The Reluctant Sinner (17 page)

‘What were your thoughts as you picked them up, Daisy?’

‘All I could think about was getting away from him.’ She fought back the tears that brimmed. ‘I thought if I threatened him with the scissors, he’d back off – but he didn’t. I didn’t mean to kill him!’ she cried, her voice full of anguish. ‘It was a terrible thing to do. I just wanted to get away from him, that’s all.’

‘Thank you, Daisy. No further questions.’ The barrister sat down.

The prosecuting council stood up and walked towards the witness box and Daisy Gilbert knew he would try to discredit her and was afraid.

The council for the prosecution faced Daisy. ‘A very touching story you do tell, Miss Gilbert. You would have the court believe that you were an innocent girl, caught up in this wicked world, all for the sake of your sick father.’ He waited for Daisy to answer but she just looked at him and remained silent, remembering the advice she’d been given, only to answer any direct question put to her.

He continued. ‘Wouldn’t it be true to say that instead you were a deliberately calculating young woman?’

She frowned, not knowing where this was leading. ‘I don’t understand the question.’

‘Then let me explain. When you eventually agreed to become a whore’ – he emphasized the word – ‘wasn’t it true that you made certain demands of Mrs Cummings, the owner?’

‘What demands?’ asked Daisy.

‘Oh come, Miss Gilbert, don’t try and play the innocent with me! You stipulated that you would choose your clients and that you alone would set the price for your services?’

‘Yes, that’s true.’

‘Hardly the actions of such an innocent, wouldn’t you agree?’

Daisy met his contemptuous gaze and said, ‘Because I
was
such an innocent doesn’t mean that I was a fool!’ There was a sound of people chuckling and the judge looked up and frowned at the public gallery.

‘I was very much aware of the interest shown by the men in the club in my virginity. Several had tried to tempt me to sell it to them when I was working behind the bar.’

‘You turned them down then?’

‘Of course I did. I was a barmaid then – not a whore!’ She snapped back the name at him.

‘So when did you decide to be your own agent, so to speak?’

‘You forget, sir, that I am a businesswoman. I understand supply and demand. If I had to resort to such a thing, I wanted to earn as much money as I could while I was of any value.’

‘That’s a very cold way of looking at it, wouldn’t you say?’

‘It was the only way I could cope with losing my reputation and having to let men use me.’

‘Use you?’

‘What else would you call it, sir? It certainly isn’t love! You are there to satisfy a man’s sexual appetite.’

He cast a wry expression in her direction. ‘But couldn’t such an experience be enjoyable? Didn’t you learn to enjoy your work? Indeed wasn’t that the real reason you stayed on after the death of your father?’

Daisy just glared at him and slowly shook her head. ‘You have no idea have you? How could any woman enjoy being treated like a piece of meat, without any feelings – and have to listen to men utter obscenities as they work their frustrations out on you? No, sir, I did
not
learn to enjoy my work. But I counted every pound they paid me, because every one would enable me to buy another length of cloth and it meant I was that bit nearer to opening my own business. This would enable me to earn a living and take care of my mother. It was the only way I could endure such treatment, and that’s the truth of the matter!’

He moved on to the night of the murder. ‘I do believe that Ken Woods took you by surprise on the night in question but when you picked up the scissors, you must have known that they were a lethal object, after all you used them every day.’

‘I didn’t give it any thought, other than to use them to get away.’

‘Yet you deliberately stabbed the man! You must have known how dangerous to the victim that was?’

‘I wasn’t aware of using them in any particular way. I just knew it was my only chance of getting out of his clutches.’

‘By killing him, you mean?’

Daisy’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘I never even thought of that. I didn’t mean for the man to die, just to let go of me!’ She suddenly felt faint and grabbed the rail on the box.

Quentin leapt to his feet. ‘My lord, the witness needs a glass of water, she’s unwell.’

Daisy was handed a glass and drank the contents.

‘Are you able to continue, Miss Gilbert?’ asked the judge.

‘Yes, my lord, I’m all right, honestly.’

‘No further questions,’ said the council and sat down.

Daisy left the witness box and returned to the dock where she
was able to sit down. Despite what she told the judge, she did feel unwell and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. The wardress, carefully watching her, leaned forward and gave her some smelling salts to use.

‘Don’t breathe in too deeply,’ she whispered.

‘Thanks,’ said Daisy and took a sniff. It helped clear her head and she felt revived.

The judge spoke. ‘This would seem a good time to break for lunch, gentlemen. The court will reconvene at two thirty this afternoon.’

Daisy breathed a sigh of relief as she was led down the steps and back into a room, where her barrister and solicitor were waiting.

