Don Gutteridge - Minor Corruption

“That’s right. Bold as brass, she was.”

“Do you know for a fact that the banknote wasgiven to Mrs. Trigger by your daughter in payment for what provedto be a botched and fatal abortion? Yes or no, please.”

Thurgood scowled. “No,” he mumbled.

“For all you know, Mrs. Trigger could havepulled it out of her apron, couldn’t she?”

“That ain’t likely.”

“Perhaps she was feeling guilty about whathappened and wanted to make it look like a normal transaction forher visit and assistance in a genuine miscarriage?”

“The coroner said she was butchered with aknittin’ needle. And I saw the needle before she hid it away!”

“Mr. Thurgood,” the judge said, more inexasperation than anger, “ please restrain yourself.”

Marc rushed on. “Perhaps she wanted to makeit look as if the abortion was your daughter’s idea right from thestart and that money had changed hands when it actuallyhadn’t?”

“Milord,” said Cambridge evenly, with just ahint of sarcasm, “Mr. Edwards is beginning to fantasize.”

“I agree,” said the judge. “Move on, Mr.Edwards.”

“When Betsy, earlier in the evening, told youshe might be pregnant but, being an innocent, did not know forsure, whose idea was it to call in Mrs. Trigger?”

Thurgood hesitated, head down. “It was mine .. . and I deeply regret doin’ it.”

“So Betsy herself did not request a midwife?She did not herself specifically request Mrs. Trigger, a woman witha questionable reputation at best?”

“I don’t have money fer doctors! I sent ferthe midwife in our area. I did what I thought best. I ain’t richlike the Baldwins!”

Marc felt the wave of sympathy from thegentlemen of the jury.

“What I’m suggesting, sir, is that if Betsyhad a five-pound banknote hidden in her room and was angling for anabortion, would she herself not have initiated the request for Mrs.Trigger, whose reputation went before her as a potentialabortionist?”

Thurgood leaned against the railing andglared across the room at Marc. “I don’t know. All I know is thatso-called gentleman up there done in my little girl!”

Marc sat down, and Thurgood was helped fromthe witness-stand. His final cri de coeur had struck thejury hard, and Uncle Seamus had flinched and rocked back on hisheels, the first visible signs that he was following theproceedings. The bailiff’s deputy was steadying him and, withoutthe fellow’s assistance, Uncle Seamus could not have continuedstanding upright in the dock. Marc was annoyed at Thurgood’smanipulation of the jury – with and without the connivance of theprosecutor – but when the dust settled, he trusted that he had madesome dents in the Crown’s armour. He had definitely weakened thelink between Betsy and the five-pound note and the Crown’scontention that Betsy plotted to have the abortion with the aid ofher seducer. He could have embarrassed Thurgood regarding hischoice of Mrs. Trigger, whose drunkenness was well known, and evenhinted that father and mother knew full well what she would get upto and perhaps themselves had supplied that “five pounds” (or adollar or two) in order to secure an abortion for their daughter.Also, Robert had mentioned Thurgood’s clumsy attempt at blackmail,but to use it simply to discredit a grieving father would, like anaccusation of securing an abortion, more likely than not havebackfired. Moreover, he could use these angles later, if he chose,when Thurgood was recalled. All in all, Marc was satisfied with hisfirst cross-examination: he felt the ghost of Dick Doughertysmiling over his shoulder.

The Crown had put Auleen Thurgood on theirwitness-list but only as insurance against some failure in herhusband’s testimony. Thurgood, however, had done well and Auleenmight not fare as well as he under the defense’s cross, and so shewas, for the time being, passed over in favour of Dora Cobb, theCrown’s “objective” witness to the naming of the father.

Cambridge was well aware from the record ofCobb’s interview with his wife that Dora had some differing andless useful interpretation of Betsy’s last words, but he neededsomeone besides Mom and Dad to nail down the naming of thedefendant. So he treaded carefully. He led Dora through hernight-ride to the Thurgoods and her professional efforts to savethe girl’s life. He wanted the jury to respect and admire her. Andthey appeared to, not a few of them having benefited themselvesfrom her expertise in past years.

“Now, madam, we come to Betsy’s last momentson God’s earth. Did you hear Mrs. Thurgood ask her daughter whofathered her child?”

“I did, sir, even though I was busy swabbin’the girl’s loins to try and stanch the blood.”

“And did you hear, almost immediately, ananswer to the question?”

“Well, sir, her words come right after thequestion, if that’s what you mean?”

“It is, and thank you. Now try to recallthose exact words, if you will.”

“I don’t need to recollect them. I’ll neverferget them. She said, ‘Seamus . . please . . . Seamus’.”

“She pronounced ‘Seamus” twice?”

“She did. But real pleadin’ like, not – ”

“Please, just answer my questions, Mrs.Cobb.”

“But the girl – ”

“Mrs. Cobb, wait for the question. You arenot to do anything more than respond to queries put to you bycounsel,” said the judge.

“My apologies, Yer Lordship.”

“Did you know to whom she was referring?”

“No, I didn’t. I thought it might be one ofthe neighbourhood lads.”

“So you didn’t know that Betsy worked up atSpadina and was in daily contact with a Mr. Seamus Baldwin?”

“I ain’t ever been to Spadina, sir.”

Marc winced. Cambridge was indeed slick andsubtle. There was no way that Marc could object, but the prosecutorhad managed to refocus the jury’s attention on the defendant andthe “logical” inference about which particular Seamus was beingalluded to. Dora was now turned over to Marc.

“I’d like to go back to young Betsy’s lastwords. We heard earlier testimony that she did speak three words,and you have kindly given us the third one. It was ‘please’ setbetween the two ‘Seamuses,’ is that right?”

“It is.”

“Would you try and repeat the whole phrase asclose as you can to the pace and rhythm of Betsy’s own voice?”

“Milord!” Cambridge was up quickly, butwithout ruffling his silk gown. “What is the purpose of this bit ofcheap theatrics?”

“Mrs. Cobb was there, sir. It might be easierfor her to demonstrate than to describe, don’t you think?” thejudge said. “Go ahead, Mrs. Cobb.”

“I’ll try. She was somewhat delirious, so hervoice was slow and syrupy. She said ‘Seamus . . . please . . .Seamus’.”

“Did that sound like an accusation to you? Ora confession?”

Cambridge seethed – elegantly – but did notintervene.

“No, sir. I thought it sounded more like shewas pleadin’ with us. Perhaps to go and fetch Mr. Seamus.”

Marc knew how dangerous this remark mightprove to be, but he had to get the notion of a plea into the jury’sthinking. After all, he hoped, through Dr. Baldwin much later, toshow that Uncle Seamus was Betsy’s tutor and confidant, not herseducer.

“One final question, ma’am. How many Seamusesdo you know?”

“Milord – ”

The judge held up his right hand.

Dora paused to think. “Oh, at least six orseven. And most them is in Irishtown.”

Several jurors tittered.

“No more questions,” Marc said, and sat down,satisfied.

The Crown then called two gentlemen from thebetter part of town to testify about an August soirée at Spadina:Mr. Samuel Leigh, a banker and onetime Tory member of theLegislature, followed by Mr. Ralph Broadhead, a jeweller and closefriend of Bishop Strachan and other prominent persons of the Torypersuasion. The Baldwins, father and son, though passionatelypolitical, were not consumed by politics or personal power, nor didthey limit their friends and acquaintances to members of a singleparty. They were likewise generous with invitations to their grandhouse, Spadina.