Don Gutteridge - Minor Corruption

Beth looked so serious that Marc was sureanother accusation was coming, but she said quietly, “What are yer motives, luv?”

“Cobb accused me of toadying up to theBaldwins and fighting for my own self-interests in regard to theReform party, and I suppose he was close enough to the truth tohave me respond in anger. But what drives me, in addition tofriendship and party loyalty, is justice. I believe Seamus Baldwinis incapable of that crime or even of paying for a botchedabortion, and I desperately want to get an acquittal.”

“So you have no doubts about hisinnocence?”

Marc was startled by the suddenness of Beth’squery. “Of course not. Don’t tell me that Neville Cambridge isgetting to you, too?”

Beth laughed. “No, he’s not. You’ve foughthim blow fer blow. I’d say the jury is still out.”

“What worries me deeply, win or not, is thatI may have jeopardized my friendship with Cobb and with Robert, thetwo men I admire most in this world. To lose the case and myfriends would be too terrible to bear. All my effort would havebeen for nothing.”

Beth patted the back of his hand:

“Nothin’ is never fer nothin’, luv.”

***

Sixteen-year-old Edie Barr, the Crown’s finalscheduled witness, was first up on Wednesday morning. She was bothnervous and excited. She was aware of her blond good looks and ofthe fact that they were being appreciated by the packed galleries.Her employer’s son, Robert Baldwin, had taken her aside earlier andtold her she was to tell nothing but the absolute truth whenstanding in the witness-box. There would be no recriminations as aresult of her testimony and, under no circumstance was she to feelthat she ought to tell less than the truth in order to protect theBaldwin family. She had nodded dutifully, but had already mappedout what she was going to say and why.

“Miss Barr, do you know the defendant well?”Cambridge began.

“I do, sir,” Edie said in her most adultvoice. “Mr. Seamus came to Spadina on the first of July of thisyear. I seen him many times a day ever since.”

“In your capacity as an upstairs maid atSpadina?”

“That’s right. I’ve worked fer Dr. Baldwinfer two years.”

“And Betsy Thurgood worked with you?”

“Betsy was the tweenie – ever since August.She worked a bit up and down. We shared a room.”

“Please describe your relationship withSeamus Baldwin, beyond servant and master.”

Edie blinked, then understood what waswanted. “Oh, we both called Mr. Seamus our uncle, Uncle Seamus. Hesaid we had to.”

“Isn’t it odd for a gentleman of some sixtyyears to be so chummy with the hired help?”

Edie winced at “hired help” but said, “Yes,it is. But Uncle Seamus was like a big kid. He loved to tease andplay pranks, and he let us tease him back – as long as we didn’t doit in front of visitors. Then it was all ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir.’”Edie did not once look up at Uncle Seamus in the dock. In fact shekept her wandering gaze everywhere but on that side of thecourtroom. For his part, Uncle Seamus seemed for the first time totake a steady interest in the proceedings, leaning forward on therailing of the dock.

“So he liked to tease, did he?”

“Not always,” Edie said with a glance atRobert seated behind Marc. “He was our tutor, too. He had us readto him and helped us with our writin’ and sums.”

“Taking an inordinate interest in two youngmaids, was he?”

Marc got up, but it was Justice Powell whobarked, “Do not put words into the witness’s mouth, Mr. Cambridge,especially ones she herself would never utilize.”

Cambridge apologized. “Tell us, Miss Barr,what form the teasing would take.”

Edie blushed prettily. She loved that “MissBarr.” “Well, Uncle Seamus liked to bounce up behind us and giveour ribs a tickle. And we’d all laugh.”

“I see. Up and down the ribs, eh? Whatelse?”

“He’d bring us a sweet in our room and thenmake us answer a riddle to win it.” Edie frowned. “Betsy alwayswon.”

“Now tell the court about your being aventriloquist’s dummy.”

Edie happily recounted sitting on UncleSeamus’s knee and flapping her jaw in synch with his words. Herpretty eyes widened as she told of the response they got at severalsoirées at Spadina, and she lingered over potentially salaciousdetails, which seemed to please Neville Cambridge greatly. Marc,however, thought this testimony was redundant as earlier witnesses,including Beth, had already established Uncle Seamus’s eccentric,elfin habits and his attraction to children and young women. Butthere was more to come.

“So it would be fair to say that you and MissThurgood liked and admired Seamus Baldwin, referring to himaffectionately as your ‘uncle’?”

“Yes, sir.”

Cambridge now drew from among his notes asheet of paper. “I am holding here a letter, Milord, which I wouldlike to introduce as Exhibit B. It was found by the police amongthe effects of Betsy Thurgood in her room at Spadina, as theattached affidavit will attest to.”

The clerk took the letter and attestation tothe judge, who perused them carefully. Marc had seen the letter andhad a pretty good idea what was coming. The letter was now takenover to the witness.

“Miss Barr, please read this letter aloud tothe court.”

In her best singsong voice, Edie read aloudwith the confidence that Seamus Baldwin had given her:

Dear sweetest one:

I know how impossible it is to love someone

so far above one’s station. I know also the pain ofwatching you

close up every day of my life. I see your beautiful,manly face

and your shining hair and your glinting eye as youwalk ever so

elegantly down the stairs each morning. I follow youthrough the

day with my heart aflutter and my breathing stinted.I swoon at

the sound of your voice, as pure as poetry, aslilting as an Irish

tenor’s. Your laugh turns me giddy and one glancefrom your

sea-blue eyes is enough to carry me through anentire week. O

my precious and unattainable knight!

Your faithful admirer

Betsy

The effect on the courtroom was electric. Gasps ofdisbelief. Sighs of disappointment. Tuts of revulsion. Here at lastwas the direct connection between Seamus Baldwin and thelove-struck teenager. Perhaps it hadn’t been rape after all. It hadbeen worse, much worse. The brute had seduced her in that uglyhorse-stall, and she had not resisted. Surely they had beencarrying on their illicit affair for over two months! Endingtragically in abortion, death, and now disgrace.

“Is this Betsy Thurgood’s hand as you knowit?”

“Yes, sir, it is. And I saw her write thisletter. She asked me to look over and check her spellin’ and commasand the like.”

“I see. So even though there is no date onthis letter, you can tell us when it was penned?”

“Yes, sir. About the middle ofSeptember.”

So, Marc thought, Edie had known about theletter and had deliberately left it where Cobb could find it. Butwhy?

“Do you have an opinion as to who this personis? The one whom Betsy admired ‘faithfully’?”

“Milord!”

“I’m going to allow it, Mr. Edwards. MissBarr knew Miss Thurgood well. They shared a room and much else, itappears.”

“It has to be Uncle Seamus, doesn’t it?” Ediesaid.

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, it says here it’s someone she sees inthe house every day. And that ‘shinin’ hair’ could only be UncleSeamus’s big white hair, couldn’t it?”

“Why, then, would she call him a knight?”

“Oh, Betsy was always livin’ in a dreamworld, seein’ knights in shinin’ armour and all that sort ofnonsense.”