‘Well done, Daisy,’ said Quentin de la Hay. ‘You did very well.’

With a grimace she said, ‘He tried to make me out a hard case.’

‘Yes, but you coped with that in fine style,’ Edward said with a nod of approval.

‘So what happens now?’ she asked.

‘We both do our summing up and then the jury go away and try to reach a verdict.’

‘There are a few old boys on the jury who wouldn’t take kindly to me being a whore,’ Daisy remarked. ‘They looked very straight-laced to me.’

‘You can never tell,’ Edward murmured. ‘We’ll just have to wait and see, but remember Quentin has to give his summary last.’

‘At least my mother didn’t have to face a witness box.’

Edward surprised her. ‘She wanted to, but I knew you’d be very upset if we called her and we didn’t think it really necessary to put her through that.’

‘My mother was prepared to do that for me?’

‘Yes, Daisy, but we had enough witnesses to testify to your good character, we felt.’

Daisy let out a deep sigh of relief. It would have broken her heart to see her mother standing in the witness box and being cross-questioned.

Edward sent out for some sandwiches and coffee for the three of them as they waited for the court to reconvene.

When it did, Daisy took her seat in the dock and listened to the council for the prosecution stand in front of the jury and try to
prove that Daisy Gilbert was
not
the innocent young girl she claimed but a calculating minx and more than capable of murder. He called for the jury to find her guilty as charged.

As he sat down, Daisy felt sick. Surely the jury wouldn’t be swayed by his eloquent delivery. She studied the faces of the twelve men sitting in judgement of her and her blood ran cold.

Quentin de la Hay stood up and walked slowly over to the jury.

‘My learned friend speaks convincingly and puts his case to you very well. Of course it is his brief to bring in a guilty verdict, no matter what. It doesn’t matter that Daisy Gilbert is innocent of the charge.’ He glanced over at her. ‘This lovely and talented girl is a victim of circumstances. As an upright citizen of this town, she worked hard as a seamstress, the sole breadwinner of her family with a sick and dying father. Her mother took in washing to add a few shillings to her daughter’s wages which were spent mostly on medication for Fred Gilbert. Times were hard for them all.’

He walked up and down as he spoke. The eyes of the jury following his every move.

‘It was becoming difficult for Mrs Gilbert to manage her husband as he became even weaker with the tuberculosis that ravaged his body – and Daisy longed to get him into a nursing home where he would be cared for properly. To this end, you have heard how she worked as a barmaid at the Solent Club to earn extra money, which enabled her to move her father into such care.’

He looked particularly hard at the jurors. ‘Then when she was fired because of her work as a barmaid, she made the supreme sacrifice and became a hostess. Can we even begin to understand how difficult this was for her? A well brought up young lady, instilled with a strong moral sense? Of course we can’t because we have never been in that situation. Yet because of the love she had for her father, she did so. I think this shows amazing bravery on her part!’ His gaze held those of the older members of the jury.

‘You heard her say how dirty it made her feel and yet she managed to keep her father in the nursing home until his death. A place he said he was happy in and wanted to end his days.’ He paused. ‘Perhaps you think it wrong of her to stay on to finance her business … which to begin with was one room, two sewing machines and one assistant. But I ask you, gentlemen, what choice
did she have? She had no job to go to. How was she to earn a living? No, she knew she had to now provide for her mother and to work for herself was the only option, so she stayed until she’d saved enough money … then she left. It takes a lot of courage to be so focused, being used by men, as a means to an end.’

He paused again. ‘However we are not here to make a judgement on the way she earned her money, that was only to show how Daisy Gilbert met the deceased, we are here to decide if she is capable of murder. You have heard various testimonies as to the sort of man Ken Woods was. He was a hard character known for the force he had used on women, and already he had pestered Daisy Gilbert in the Solent Club and then when his advances were refused, attacked her once before, in the street, where she was fortunate then to make her escape. Not content with that, he cornered her again as she was locking up her shop.’

Once again, he stopped in front of the jury. ‘Unless you are a woman, you can’t begin to know how terrified Daisy must have been to once again be held captive by such a man. She was terrified and thought she was about to be killed.’ He walked away, then turning back he asked, ‘What was she supposed to do? What would any of us do? We’d fight back of course! Which is precisely what Daisy Gilbert did. Managing to grab hold of anything she could, she felt the scissors on the table, and with these she struck out blindly in an effort to escape. Unfortunately for her, in doing so, she struck a fatal blow. Had she not done so, I doubt that we would be here today. Instead, Daisy Gilbert would have been dead and buried by now.’

