Don Gutteridge - Desperate Acts

Marc asked her how she could be sure of theexact times, and managed to have her admit that they were very muchapproximate. Still, as Marc knew, it was the sequence of departuresand what the departing club-members saw in the alley that wascritical. He then shifted tactics.

“Constable Cobb has testified that you andNestor Peck, your employee, accompanied him out to the alley toidentify the body. Did you recognize the victim at that time?”

“Only as a customer. I didn’t know his name,and Nestor never told me the fellow was his cousin,” Gillian saidin her no-nonsense manner.

“How regular a customer was he?”

“I saw him perhaps three or four times in thetaproom.”

“Was he not banished from yourestablishment?” Marc said blandly.

“Milord, these questions are a long way frompertinence,” Thornton said, almost wearily.

“I intend, Milord, to suggest that someoneelse might have motive and opportunity to commit the crime.”

“Be careful, Mr. Edwards. It’s your client who’s on trial.”

Gillian gave Marc her patented scowl, butanswered the question. “The Wednesday before the murder, my husbandthrew him out of our place – bodily.”

“What was Mr. Duggan’s transgression?”

“He had made improper advances to my barmaid,Etta Hogg.”

“And this angered your husband, TobiasBudge?”

“It would’ve angered any red-blooded man,”Gillian said. “The fellow didn’t show his face again – till I sawit there in the alley.”

“Thank you,” Marc said. “No more questions,Milord.”

Thornton looked across the aisle at Marc,clearly puzzled by Marc’s improper interrogation of Gillian Budge,which he had not bothered to interrupt. But he seemed in no wayalarmed by it. Meanwhile, Marc realized that he was alerting thebarkeep to the fact that he might be targeted as a possible killer- with outrage as the motive. But he needed to lay a foundation forany subsequent run at him. Moreover, neither Budge nor anyone elseknew that Marc had discovered a more compelling motive, so thattrap still remained to be sprung. Moreover, by seeming to targetBudge, Marc was keeping the other four “possibles” relaxed andunaware. Still, he continued to hope that he would not have to usethe alternative-theory defense, with all its risks and gratuitouscruelties.

Andrew Dutton was next. He repeated theaccount he had given Cobb earlier, stating that he had left themeeting about fifteen minutes after Brodie. He described the broadwindow in the cloakroom, said he had looked out, seen onlymoonlight, and walked down the stairs, turned left and enteredFront Street – going straight home. What this seemingly harmlesstestimony did was establish that Brodie was still hidden nearbyawaiting the arrival of Duggan. Of course, Dutton could be lyingabout leaving the area immediately, especially if he had heard acommotion in the alley just as he stepped out of the stairway. Hecould have remained hidden until everyone else had gone, thenslipped out to kill Duggan, having figured out who he was fromBrodie’s encounter with him. But this possibility must be saved forthe defense on Monday.

“I have no questions, Milord,” Marc said,“but I request permission to recall this witness later.”

“As you wish. The witness may step down.”

Horace Fullarton was the last witness of theday. He stated that he had left the meeting no more than two orthree minutes after Dutton. He too had looked out the cloakroomwindow, not at the moonlight but at an altercation in progress. Twomen were grappling, their voices raised in anger. No, he could nothear, or did not remember, what was being said. Both men appearedby their dress to be gentlemen, but he didn’t recognize either, astheir faces were in shadow.

“You did not recognize your own clerk andprotégé?”

“For the merest second I thought it might beBrodie, but dismissed that thought immediately. Otherwise, I wouldhave gone to his aid.”

“Were the gentlemen wearing hats?”

“Yes, but they had fallen on the ground. Icould see them in a shaft of moonlight.”

Cobb had not unearthed this detail. Marcleaned forward, apprehensive.

“Mr. Langford has very blond hair, hasn’t he?Surely you must have noticed it, even in that shadowed alley, forit was a very bright evening?”

Fullarton was indignant. “If I had ,sir, I would have gone to the lad’s assistance!”

Or, Marc mused, if Fullarton had indeed heardthe substance of the argument down there, he himself could havehidden in the shadows and come out only after Brodie had fled.

“In addition to the two hats, did you see awalking-stick on the ground?”

“I may have, but I merely glanced out at thealley. Inebriated customers of the tavern, even gentlemen, oftensettle their differences back there. I am not given to brawling. Ileft via Front Street as quickly as I could.”

Thornton sat down.

Marc rose. “How can you be certain that youleft only two or three minutes after Mr. Dutton? Did you check yourwatch?”

“No, I did not. But Sir Peregrine was makingemendations to our play-scripts, and I had only two minor changesto be entered. As soon as they were effected, I left.”

“But it could have been five or sixminutes?”

“Possibly.”

Marc nodded sympathetically. “Few of us keeptrack of our ordinary movements through the day minute by minute,do we?” He pretended to consult his notes. “We have heard testimonyalready about Mr. Langford’s mood and disposition on that fatalevening, sir. As his superior at the Commercial Bank, you know himwell. During the course of your ninety-minute club meeting, did heshow any signs of the so-called ‘anger’ he was supposed to beharbouring for the blackmailer? Did he seem upset, strained,distracted?”

“ Milord !” Thornton almost toppled hislectern in his haste to reach the perpendicular. “This is not Mr.Edwards’ witness! There has been no direct testimony about the clubmeeting except that concerning the times of departure and whatfollowed – ”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Thornton,” the judge said. “Iam in full agreement. Mr. Edwards, I am having this question struckfrom the record. Mr. Fullarton appears on your own witness-list.You may ask him anything you wish – during your defense , noton cross-examination.”

Marc tried not to look too smug as heapologized, and sat down. He would have ample opportunity torevisit this testimony on Monday. More immediate was the fact thatBrodie’s own statement put the lad in the alley with Duggan aboutfifteen or twenty minutes after he had left the clubroom, so itdidn’t really matter that Marc was unsettling the jury about thetime-line. Thornton would put it all back together in a neatnarrative in his closing argument anyway. But Marc’s strategy atthis point was to appear as if he had little defense against theseeye-witness reports – saving everything for the end-game.

Justice Powell now gavelled an end to theafternoon session. Overall, it had not been a banner day for thedefense, but neither had it been a disaster. However, the mostdaunting challenges were yet to come – with Crenshaw, Budge andShuttleworth due up in the morning.

***

Marc stood talking with Clement Peachey on theesplanade in front of the Court House. Peachey offered to convey toRobert Baldwin the details of the day’s proceedings. Robert hadbeen at meetings all morning and at the Legislature all afternoon.Marc wanted desperately to meet with his mentor, but knew at thismoment that politics was for him more important than the trial. Yetsometime before Monday, Marc would have to run his risky defensestrategy by the more experienced barrister. So far, only Brodie,Cobb and Beth knew of its existence. Meantime, Robert had sent anote to Peachey sketching out what had happened in the Assemblythis day.