughlin stayed
silent, leaving her to make up her own mind.

'I've been
promised the police will investigate Turnbull eventually, but only after he's
got his law passed.'

'And you gave
what in return?'

'I promised not
to rock the boat. . .' She glanced over at Starr. 'It seemed like the best deal
at the time.'

'This order you
got from the judge - could you still use it?'

She shook her
head. 'My inquest is over.'

'It was stayed
for want of evidence - that's different, surely?'

Jenny thought
for a moment, guessing he had been on the phone to a friendly lawyer. 'I can
see there might be an argument.'

'Eva's lawyers
are the firm in Queen Square, right?'

'You know them?'

'The DC who took
the statement about the sports car says they make most of their money from the
pornography business - everyone in the trade uses them. One of the partners
even owns the warehouses out in Filton where they shoot all the films. He tells
me it's a regular little blue Hollywood out there.'

'If that's true,
I'm surprised they didn't put up more of a fight against Turnbull,' Jenny said.
'A well-placed leak and they could have wrecked him.'

'A man with his
money would have shut them up for small change.'

Jenny thought of
Damien Lynd and his pretence of being ethical. No doubt he had performed the
same routine while telling Eva that he couldn't sue GlamourX until she had paid
his bill for contesting Turnbull's injunction. And at the same time he and his
partners would have been negotiating their pay-offs with Ed Prince.

Jenny said, 'Why
don't I talk to them after the weekend? I need to think this through.'

Coughlin said,
'I understand Mr Craven didn't take the news of what happened today too well.
Between you and me, Father Starr's worried he might do something stupid.'
Before Jenny could object, Coughlin said, 'Why we don't we pay these crooks a
visit now, while the spirit's with us?'