Final Witness

Chapter 12

“And now, with your Lordship’s leave, I will call my first witness,” said John Sparling, turning his attention away from the jury and focusing on the old judge above him, who was busy sharpening a set of colored pencils.

Sparling felt his opening had gone well. The jury had stayed attentive and seemed suitably upset when shown the murder photographs. Now was the time to build on that effect, and who could be better for the purpose than the crime-scene officer? Detective Constable Butler would keep the jury concentrating on the appalling circumstances of Lady Anne’s death, and the more the jury thought about that, the more they would want to find someone responsible for it. The more they would be prepared to follow Sparling’s lead down the paths of circumstantial and uncorroborated evidence that led to the defendant.

Sparling had no doubt in his mind that Lady Greta had conspired to murder her husband’s first wife, but proving it was quite another matter, particularly when he had Old Lurid Lambert to contend with. He did not underestimate his opponent; he’d lost too many guilty defendants to Miles over the years to allow himself to do that.

Detective Butler came into court preceded by Miss Hooks, the diminutive usher, who looked no more than half his height as he towered above her in the witness box and read the oath from the card that she held up in front of his solar plexus.

He must be six feet six. Detective Giant, thought Greta as she looked across at the crime-scene officer and imagined the back pain that he must endure bending over to examine floors and recesses for tiny bits of forensic evidence.

“I arrived at the House of the Four Winds at ten fifty-five P.M., having been called to the scene by the two officers who had attended in response to the original 999 call,” said Detective Butler, adopting the impersonal voice of the professional witness.

“It’s agreed, members of the jury, that that was made by Thomas Robinson from the house of a neighbor, Christopher Marsh,” said Sparling, speaking across his witness. “He’d gone there to raise the alarm.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” said Butler. “The officers had entered the house through the open side door by which Thomas Robinson had exited. They had climbed the back stairs and discovered the body, and they had afterward gone through the rooms in the house in order to ascertain if there were any other persons present.”

“Any intruders, you mean?”

“Yes. They found nobody, and they did not disturb the scene of the crime. I was satisfied that upon my arrival it was in the same condition as when Thomas Robinson had left the property to raise the alarm.”

“Why would he have needed to do that?”

“Because the telephone cable on the outside wall of the house by the side door had been cut. It is my opinion that a pair of garden shears were used for the purpose, although none were recovered from the scene.”

“What else did you find in that area?”

“The side door was open, as I have already said. There was a key in the lock on the inside of the property, suggesting that it had been unlocked from the inside. There is a study room to the left of this side entrance with two windows that look out over the north lawn.”

“Please refer to the plan if it assists, Detective Butler,” said Sparling. “The jury have copies.”

“Thank you, sir. One of the panes in the window on the left had been smashed.”

“Using what?”

“I can only say that a blunt, hard object with an even surface would have been used.”

“Could it have been the butt of a handgun?”

“It could have been. The window was open, and I found some wet earth and debris in the study room and the front hall area, which suggested that the intruders had entered through the study window and had then gone through these rooms and up the front staircase. I believe that that was their exit route as well, since there was no debris on the back staircase.”

“It was at the top of the front staircase that the body of Lady Anne was found?” asked Sparling.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“You can assume that the jury have already seen the photographs, Detective Butler.”

“Thank you, sir. She was lying as shown midway between the top of the stairs and a large bookcase, which was turned so as to disclose a hiding place behind.”

“Again we have the photograph. Did you find anything in the hiding place?”

“No forensic evidence, sir, except that the carpet near the center of the bookcase was stained with urine. This was subsequently found to match a sample given by Thomas Robinson.”

“Did you find any forensic evidence to assist with identification of the perpetrators of the crime?”

“A small amount of blood on the study windowsill from which a DNA profile has been obtained but not one that matches any suspect on the database. Otherwise there are only the intruders’ footprints and the car tire marks in the roadway known as the lane.”

“We’ll return to them later. Are you able to say whether or not the intruders wore gloves?”

“They must have done, sir. There is no fingerprint evidence.”

“Thank you, Detective Butler. Please continue.”

“The electric lights in the upper corridor and on the back staircase were on, and so was the lamp beside the bed in the master bedroom. These were the only lights on in the house. The telephone by the bed had been unplugged, and the bedroom had been ransacked. However, none of the other rooms in the house showed any sign of having been searched. As I have already said, the grass and earth debris were only found in the study, the front hall, and in the master bedroom.”

“What do you mean by the word ransacked, Officer?”

