Unravel a Crime - Tangle With Women (21 page)

“
I take it that you’ve never
met Breezie before?” asked Brakespeare.

“
No, I haven’t.”

“
Well that’s something”.

“
You are paranoid. Look, you
do business with people you know and trust. I know and trust Gordon.” He
paused. “I’m getting to know and trust you, and Breezie is also known and
trusted by Gordon. That’s all there is to it.”

“
You trust Breezie?”

“
Shouldn’t I? I trust you
all.?” He paused. “I have to.”

They had reached the end of
the Hagley Road and Brakespeare turned down the Quinton Expressway to join the
southbound M5 motorway.

“
You do understand that the application
to the Court is not guaranteed to succeed, and if it fails, while it is not the
end, as far as your ‘Not Guilty’ plea is concerned, we shall have shown all our
aces to the Prosecution?” Brakespeare asked.

“
I understand, but I have to
take the risk.”

“
On that basis, can you call
me tomorrow to arrange to meet. I need to clear my desk as far as I can before
seeing you, because I think that taking you through the evidence is going to
take some time.”

It was half past five by the
time that Brakespeare had taken Newberry back to Malvern. They had spent most
of the remainder of the journey in silence. There was not a lot more to say.
Whether or not Newberry felt any happier after the conference Brakespeare was
unable to tell.

Brakespeare knew that it was
hard for Newberry to sit and wait for the panoply of English law to creep
forwards. Having been in a similar position himself, he could empathise. He
wondered whether or not to go to his digs or to the office. There was nothing
to do at the digs and so he drove into College Yard.

He was surprised to see Lisa
sitting at his desk, and she looked up rather guiltily when he walked in.

He noticed that against one
wall of the office the exhibits had been taken out of their boxes and stacked
in a tall pile. He looked at Lisa quizzically.

“
Well if you’re going to take
David through the evidence, I thought that we’d better get it all out.”

“
Who told you that.”

There was a silence and Lisa
was saved from answering, as Margaret walked into the room

“
Mr. Breezie called after you
had left him. He told us what had happened at the conference and what he had
asked you to do, and so we decided that we had better make a start.”

“
Breezie called you to tell
you what went on.”

Margaret went quiet and looked
at Lisa who gave her no support but looked down.

“
I’m afraid it was possibly
out of habit. Mr. Breezie always telephones me to explain want went at
conferences with Mr. Morrison, so that I can make notes and make arrangements
for anything that has to be done.”

Brakespeare looked at her
coldly.

“
Mr. Breezie being Mr.
Morrison’s brother in law.”

There were audible gasps from
both women.

“
Good job Mr. Newberry told me
or I might never have known, might I?” he asked menacingly.

There was a silence. Margaret
was completely thrown. “I’m sorry”, was all she could say, and scuttled out.

Lisa looked at him anxiously.

“
You knew?” he asked.

She nodded.

“
Why not tell me. That man is
a pompous bastard. Just because he is your boss’s brother in law he thought he
could treat me like a piece of shit. Tried to accuse me of negligence in
writing that letter to the C.P.S.”

“
If it’s any consolation, I
don’t like him either.”

“
So why not warn me?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know
what you know, and what you don’t know, or what I’m supposed to tell you or not
tell you. You know what it’s like. Office politics and so on.” She looked up.
“I keeps meself to meself and does as I’m told.”

Brakespeare could not help but
smile at her Eliza Doolittle impression.

“
O.K., but if there’s anything
you feel I should know in future, tell me.”

Lisa nodded.

“
Is there anything?” He put
his hands on the desk and lent over towards her. He was smiling as he did so;
he was half in jest, but was surprised to see an anxious look again flit across
her face.

Then she sat up. “No of course
not”, she said, and immediately pulled some papers towards her as if to change
the subject.

Brakespeare stood back and
looked at her. He response had not been convincing. He bit his lip, and decided
not to purse that matter. He pulled up a chair, and tried to look as relaxed as
possible. “So why don’t you like Breezie?”

“
For all the reasons you said;
he’s a pompous bastard.” She stood up, walked to the open office door, and
closed it, resuming her place in Brakespeare’s chair.

She smiled grimly. “Now you’ve
met him, where do you think he comes from?”

“
Comes from?” asked
Brakespeare with surprise.

“
Yes, what are his origins?”

“
Does that matter?”

Lisa did not reply and
Brakespeare was forced to continue.

“
Well I expect he’s a typical
barrister; Public School, Oxbridge etc. etc.”

“
Wrong, and that’s why he is
like he is. He went to Battersea Grammar School, and then to Keele University.
When he went there he had a London accent you could cut with a knife, but he
had to share a room with a genuine public schoolboy, and soon changed his
accent and learned all the airs and graces. He’s no better than I am really.”

“
Is that why you don’t like
him?”

“
Among other things.”

“
What other things.”

“
It doesn’t matter.”

“
How do you know all this.”

“
Gordon told me.”

“
Oh.” Brakespeare didn’t
really know what to say next. Lisa continued.

“
He’s not too keen on him
either, as a person, but he says that he’s a damn good lawyer, and, as you’ve
discovered he’s Gordon’s wife’s brother.

There was a silence as
Brakespeare tried to assimilate all this. Morrison seemed to be happy to give
away a lot of personal information to Lisa.

The conversation was
interrupted with a knock at the door, and Mortimer entered. He looked
enquiringly at Brakespeare and Lisa.

“
So you’re back.” he said,
stating the obvious. ”How did you get on?”

