Tim Vicary - A Game of Proof

‘People say all sorts of crazy things in quarrels. They don’t always mean them.’

‘But they do sometimes. The truth is you quarreled with her and you were afraid she might leave you. That’s right, isn’t it?’

‘No, she couldn’t — I loved her.’

‘But she did though, didn’t she? She went back to Simon and made love to him.’

As Sarah had expected, Phil Turner rose to his feet. ‘My lord, I fear my learned friend is straying into fantasy. There is no evidence for any of this and she is harassing the witness.’

Sarah faced the judge firmly. ‘My Lord, I have witnesses to substantiate all these points. My son claims that Miss Hurst returned to his home and made love to him frequently, and I have a witness to this quarrel and to Mr Brodie’s state of mind at the time. Since his own evidence makes several claims about my son’s state of mind and alleged motivation, it would seem fair to question his also.’

Judge Mookerjee considered, then nodded. ‘Very well, Mrs Newby. Continue.’

Sarah drew a deep, grateful breath. ‘That’s true, isn’t it, Mr Brodie? She didn’t just talk to Simon, she was unfaithful to you, wasn’t she? She even teased you about it. She said Simon was more of a man, a better lover than you.’

‘No, she didn’t. She wouldn’t do that.’ He was very upset now. Pale, anxious, distressed.

‘I suggest that’s exactly what she did. Jasmine could be cruel, couldn’t she?’

‘No. Don’t say that about her. She didn’t mean it.’

‘Did you follow her, after these quarrels? To see where she went?’

‘I don’t … I …’ Clearly this question came as a shock. Sarah watched, and waited. ‘I … did follow her once, yes. I saw her near his — your son’s house. I watched her go in.’

‘Only once? Or more than once?’

‘I … followed her a few times, yes. I’m not proud of it.’ He looked around court, afraid, suddenly; his performance was going wrong but the audience were still there.

‘When she went into Simon’s house, what did you do?’

‘I … waited outside a bit, then I went home. I was upset.’

‘Yes. So when Jasmine came home, what then? Did you tell her you’d followed her?’

‘She found out. She saw me once. She … she laughed at me.’

‘How did you feel then?’

‘Hurt.’ He looked down, embarrassed. ‘I just wanted her to come back to me, that’s all.’

‘I see. And apart from following her, how did you try to make her do that?’

‘I … the same as I always did. I’d try to be nice to her, make her feel secure and happy in my home. That’s where she belonged. It was a safe place, clean and decent, not a pigsty like his … your son’s home. I treated her decent.’

‘So the more cruelly she treated you, the more you tried to please her.’

‘Is that wrong? I loved her.’

‘And she twisted you round her little finger. When she saw Simon following her, she wasn’t frightened, she was amused. And she laughed when you did it too, didn’t she?’

‘You make her sound horrible. She wasn’t like that.’

‘She played with people, didn’t she? She played with you both.’

‘She wasn’t playing with me. I was trying to make her see sense. I loved her.’

‘Exactly. So it must have made you angry when you followed her and saw her going into Simon’s house to make love to him. Were you angry?’

‘Of course I was angry, but … I knew if she’d stay with me, she’d get over it in the end.’

‘But on that day when you argued at the protest, Tuesday 11th May, she told you she was leaving, didn’t she?’

‘Yes, but … she’d said that before. I didn’t believe her. I knew she’d come back — it was on her way back that he killed her!’ The court was hushed, completely silent now.

‘You say my son killed her, but you have no evidence to prove that, do you, David? It could have been someone else, who also had also had a motive. Couldn’t it?’

‘Well, who else could it be?’ He looked around, desperate, astonished. ‘For Christ’s sake, you’re not suggesting me, surely? That’s crazy! I mean, he hit her, remember? I never did that.’

And so he’d said it himself, without her having to accuse him. The atmosphere in court was electric. She felt the crackle of attention all round her.

‘On the morning she died, where did she say she was going?’

‘To the protest. But it wasn’t true. I went there myself to check.’

Sarah smiled grimly. ‘So what did you do then, David? Did you go to Bramham Street to spy on her, as you’d done before?’

‘No! I didn’t. I wanted to, but I thought … there’s no point. I went straight to work.’

‘Really?’ Sarah shook her head, disbelievingly. ‘And while you were at work, you forgot all about Jasmine, did you?’

‘No!’ Once again, tears filled his eyes and he fumbled for a tissue. ‘I was upset, of course I was.’ Sarah thought of the pain she was inflicting, then instantly hardened her heart.

‘So you were upset about Jasmine. What time did you leave work that night?’

‘At the end of the shift. Ten o’clock.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘I cycled home.’ He watched her warily again.

‘But you’d been thinking about Jasmine all evening at work, you say. Did you go to Bramham Street on your way home?’

‘No.’

‘Didn’t you, David? Why not? How could you resist the urge to stand outside, see if the bedroom light was on, see if you could hear her laughing with him?’

‘I told you, I didn’t go. Anyway I thought she might have come home.’

‘But she hadn’t, had she? Did you go out again, to look for her?’

‘No. Of course not. There was no point.’

‘Because you knew where she was?’

‘I thought I did, yes.’

‘You didn’t go back along the cyclepath by the river, where Jasmine’s body was found?’

A soft indrawing of breath ruffled the air as the point of Sarah’s question became clear.

‘No! I wish I had, I might have saved her!’

‘Did you cycle home that way?’

‘No. Not that day.’

‘Why not?’

‘It was dark. I don’t go that way when it’s dark.’

‘But it’s a route you know well?’

‘I use it sometimes, yes.’

‘And Jasmine used it too?’

‘She did, but I told her not to use it after dark, for that exact reason. Anyone could be hiding in the bushes. A monster like him!’ He glared at Simon.

‘I see. So you knew that this was a route that Jasmine used, and you thought it was exactly the sort of place where a murderer or rapist might attack her. Is that right?’

‘Yes.’

Sarah drew a deep breath. Almost there. ‘So if the idea had come into your head to murder Jasmine, you’d have known exactly the right place to choose. Wouldn’t you, David?’

His face paled in horror. ‘You’re mad! I didn’t kill her! Simon did!’

‘So you say. But there was no one with you that night, was there, David? No one who can support this story that you didn’t use the cycle path, or go out again to look for Jasmine late that night?’

‘No. But it’s all true. For Christ’s sake!’

Turner was back on his feet. ‘My lord, I really feel that this has gone far enough. My learned friend is badgering this witness without a shred of evidence to support these allegations. She is causing great distress to no purpose.’

Resolutely, Sarah faced the judge, on whose face was a clear expression of distaste. ‘I have made no allegations, my lord, none. I have accused this witness of nothing: he has accused himself. I have merely sought to establish that he has the motive, the opportunity, and the lack of alibi, precisely that which is alleged against my son.’