Unravel a Crime - Tangle With Women (20 page)

“
O.K.” said Breezie, “there
are two issues here, and the important one at the moment is the question of the
validity of Black’s valuations. You are, it seems, confident that they are
faulty.”

“
Yes.”

“
And do you agree, from a
professional point of view, with what Mr. Brakespeare has said about Mr.
Black’s credibility, should he in any way alter his evidence.”

“
Yes, it will show that he had
not made that ‘detailed study of the case elements’.” said Newberry.

“
Very well,” said Breezie
smoothly, “we shall no doubt see what transpires. Let’s move on , shall we.”

Brakespeare was emboldened by
what had happened, “Well no, with respect, I think we should consider the
valuation question some more, you see I had it in mind to use the spreadsheets
to challenge Black’s evidence before the Magistrates, but we need to do it at
the Crown Court.”

“
Crown Court” asked Breezie
querulously.

“
Yes, you see, as I put in my
Instructions, Mr. Newberry does not want – rather he cannot afford to let this
matter go to jury trial, because of his health problems.”

“
Ah yes, the heart condition.
Mr. Newberry, as I am sure you will appreciate, many people want to avoid a
jury trial for a multitude of reasons. They are very, very stressful for all
concerned, including the barristers. But that is not enough reason to make the
preliminary application to have the case struck out, as Mr. Brakespeare
suggests. A case would have to be pretty hopeless to stand any chance of such
an application being successful, and while we have a lot of preparatory work to
do in this case. At the moment I cannot see anything that strikes me as a
knockout blow.”

Brakespeare was about to
intervene again, but he need not have worried. Newberry had quite clearly come
prepared to fight his corner.

“
Mr. Breezie, let me offer my
own thoughts and observations.” Breezie nodded as Newberry pulled some more
papers from his bag. “I’ve written them down,” he said, handing the copies out,
“but if I may I’ll go through them with you.”

“
Have you seen these before,
Mr. Brakespeare?” asked Breezie.

“
Er, no.”

“
That’s right he won’t have.
Now the first point I want to make is about the Charge. It says that I would
“ensure” that the National accepted as security ’properties’ which did not
represent the value attributed to them.

The simple fact is that as
with any other surveyor I was in no position to "ensure" anything.
The Valuer reports on the building, and the assessing officer, that’s someone
who makes the lending decision, assesses the report and all other matters
relating to the application. The National’s system made it impossible for me to
"ensure" anything at all! How is it suggested that I did?”

Breezie again nodded, “Well
you are quite right, there is no such evidence. You were not in any way
involved in those valuations prepared by your colleagues?”

“
Any input from me would have
been in relation to the valuation technique and not with regard to the actual
values adopted.

“
So you did have some input?”
pressed Breezie.

“
No.”

“
But you have just said that
you did.”

Newberry let out a deep and
exasperated sigh. “Why do you lawyers have to twist things. I said “any input”
referring to valuations in general, not any specific input to the valuations of
the properties that Black has valued.”

Breezie smiled and leant
gently across the desk.

“
Mr. Newberry, I am asking
simple questions here in a conference in my Chambers. This, I assure you is
nothing compared to any cross examination at a trial.”

“
Which is why I want to avoid
a trial.” Newberry shot back, and theatrically reached in his inside beast
pocket from which he took a packet of pills and swallowed one, washing it down
with the remnants of his coffee.

“
You think that the stress
could really induce a heart attack in you?” asked Breezie.

“
Yes.”

“
Seriously”

“
Yes”

“
Well then - Mr. Brakespeare,
we shall need a medical report to that effect.”

Brakespeare nodded”.

“
Can you just explain your
problem to me in briefly, Mr. Newberry.”

“
It’s simple. If I have
stress, this could cause my circulation to ‘decompensate’, which could, if the
sort of stress I am likely to have at a trial, is high, lead to heart rhythm
irregularities including sudden death.”

The barrister and his pupil
looked shocked. Breezie took in a deep breath through his nose.

“
Well we obviously don’t want
that. I do see that the question of trying to avoid a trial is quite an
important one. However,” and he looked straight at Newberry, “I am sure that
you would want to clear your name at all costs.”

“
Not if it’s the last thing
that I ever did.”

“
So you see, we do seriously
need to look at an application to the Court to get the charges dismissed.”
urged Brakespeare.

Breezie shook his head. “Mr.
Brakespeare, we need Senior Counsel for this.”

“
Senior what?” Queried Newberry.

“
Queen’s Counsel, Silk, call
them what you will Mr. Newberry.”

“
A Q.C., really?” asked a
surprised Newberry.

“
Yes, really. While I would be
happy to take this case on it’s own, with the amount of money allegedly
involved, and the issues we have discussed this afternoon, I would be far
happier if the expertise of Queen’s Counsel were employed in this case. What do
you think Mr. Brakespeare.”

Brakespeare thought, and then
chose his words carefully. Turning to Newberry he said. ”You know that there
are problems with your case David, as we have discussed. You’re up against the
establishment which has endless resources and faceless prosecutors who see you
only as a name in a file.

So,“ he took a deep breath and
paused, “if Mr. Breezie feels that he wants to add a team leader, then I would
go for it.”

Newberry did not hesitate. “I
rely on you both, so if that’s what you want let’s go there.”

“
Good”, smile Breezie. “Mr.
Brakespeare, have you anyone in mind?”

Brakespeare started to think
of the names he had come across in the past, but Breezie did not allow him to
indulge in too much reflection and almost immediately continued. “We have a
very eminent silk in Chambers, Geoffrey Blaker QC. I would recommend him.”