He waited for the jury to consider his words then he continued. ‘Daisy Gilbert is a fine woman who has suffered a great deal for the good of her family and then when eventually things were going well for her, this dreadful incident happened. It was not of her making and beyond her control. She was faced with a man who was set on his course to violate her, maybe even take her life, and now she stands before you. Innocent of the charges brought before you. How could you possibly send her to the gallows? You must find her not guilty and let her get on with her life. She’s certainly earned that freedom.’

He walked back to his seat and sat down.

Daisy, hearing the word gallows … froze. She had never even
considered the fact that she might have to face the death penalty! Oh my God! she thought. It was possible if the jury found her guilty that the judge could place the black hat upon his head and order her to be hanged. She started to tremble.

Seeing her distress, the female warder placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Take a deep breath, Gilbert. You don’t want to collapse now. It won’t look good.’

The judge was making his summary to the jury, but Daisy didn’t hear a word as she fought to control herself. She was vaguely aware of the jury leaving the courtroom and then was told to stand as the judge went to his chambers while the jury decided on their verdict.

Daisy was led down the steps to meet with her solicitor and barrister and where she was given a drink of water.

‘How long will we have to wait?’ she asked nervously.

‘You never know,’ Edward told her. ‘It could be hours and as it’s getting late, if they take their time, it could be tomorrow before we get a verdict.’

At that moment the clerk of the court walked in to tell them that the jury needed more time and, as it was getting late, the case would be held in the morning at ten o’clock.

Daisy was distraught. She wanted it over and done with – whatever the verdict. Edward tried to comfort her.

‘Try and get some sleep, Daisy. It will all be over tomorrow.’

She looked at him, her face pale and drawn. ‘Have I got any chance at all?’

‘A very good one and I want you to believe that.’ He rose to his feet and picked up his briefcase. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. Keep the faith,’ he advised.

But that night in the holding cell, Daisy was finding it very hard to keep the faith. She’d watched carefully as Quentin spoke to the jury and had been unable to gauge the response to his plea for a not guilty verdict. Would she ever walk back into her shop in East Street again? If she was found guilty, how would her mother manage?

She tried to sleep but dreamed she was standing on the scaffold, a rope being placed round her neck. She woke up screaming.

Standing in the washroom of the police station the next morning, Daisy Gilbert looked at her reflection in the mirror. The deep circles under her eyes showed her lack of sleep and her pale face was etched with concern. This morning would mean either her freedom, long incarceration or … much worse. She dressed slowly, her trembling fingers having great difficulty doing up the small buttons of her blouse.

She was given a mug of hot tea and some toast by a policewoman and told to try and eat it. ‘You’ll need your strength for the courtroom,’ she was told. Looking at the grim expression on the woman’s face, Daisy wondered if she knew something that she didn’t?

The public gallery of the court was full to capacity. The local and national press were gathered, smelling a good story for their newspapers. Grace and Vera sat, holding hands, both fearful of the verdict and when the jury walked in and took their places, Grace tried to read their expressions in the hope of gleaning something that would help her to judge their conclusion, but they all looked so serious she felt her heart miss a beat.

Daisy was led up the steps to take her place in the dock and eventually the clerk of the court announced the arrival of the judge. Everyone stood as he walked to his chair and sat down.

The judge fiddled with his papers for a moment and then staring over at the jury asked, ‘Have you reached a verdict that you all agree upon?’

The foreman stood up. ‘We have my lord.’

‘Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the charge of murder?’

Everyone held their breath and not a sound was heard.

‘Not guilty!’

The court erupted. The members of the press ran from the room to report to their editors, Grace and Vera jumped to their feet and hugged each other and Daisy just stood as if frozen to the spot.

‘Miss Gilbert,’ said the judge, ‘you are free to go.’

It was then that her legs gave way. The policewoman caught her and lowered her to the seat. ‘Congratulations, Miss, you are a free woman.’

Edward came over to her. ‘Daisy, are you all right?’

She looked at him with a dazed expression. ‘Can I go home now?’

‘You certainly can. I suggest we go to the nearest hotel for a very stiff drink. You look as if you need a brandy.’

Outside in the corridor, Daisy clung to Grace and her mother and then turned to Quentin de la Hay and shook his hand. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said.

‘It was my pleasure, Daisy. Believe me it was a privilege to be part of all this.’ He smiled at her. ‘Now you can get on with your life. You’ll be the centre of local gossip for a while, but ignore it, because in time no one will remember. I promise.’