“
I was about to tell Lisa. OK.
I think Breezie has reluctantly taken the point that we have to try and get
this case thrown out. He says we’ve got to use a silk and has recommended
someone from his chambers, a Geoffrey Blaker.”

Mortimer nodded. “I’ve heard
of him.”

“
It would have been nice if
someone had told me that Breezie was Gordon Morrison’s brother in law.”

“
Oh didn’t we?” Mortimer was
not a good actor.

“
No you didn’t”, said
Brakespeare, and had the pleasure of seeing Morrison blush.

“
Oh, well I apologise. How did
you get on with him?” Mortimer asked, hastily moving the conversation on.”

“
I’m afraid I nearly punched
him on the nose.” Said Brakespeare, evenly.

Mortimer looked suitably
shocked.

“
He tried to accuse me of
negligence in giving our defence away to the prosecution by our letter.” He was
careful to emphasis the word “our.”

“
Well I can’t agree with that,
but I suppose he was doing what he regarded as his professional duty to the
client. You’ll find Philip can be a bit prickly, and he’s a stickler for
following the rules and etiquette.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially.” He
wants to apply to go on the Bench in a year or two, and so he’s careful to be
squeaky clean. I think he overdoes it sometimes, but that’s Philip.”

“
He wants to be a Judge? Well
I’d hate to appear in front of him. Christ, make him a judge and we might all
as well give up.”

“
Well he has the right
background.”

“
Battersea Grammar and Keele.”

“
Oh, you know?” asked Mortimer
with surprise.

“
Lisa just told me.”

Mortimer stole an unfriendly
glance at Lisa. “Well yes, that’s the sort of “working class” chap that the
Justice Secretary says he wants on the Bench these days. I’m not sure that the
Bar does though. Anyway, the reason I came in was this,” and he proffered
Brakespeare a letter he had been carrying. “It came in the second post after
you had left to collect David, this morning. It’s from the C.P.S. Not good news
I’m afraid.”

Brakespeare unfolded the
letter on Ludgate Hill, C.P.S. Notepaper. After the usual formalities, it
began:-

I wish to comment as follows:-

As with all cases prosecuted by the
Fraud Division of Headquarters casework, this case has been considered with
great care and Counsel were instructed at an early stage to advise and prepare
the case for transfer.

Your comments as to the valuations
are noted, but we would wish to point out that it would take but a cursory
understanding of the papers to have reached the conclusion that the Crown’s
case against your client does not rest on valuations alone

I feel sure that you are aware that
the Criminal Justice Act 1987 allows for submissions by the defence at the
appropriate time.

Accordingly I look forward to hearing
from you with any application to dismiss in due course.

Yours Faithfully

Enid Crawford (Mrs)

Senior Crown Prosecutor.

Brakespeare handed the letter
to an enquiring Lisa, who had obviously not been favoured with a previous
disclosure. He allowed the time she took to read it to collect his thoughts,
while Mortimer watched him anxiously.

Lisa put the letter down on
the desk and looked at both men.

“
Well, what do you think”
asked Mortimer.

Brakespeare thought carefully,
and then spoke slowly. “Well firstly, I don’t think that she has read the file.
The fact that Counsel were instructed “at an early stage” indicates that they
weren’t too sure about the case. Secondly I don’t think that she herself
understands the case. The National valuations must be a central issue, because
if they were not faulty, then what crime has been committed? I just don’t
understand this letter, and I don’t believe that Enid Crawford (Mrs)
understands the case!”

“
Well, I don’t have your
detailed knowledge, but from what you have told me, that is the conclusion I
came to also.”

Lisa looked surprised when the
two men looked at her for a contribution. She simply nodded her head in
agreement.

“
Well after what Breezie said,
there’s no point in writing to ask them what that evidence is. Better send a
copy to Breezie, and a copy to David.” said Brakespeare.

“
Can you see to that?” he
asked Lisa. She took the letter out of the room.

Brakespeare walked round to
the other side of the desk, and sat in his now vacated chair. The seat felt
comfortingly warm. Mortimer sat opposite.

“
Well I suppose that the worst
case scenario is that we’re no further forward? ” said Mortimer.

Brakespeare nodded, “Except
that we’re going to use a Silk, and hopefully make Newberry’s application to
dismiss. I also think, from that letter, that the C.P.S. are not sure about
this case.” Remembering what Joe had told him, he continued.

“
In fact, I’m pretty sure that
they’re unsure. There are the references to David’s early interest in
Clearfield, but what have they got – a reference to a “settlement” and a note
from someone to say that his share should be anonymous? Of course there may be
something else in all these papers…”, he gesticulated to the bundles against
the wall, “but even so, I still think that everything turns on whether or not
these valuations were dodgy, and that’s what we’ve got to concentrate on,
unless you have any other ideas.”

“
No, I’m leaving it to you
Jonny. I can’t see anything wrong with your reasoning. However I think that you
should ring David, rather than just send him the letter.”

Brakespeare’s face fell and he
groaned inwardly.

“
Jonny, he’s very low. Keep
the client happy. It saves complaints. You should know that.”

Brakespeare nodded. “I know.
O.K., ” and he reached for the telephone as Mortimer left.

“
David?” he asked as Newberry
answered.

“
Jonny” came the reply.

“
I’m afraid that I’ve come
back to the office to some not totally unexpected news. A letter came in from
the C.P.S. while I was out, basically saying that they were going on with the
case, and that it does not turn wholly on the valuations. Lisa’s copying it at
the moment to send to you in tonight’s post.”

“
Oh, alright.” was all that
Newberry said. Instead of an angry Newberry, he seemed surprisingly relaxed.