Newberry looked at Brakespeare
who had not thought of any other name. He would have preferred to have gone
away and telephoned some of his former colleagues, but clearly Breezie wanted
to keep the work in his own Chambers, and it would have the advantage that if
he and Blaker knew each other, then the better chance of the team working. He
shrugged.

“
I’m afraid I’ve never heard
of him, but then I don’t suppose that he has heard of me. Where is he, here in
Birmingham or London.”

“
In our main chambers in the
Temple, but that should not be a problem. Good, well if you’re happy Mr.
Newberry, what I propose is that we adjourn this meeting. Mr. Brakespeare, you
know what you have to do, and when you have fully proofed Mr. Newberry, then I
suggest that we have a consultation with Mr. Blaker.”

“
How long will that take, will
there be time” asked Newberry.

“
Well I can’t see this matter
coming on quickly as I have said”. replied Breezie.

“
I would have thought it’s
going to take a week or more if I am to take a statement from you with the
detail that I know we have to have, let alone go through those boxes of
evidence with you. Say a consultation in a month!” added Brakespeare.

“
A month!” exploded Newberry.

Breezie came to the rescue.
”Mr. Newberry, I can assure you that if Mr. Brakespeare can do all that is
necessary within a month, then you will be in very capable hands.”

He stood up to bring the
meeting to an end, and walked round the side of the table.

“
Mr. Newberry, thank you very
much for coming. We shall be meeting again. I just want to say this. Although
barristers like myself and Mr. Blaker take on many cases a year, we do this job
because we not only want to win, but because we want to see justice done. I
know that this has been a relatively short meeting, but I have had the chance
to meet you, and I will say one thing a lawyer very rarely says to his client,
and that is that I believe you. I do not believe that you deliberately set out
to defraud the National Bank. You may have been a little unwise in some of your
dealings, or at least the timing of them, but I can see that you are not a
crook. We will do our best to make sure that you are acquitted of these
charges.”

He smiled, put one hand on
Newberry’s shoulder and shook his hand.

He offered a hand to
Brakespeare who took it. He was still smarting at the way that Breezie had
tried to compromise him, but he also knew that he had to work with this man –
at least if he was going to stay with the case.

“
I think Gordon would be very
pleased with you.”

“
Thank Miss Barnes. You said
that you knew her.”

Breezie sighed and turned
away. “Yes, I know of her, but I’m afraid that I don’t approve of her.”

“
Approve?” asked Brakespeare
incredulously. “What is there to approve of?”

Breezie shrugged and opened
his hands. “Perhaps ‘approve’ is not the mot juste. I don’t think that we need
take that any further, however I do think that Mr. Newberry can have confidence
in you.”

“
Gee thanks”, said
Brakespeare. How condescending can you get? he thought.

“
Please Mr. Brakespeare,
however boring it will be, do go through those with Mr. Newberry documents in
detail. There may be well something in those exhibits which fits in well with
our defence. I want Mr. Newberry to be alert to it.”

“
Don’t worry, I will”, replied
Brakespeare, not relishing the chore.” There’s a lot riding on a successful
outcome of this case.”

Brakespeare did not let
Newberry start a conversation until he had found his way out of Birmingham, and
was well on his way down the Hagley Road to the M5. He had no difficulty in
keeping Newberry silent. Both of them, it seemed, had a lot to think about.

“
Well, what did you make of
it?” asked Brakespeare, initiating the conversation.

“
Well, he does remind me of
the medical specialists I have seen. Top drawer public school; makes sure that
there is an arm’s length between him and the patient, but I would have hoped
that he could have been more positive. Instead, he has passed the buck to
Geoffrey Blaker QC to make the decision.”

“
I’m afraid that we’re going
to get to know each other well before then,” said Brakespeare.”

“
I look forward to it.”

“
However, I’m afraid it’s
going to have to be at my place, not yours.”

“
But you know I can’t drive”

“
Sorry, but there’s no way I
can bring all those boxes of exhibits over to Malvern. I’m afraid that you’ll
have to rely on public transport, or else pay for a taxi.”

“
So what are we going to do?”

“
Leave no shred of evidence
unturned.”

“
And what was that stuff about
you being negligent.”

“
Not sure. There’s something
not quite right about him. I can’t put my finger on it yet. I think he was just
trying to put me in what he thinks is my place as a common or garden
solicitor.“

“
Funny that, seeing who he
is.”

“
Who is he?”

“
Don’t you know, he’s Gordon
Morrison’s brother in law.”

“
What” howled Brakespeare.

“
Lookout” shouted Newberry as
Brakespeare tried to mow down a pedestrian on a crossing. Brakespeare skidded
to a halt in time to receive an angry look from the woman.

“
Are you serious, Breezie is
Morrison’s brother in law?”

“
I’m surprised you didn’t
know. I don’t mind. Keeps it in the family.”

A car horn from behind
persuaded Brakespeare to start moving again.”

“
But it doesn’t make sense.
Why mention negligence about his brother in law’s own firm. Have you met him
before?”

“
No, I only know of him
through Gordon. He says he’s very good.”

“
When did he tell you that?”

“
Oh, ages ago in general
conversation.” He turned in his seat to look at Brakespeare. “Don’t get
paranoid. You know that we all know each other.”

Am I getting paranoid? thought
Brakespeare. Everywhere he turned in this case there appeared to be
connections. Why did they chose him as a locum? Was it because he had a good
reputation, or was it because they knew that he was damaged goods and might not
ask too many questions?