A little later as they sat round a table in a nearby hotel, Daisy was handed a glass of brandy and told to sip it slowly, then Grace ordered a bottle of champagne and some sandwiches. Looking at Daisy she thought it prudent to get some food inside her because she looked so drawn. Edward had joined them and they all chatted merrily about nothing in general, trying to give Daisy time to recover. Every one of them had been under a certain amount of tension, but none more than Daisy herself.

Vera caught hold of her daughter’s hand. ‘You all right, love? Only you look so pale. You’re not going to faint on me are you?’

With a wry smile Daisy said, ‘No, I’m fine, honestly. It’s just that I’m trying to get used to being free and able to go where I like. You have no idea how strange it feels after being shut away in a small cell.’

Vera tried not to think about it. ‘It’ll be lovely to have you back home … I have missed you so much.’

It was then that Daisy started to cry.

Edward softly said, ‘That’s the best thing she could do, it will release all her tension. She’ll feel much better after.’

And she did. After the tears had stopped flowing, Daisy felt as if a huge load had been lifted from her shoulders. But she couldn’t help thinking about Belle and the years still stretching ahead for her without any release and she realized just how precious her
freedom was. It was something that everyone took so much for granted until it was taken away from you and she vowed to make the best of every minute of her future.

‘You need to take a rest now,’ Grace said. ‘It will take a while for you to settle down to normality.’

But Daisy would have none of it. ‘No fear,’ she said. ‘I will come into the shop tomorrow and take a look around. I’ll be back working in it in a few days’ time. That’s all I need, a couple of days, then I’ll be just fine.’ Seeing the look of uncertainty on her friend’s face she said, ‘I need to work, Grace.’

‘Then you must do what you think is right for you, Daisy. I for one will be delighted to see you back in the workroom and so will the girls.’

When she arrived home that night, Grace rang Giles to tell him the good news.

‘That’s wonderful. Are you all right, Grace?’

She felt her eyes fill with tears. The day had taken its toll on them all. ‘No, Giles, to be honest, I’m not.’

‘I’ll be right over,’ he said.

When he arrived he took one look at the anguish on her face and took her into his arms. She burst into tears.

‘That’s right, Grace my dear, have a good howl. You’ve been a tower of strength to everyone else, but now you can let go.’

When eventually she recovered, she told Giles what had transpired in the courtroom.

‘When the jury entered after their deliberation, they all looked so very grim, my heart sank,’ she said. ‘For one terrible moment I thought they were going to give a guilty verdict. It was almost too much to bear for us, so God knows how Daisy felt.’

‘I can’t even imagine,’ he said. ‘How was she when you left her?’

‘Shaken, relieved, confused. That poor girl has been through so much, it’s unbelievable.’

‘And you, dear Grace, have been wonderful the way you handled her defence, looked after her mother and ran the business. I think you are an amazing woman.’

‘Stop it, Giles, or you’ll start me off again!’

The staff all showed their delight when Daisy went into the shop the following day. They greeted her so warmly that Daisy
was overcome. ‘Grace told me how hard you all worked and looking around I can see how well you’ve all done.’ She inspected a garment. ‘This is superb.’

Agnes beamed at her. ‘Well we couldn’t let you or Mrs Portman down now, could we? After all, clients come to us because we are the best.’

Daisy walked around inspecting the work on hand and was delighted. Agnes showed her a gown which needed the skirt shortened when the client came in for a fitting this morning. And when Grace showed her the bookings she was even more pleased.

‘So are we making any money?’ she asked Grace.

‘Enough. We are paying our suppliers on time, covering our costs and paying back a little of the money put up to finance the business, so by the end of the year we should do a little more than break even and next year should see us in profit.’

At that moment the expected client came into the shop for her fitting. She was one of the new brigade of customers. Her eyes lit up when she saw Daisy.

‘I read in the paper that they let you out!’ she declared with the utmost glee. ‘Wait until I tell my friends I met the murderess herself!’

Daisy froze for a moment and then she said, ‘I am so happy that I have enlightened your day, madam. I was looking at your gown in the workroom. I’ll get one of the girls to cut away the extra material on the skirt because you wouldn’t want me to approach you with a pair of scissors in my hand, would you?’ She stood in front of the woman and stared at her.

The woman went white as if the blood had drained away from her and her eyes widened with shock. Daisy smiled at her, then walked out of the room.

Grace followed her, chuckling. ‘That was very naughty of you,’ she said, ‘but the bitch deserves it.’

Daisy looked at Grace and grinned broadly. ‘Sorry, couldn’t resist it, but believe me she would have got a thrill from it and no doubt will dine out on it for months.’ She burst out laughing. ‘Oh Grace, you have no idea how much I’ve learned about human nature these past months. I used to think my reputation would ruin my business, but you know, in some perverse way it might just improve it!’