“The pictures were all removed from the walls and were lying on the floor. The glass in several of them was broken. The drawers in a high chest positioned between the two windows were all pulled out and their contents strewn over the floor.”

“The curtains?”

“They were drawn, sir. There was also a safe over the fireplace, and it was empty.”

“Had it been broken into?”

“It had been opened, sir. It’s impossible to say whether the person who opened it already knew the combination or not.”

“Thank you. Now let me ask you about the body of the deceased.”

“I have already indicated her position, Mr. Sparling.”

“Yes, I know. I still need you to describe what Lady Anne was wearing, however. For the record.”

“She had on a white nightdress and no slippers. She was not wearing any underwear.”

“What about jewelry?”

“She had on her wedding ring. Otherwise no jewelry at all. And no watch.”

“And the injuries?”

“There were two bullet wounds. One to the right neck-and-shoulder area. The other to the side of the head.”

“Anything else?”

“There was a small scratch on the left side of the deceased’s neck.”

“Thank you. Now, if we may turn to the exterior of the property. Can you assist us as to the intruders’ route of entry?”

“Yes. It began raining shortly after nine P.M. that evening, and the intruders’ footprints were preserved by the north gate and, to a certain extent, on the north lawn, which they crossed to reach the house.”

“Upon which sides of the north gate did you find the footprints?”

“On both sides. There were two sets of prints, which enabled me to establish that there were two intruders.”

“What about the north gate itself?”

“It is in fact a door in the wall. It was closed but unlocked. The footprints in the doorway showed quite clearly that the intruders came through the door rather than over the wall and left by the same route.”

“Did you inspect the lock, Officer?”

“I did. There were no signs that it had been forced. It is my opinion that it was unlocked using a key. The lock is modern and resistant to being picked from the outside. Picking would have left some scratches inside the lock itself, and there were none found.”

“I see,” said Sparling. “Now, you referred earlier to tire marks in the lane. Please would you tell us about them.”

“Yes, sir. They were distinctive. They were of a type usually fitted a Mercedes C-class vehicle, which had been turned at some speed in the roadway outside the north door before being driven away.”

“Were any of the other exterior entrances to the property open?”

“Only the main gates at the front of the property. They had been left open by Thomas Robinson when he went over to Christopher Marsh’s house.”

“To raise the alarm?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Thank you, Detective Butler. If you wait there, my friend here may have some questions for you.”

“Just a few, Officer,” said Miles Lambert, getting slowly to his feet. “Just a few. We wouldn’t want to keep you from your duties unnecessarily.”

Butler did not respond. He’d sworn to tell the truth, and that was what he was going to do. However, that did not extend to exchanging unnecessary pleasantries with the other side’s counsel. He kept his eyes fixed on a point just above Miles Lambert’s head and waited.

“Ransacking, Officer. A strong word.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Implying that those who did the ransacking did not know what they were looking for?”

“I can’t say, sir. I wasn’t there.”

“Yes, Detective Butler, that’s right,” interrupted the judge. “Mr. Lambert, stick to questions please. Don’t make points.”

“I’m sorry, my Lord. Let me ask you about the bed, Officer. Had it been slept in?”

“The one in the master bedroom?”

“Yes, the one in the room that was ransacked, as you put it a minute ago.”

“I’d say it had been slept in. Yes.”

“And what about the one in Thomas Robinson’s room?”

“That had more the appearance of having been laid on rather than slept in.”

“I see. Now the north door of the grounds. You believe it was unlocked using a key.”

“Yes, sir. After close examination of the lock, I feel sure of it.”

“Did you find the key?”

“Yes. It was hanging inside the side door of the house. With various other keys, sir.”

“Thank you. Now, you told Mr. Sparling earlier that it began raining that evening shortly after nine P.M.”

“Yes, sir. There was a thunderstorm. It rained for about half an hour.”

“And the rain would have washed away any footprints that were there before?”

“Where, sir?”

“In the lane and by the north door and on the lawn.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the weather before it started raining. Was it hot or cold? Can you assist us with that, Detective Butler?”

“It was a warm evening, sir. Quite warm, as I understand it.”

“Understand it from whom?”

“From the meteorological office. There’s a report in the case papers.”

“Yes, I have it. Now, you’ve told us about the smashed window in the study, but what about the windows elsewhere in the house? Were any of them open?”

“The one in the boy’s room. In Thomas Robinson’s room. That was slightly open, but I don’t recall any others.”

