Find Them Dead

51 Tuesday 14 May

Meg, along with her fellow jurors, filed out of the court and into the jury room. It was furnished with a long, plain, rectangular table taking up much of the space, with reasonably comfortable chairs upholstered in purple and a blue carpet. There was a fan on a tall stand, a dehumidifier, a monitor, a whiteboard with a selection of coloured marker pens, tea and coffee-making facilities, as well as male and female toilets. The solitary, curtained window looked out at a blank wall. There was nothing, she had noted previously, to distract them from their purpose for being here.

And on one wall was a stark warning notice.

Everyone took their seat, in the same order as earlier today, with herself, now she was foreperson, given the one chair with arms at the head of the table.

‘Are we going to be long? Shall we get refreshments?’ Gwen asked in her affected accent. ‘Or is there someone who will bring drinks?’

Harold Trout — Meg remembered his name — said, ‘I’m afraid it’s self-service. I’ll put the kettle on.’

The woman frowned, as if never before in her life had she had to stoop so low as to make a drink herself. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘I hope we can get rid of this beastly business before Royal Ascot. Can anyone imagine the disappointment of missing it — especially Ladies Day — because of some horrid little drug dealer?’ She looked around, her face a mask of contempt.

From the blank expressions around the table, it didn’t seem to Meg that anyone else could imagine it.

‘I mean to say, the man is obviously guilty,’ she went on. ‘I think we’ve already heard quite enough to reach a verdict, don’t you all?’

‘Well,’ Trout said, standing up and pottering over to the kettle, ‘I don’t think I can agree with that.’

Meg looked at the woman. ‘Mrs Smythson—’

‘Oh, Gwen, please, Meg,’ she simpered then added, ‘As we are all becoming such good friends here.’

‘Very well, Gwen,’ Meg said. ‘I really don’t see how you can have formed a verdict when we have only heard the opening statement by the prosecution counsel and the first witness. And we’ve barely heard anything yet from the defence.’

‘Really?’ Gwen retorted. ‘Well, I think I’ve heard quite enough, and we could all save a lot of time and unnecessary expense by agreeing to an early verdict, don’t you think?’

‘No,’ Meg said, firmly. ‘I don’t.’

To her relief, from the expressions and nods of her fellow jurors, they did not either.

‘I think it would be extremely inappropriate not to hear out the full trial,’ said Maisy Waller.

‘And unbalanced,’ Meg said, emphatically. ‘It would be a complete dereliction of our duty.’

Mike Roberts chipped in. ‘Gwen, we might have our private opinions of the defendant at this stage — and as a former detective who has dealt with plenty of Terence Gready characters in my time, I do understand where you are coming from — but as the judge has reminded us, persons on trial under English law are innocent until proved guilty. I agree with our foreperson and Maisy, we need to hear all the evidence from both sides.’

‘Huh,’ Gwen said with a scowl. Then she turned to Trout. ‘I’ll have an Earl Grey, with just a touch of milk and two sweeteners.’

He smiled at her politely. ‘I think it’s best if we all make our own drinks.’

Gwen gave a what’s this world coming to? shake of her head.

‘I really don’t think we have enough information at this stage to even begin to discuss what we’ve heard so far, Gwen,’ Meg said, sternly.

‘Really? Well, let me tell you, the hat I’ve had made for Ascot this year has cost me a fortune.’

‘Would you like me to ask the judge if he will excuse you from this jury on the grounds of what your hat has cost?’ Meg asked her.

There were some smiles around the table.

The woman looked at them all, partly in disgust and partly in bewilderment. ‘Well, surely none of us wants to miss it, do we?’

‘I’m afraid I’ve never been,’ Meg said. ‘And to be honest, Ascot is the least of our worries.’