During the weeks that followed, Daisy got used to the stares and nudges of people who recognized her when she went into a shop. She ignored the whispers as she passed and just smiled. In time, the clients that had left returned one by one after discovering that they couldn’t find the expertise in the stitching or the fashionable style elsewhere. When Daisy attended any of them, she was polite and made no mention of their return.

‘Good morning, Madam,’ she would say. ‘How nice to see you. Now what can I do for you?’ And so the clients were not embarrassed.

Her name was once again in the local news when Flo Cummings was up before the court, charged with living off immoral earnings. Although Daisy wasn’t called as a witness, the previous facts of her being one of Flo’s girls, and the consequences, were again mentioned.

‘Is there to be no end to all this?’ Daisy cried as she read the paper in the reception area of her shop.

‘Try not to get upset about it, Daisy,’ urged Grace who was counting the day’s takings. ‘It was bound to happen, Edward did warn you.’

‘I know, but to be truthful, I’d forgotten. It’s just that at last people were beginning to forget my past and accept me, but now it’s shoved down their necks once again. And then there’s my poor mum. The neighbours will be having a good gossip behind their damned curtains. They’ve only just stopped twitching them every time I walk into the house.’

‘Your mother will cope don’t you worry. Let’s face it; you’ve both been through worse. Anyway, Flo will be the main topic of conversation, not you.’

Daisy couldn’t help but grin. ‘You know I thought she was such a friend, but all I was to her was a little gold mine.’ And she started to laugh.

‘What is it?’

‘I know one person who will be delighted by the turn of events.’

‘And who might that be?’

‘The wife of the landlord of the White Swan. Flo was his mistress for years and his wife and Flo both used to get their gowns made at Madam Evans. We had to be careful they weren’t booked in for fittings at the same time. She hated Flo and chose
the most expensive material in the shop, making her husband pay through the nose.’

Bertha Grant was sitting reading about the case in the local paper with a broad smile. ‘Serves the bitch right!’ she muttered under her breath. ‘I hope they send her down for a long stretch.’ She thought she might take herself along to the court tomorrow and see for herself what was happening. How she would enjoy watching Flo standing in the dock. Nothing would give her greater pleasure and how she would crow about it to her husband. Oh my, vengeance was sweet!

The following morning, Bertha dressed in her finest outfit and most stylish hat, extravagantly trimmed with feathers, and made her way to the court, finding a seat in the front of the public gallery. She found the proceedings most interesting and was absolutely delighted when Flo Cummings at one time glanced up at the public gallery and saw her sitting there. The look on the woman’s face was a thing to behold. First the surprise, then the anger tinged with embarrassment. Bertha just raised her eyebrows and cast her a look of utter disdain. It was better than a night at the theatre and when Flo was sent down for two years, Bertha could hardly contain her pleasure. And she made her feelings very clear when she returned to the White Swan.

‘You’re all dressed up this morning,’ her husband Jim remarked. ‘Been somewhere special?’

‘You could say so. I’ve been sitting in court watching your doxy go down for two years!’ She couldn’t hide the smile of satisfaction. ‘She’ll have no use for the expensive gowns you bought for her in there!’

‘You really are a first-class cow, Bertha.’

‘At least I don’t live off immoral earnings.’

‘That’s quite true, and I’m certain you have never had an immoral thought in your head; if you had, you might be more satisfying in the bedroom!’ With that stinging remark, he walked out of the room.

All of Bertha’s feeling of euphoria was destroyed. It was as if she’d received a blow to her solar plexus. She’d never found sex to be anything but a duty, but her shortcomings put in so many words was hurtful and demeaning. And of course she couldn’t deny
it was because of her lack of enthusiasm that Jim had turned to Flo Cummings … a thoroughly immoral woman! And now she wondered, without his mistress, would her husband find another to take her place? She took the hatpin out of her hat, which she threw across the room in anger. The pleasure she had wallowed in so much this morning, was now gone.

When Daisy heard of the verdict handed out to Flo Cummings, she felt no sympathy. She’d played with the law for so long and so successfully, but at last it had caught up with her. The club was closed, the girls dispersed to wherever. She thanked God that Harry had found work elsewhere and Stella had her cafe on the Isle of Wight; as for the others, they would drift off to another establishment or take to the streets. They – like her – would have to get on with their lives as best they could. And if they had saved their money as she had, they might be able to start a new life, out of the same business, because Daisy couldn’t honestly believe a woman became a whore by choice. How could they?