Dead In The Water

CHAPTER 49

The drive to Government House, with Thomas at the wheel, was silent. Stone sat in the front, reading the opening statement he had written, merely for something to occupy his mind. Leslie Hewitt would probably ignore it anyway. He glanced occasionally at Allison, who sat in the backseat, gazing absently out at the St.Marks landscape, seemingly calm and self-possessed. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a bun, at Stone's request, and she wore a mostly blue, floral-printed silk dress. She looked about twenty-one, Stone thought.

They arrived in the official parking lot nearly simultaneously with Sir Leslie Hewitt's ancient Morris Minor station wagon. Everyone got out and shook hands, smiling, attempting good spirits. With Hewitt in the lead they entered the building through the police door and climbed the stairs to the second floor, passing through a corridor to the door used by guards, lawyers, and defendants. To one side was a small robing room, and and Hewitt donned their robes and wigs. Once again, Stone felt foolish.

They entered the courtroom. Stone had forgotten Allison would have to stand in the dock, several behind the defense table; he would not be able to confer with her when court was in session. He felt very out of his element. In New York he would have at home in any courtroom and in at least partial control. Here he felt like an intruder, and he worked hard at not letting Allison know it.

Spectators were filing into the gallery, which was raised in tiers like a college lecture room or, more aptly, London's Old Bailey. The room was not paneled, simply painted, and the paint had begun to fade and peel. Stone saw Frank Stendahl, the insurance salesman, enter and take a front-row seat not far from the dock.

At the front of the room, elevated above the defense was the bench; to the judge's'right witness box, and beyond that, the jury would sit. Stone and Sir Leslie sat down at the defense table. A moment later Sir Winston Sutherland swept into the courtroom, his robes flowing, followed by his assistant.

"Leslie," Stone asked, "did you have an opportunity to study the opening and closing statements I wrote?"

"I read them," Hewitt replied.

"There were a number of very important points, particularly in the opening statement, that I thought should be included in your opening."

"I'm aware of that, Stone," Hewitt said, arranging his robe. "Please don't concern yourself with my opening."

Stone sighed and tried to make himself comfortable in the hard wooden chair.

A moment later, the bailiff entered, stood at attention, and cried, "Hear ye, hear ye, all rise for the Lord Cornwall."

All rose, and the judge, resplendent in red robes, his black face contrasting sharply with the whiteness of his long wig, entered and sat down at the bench in a high-backed, ornate leather chair, with a gilded crown set at the top, a remnant of Her Majesty's rule. "Good morning," the judge said.

Hewitt was on his feet. "Your Lordship," he said, "a small request before we begin."

"Yes, Sir Leslie?"

"We have a long day ahead of us; I wonder if the prisoner might have a chair?"

Stone's stomach lurched at hearing Allison so described.

"Of course, Sir Leslie. The bailiff will provide a chair for the prisoner." The bailiff found a chair and set it in the dock for Allison, who thanked him sweetly, eliciting an unexpected smile.

Stone hoped that was a harbinger of things to come.

"The court will come to order," the judge said. "I will hear from the minister of justice."

Sir Winston stood, cleared his throat, and spoke. "Your Lordship, today we hear the case of the people of St.Marks against the prisoner Allison Manning, on a charge of murder. We are ready for Your Lordship to select the jury." He sat down.

"Call the first juror," the judge said.

"Call the first juror!" the bailiff cried.

A door opened at the rear of the courtroom and a entered. He was elderly and thin and he was wear-a three-piece wool suit that fit him very well. He the first seat in the jury box.

"State your name and occupation," the bailiff said. "I am Charles Kimbrough," the man said. "I am a by trade, and I am recently retired."

"Mr.Kimbrough," the judge said, "are you in good and of sound mind?"

"I believe I am, Your Lordship."

"Are you acquainted with the prisoner or any member-of the court?"

"I am acquainted with Sir Leslie Hewitt and yourself, Your Lordship, as I have made suits for both of you in the past."

"Anyone else?"

"I know Sir Winston, though I have never had the pleasure of his custom."

"Yes. Have you heard anything about this case?"

"Oh, yes, Your Lordship," the man said. "I have read all about it in the newspapers."

"Have you formed an opinion of the prisoner's guilt or innocence?"

"Well, Your Lordship, I think she might have done it, but then again, she might not have."

"He's okay with me," Stone murmured.

"Keep your seat, Mr.Kimbrough," the judge said. "You're the foreman of this jury."

Kimbrough sat down, and another man was brought in. He was not so finely dressed, but he was clean and neat. He was a bartender at a local hotel, and he was soon seated. He was followed by a taxi driver, an apprentice shoemaker, who could not have been more than twenty, a street vendor, and a white merchant, all of whom were briefly questioned and rapidly seated.

"We have a jury," the judge said.

"Only six?" Stone asked Hewitt.

"It is all we need," the barrister replied.

Stone was dissatisfied with only the taxi driver, who looked at Allison with something like contempt, as if he had seen her kind before, but only in his rearview mirror. But on the whole, he thought, he had tried cases before worse juries.

"The foreman is good for us," Hewitt whispered. "He is a very kind man and will not hang a woman lightly. The others will respect his opinion because he is so well dressed."

Stone hoped so.

"The bailiff will read the charges," the judge said. The bailiff stood and read from a single sheet of paper. "The prisoner, Mrs.Allison Manning, is charged with murder, willfully taking the life of Mr.Paul Manning, her husband, on a date unknown between January first of this year and the present day, on the high seas, having departed the port of Puerto Rico, in the Canary Islands, a Spanish possession, and not yet having arrived at the port of English Harbour, in St. Marks. Be it known to all present that the crime of murder is a capital offense in St.Marks, and that if convicted, the prisoner will suffer death in the prescribed manner, which is hanging." He sat down.

Short, but not very sweet, Stone thought.

"Now," the judge said, addressing the jurors, "I will explain how we will proceed in this courtroom. The prosecuting barrister, Sir Winston, will make an opening of his case, then he will be followed by Sir who will make an opening statement in defense of prisoner. Thereafter, Sir Winston will call witnesses question them, followed by a cross-examination by Leslie. When the government has completed its case, Leslie may call witnesses and question them, and Sir Winston may cross-examine them. Items may be entered in evidence by either side. When the defense has concluded its case, Sir Leslie will make a closing statement, followed by a closing statement from Sir Winston. When he has concluded I will charge the jury, and the jury will retire to the jury room to consider their verdict, which be a majority verdict. While we are in the courtroom the bench will make all rulings on the admissibility of statements and other evidence, and the decision of the bench will be final in all matters. Is there any one of you who does not understand what will take place?"

No member of the jury moved, let alone spoke.

"In that case, we will begin with the opening statement of the people of St.Marks, who are represented by Sir Winston Sutherland. Sir Winston?"

Sir Winston rose, smoothed his robes, adjusted his wig, shot his cuffs, cleared his throat, and began to speak.