“Thank you. Now, that’s all I want to ask you about the night of the thirty-first of May. I do, however, want to move you forward a little more than a year. To last Wednesday evening in fact. The fifth of July.”

“Yes, sir.” Butler looked unperturbed. He’d expected this line of questioning.

“Now, it’s right, isn’t it, that you were called to the House of the Four Winds again last Wednesday? To act as a crime-scene officer.”

“Yes, sir. I was called by Detective Sergeant Hearns, and I attended the scene at just before eight P.M.”

“Who was there when you arrived?”

“Thomas Robinson and two officers from Carmouth Police Station. Sergeant Hearns was also present.”

“You spoke to Thomas Robinson about what he said had happened?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell us in outline what he told you, Officer. Just a thumbnail sketch.”

“He said that he had heard a car pull up in the lane and that he had seen two men enter the property through the north gate and cross the lawn to the front door. That he had hidden in a bench in the hallway while the two men searched the house, and that they had left when they heard a police siren in the road outside. Thomas had called the police earlier when he first saw the men.”

“So he said. Now, Officer, you naturally searched all the areas in the property where Thomas said the men had been?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Looking for clues. For forensic evidence. For fingerprints, DNA, things like that?”

“That’s right.”

“And did you find anything like that, Officer? Anything like that at all?”

“No, sir, I didn’t.”

“On your visit to the house on July fifth you found nothing to suggest that anyone had gotten in. Isn’t that right?”

“Nothing to suggest they had and nothing to suggest they hadn’t.”

“Well, let’s examine that, shall we? Beginning on the outside and working in. Let’s start with the lane. Did you find any tire marks there?”

“No, sir. But it didn’t rain that night and it hadn’t in fact for some time before, and so I would not have expected to find tread marks unless the car was driven or turned at speed.”

“As it was on the night of the murder. But on this occasion Thomas Robinson told you that the intruders left because they heard the police siren. They ran from the house.”

“That was my understanding, sir.”

“I see. And the lack of rain explains the absence of footprints.”

“That’s right, sir. I wouldn’t have expected to find footprints if the intruders kept to the path.”

“Which they failed to do on the night of the murder.”

“It was dark then, sir. On this occasion it was still light when I arrived.”

“A strange time for breaking and entering.”

“Don’t answer that, Detective Butler,” interrupted Judge Granger. “Stop making points, Mr. Lambert. I’ve already told you once.”

“I’m sorry, my Lord. Now, about the door in the wall, Officer. Was it open or closed?”

“It was shut.”

“Locked or unlocked?”

“Locked.”

“No sign of the lock having been picked?”

“No, sir.”

“And what about the front door of the house?”

“Thomas Robinson told us that the intruders left the front door open when they ran off, sir.”

“But he also told you that it had been locked earlier on and that the intruders had used a key to gain entry. Yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I see. Well, thank you, Detective Constable Butler. You’ve been most helpful.”

Miles Lambert sat down heavily and dabbed his cheeks with a crimson handkerchief. He felt pleased with his afternoon’s work. Just as he had hoped, Butler had had to give him exactly what he wanted. There wasn’t a scrap of real evidence that Thomas had had any visitors on that Wednesday evening, other than Butler himself and his fellow police officers. All the prosecution had was Thomas’s word for it, and Miles felt confident that that wouldn’t be worth much by the time he’d finished with young Master Robinson. Miles rubbed his pudgy hands together. He had a feeling that he was going to enjoy this case.

Sparling, however, looked even more morose than usual as he got to his feet to reexamine his witness.

“Just one more question before you go, Detective Butler. You agreed with Mr. Lambert that you searched all the areas in the property where Thomas Robinson said that the men had been last Wednesday.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, did you search upstairs?”

“Yes. I did.”

“And did you find anything?”

“The bookcase hiding place was open, sir. Like it was on the night of the murder.”

“Like it was on the night of the murder.” Sparling repeated the words slowly and then smiled at the crime-scene officer.

“Thank you, Detective Butler. That’s all. No more questions.”

Sparling resumed his seat, and Detective Constable Butler was gone with the swing doors of the courtroom closing behind him.

Judge Granger’s bright gray eyes did a circuit of the courtroom, taking in the jury, Greta, the barristers, and Miss Hooks, who was standing by the witness box waiting for orders.

“I think that’s enough for today, gentlemen,” he said. “We’ll meet again at half past ten tomorrow.”

“All rise,” commanded Miss Hooks in her shrill voice, but Miles Lambert had not yet made it to his feet by the time Judge Granger had gathered his papers and walked out the door to the left of his chair.