Brian Freemantle - A Mind to Kill

Not good enough, Jane. Not even very funny. Panic. Not in control any more. Lost.

‘ We’ll see. ’

We will. Tough shit, Jane. You’re fucked.

There was almost a phosphorous whiteness from the intensity of the window-reflected camera flashes at their arrival. Jennifer descended confidently from the van but the moment she reached the ground all support left her legs. Only the quick reflexes of Ann Wardle kept her from collapsing on to the ground: as it was she went down heavily to her left, where the second wardress failed to catch her, and hit her knee with sickening hardness against a kerb edge. Her tights tore and her knee began to bleed, all strength and sensation gone from the leg. Jennifer was virtually carried into the building, arms around the necks of both wardresses who in turn linked their arms around Jennifer’s back to complete the bridge. The duty doctor was crouched in front of her, cleaning and dressing the darkly bruised cut, when Jeremy Hall entered the cell.

‘ Ask him! Demand to know! ’

Instead Jennifer said: ‘She made me fall. She’s screaming to know what’s happened.’

‘I’m sure she is.’

‘ What! ’

‘She says she’s going to make me do worse things than attack Emily. That I’ll be in a mental hospital by tonight.’ He was somehow different. Not frightened of her – he was one of the few who had never been frightened of her – but somehow holding back. He wasn’t even leaning over the table towards her like he’d usually done, since the trial had begun.

The hesitation was obvious, too, before he said, ‘I want her to do everything possible she can.’

Jennifer looked at the barrister, aghast. ‘What?’

‘The more ridiculous she makes you look – the more outrageous the actions or the words – the better it is for us. Don’t fight against any of it, however bad it is. Do it and say it.’

‘ WHAT? ’

‘She’s screaming! Hurting my head again.’

‘Who or whatever is in your head is my defence witness now,’ insisted Hall. ‘Whatever she does or says is going to prove your total innocence. Do you hear that, Jennifer? I can prove you’re not guilty! Not just that. Prove you’re not mad, either.’

‘ NOoooooooo! ’

The gossip of an impending although unidentified sensation inevitably came from the court officials and the anticipatory electricity was tangible when Jennifer entered the dock. The limp immediately became a cause for speculation, several journalists standing in the absence of the judge to crane over the dock rail in an effort to see the reason. Jennifer was tensed, nervous of an abrupt attack from Jane, but nothing came although she still had the tingling burn of Jane’s presence, more uncomfortable than usual. Her knee throbbed and had swollen tightly against the dressing. She was ready when the judge entered the court, grabbing out for the rail and glad of the wardresses close behind but there was no weakness in her legs. Despite what Hall had said in the cells below it was instinctive for her to grip the underside of the chair. Ann had the first handkerchief ready, in her lap. At Jennifer’s look the wardress shook her head, reassuringly.

Jarvis cleared his throat, staring fixedly at Jennifer for several moments before turning to his right. In his strangely sonorous voice he said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, since the adjournment of this trial yesterday, certain matters have most forcibly been brought to my attention…’ He looked briefly down at Jeremy Hall, who was visibly hunched, like a runner eager to get off the blocks.

‘… In the light of what has emerged, overnight, it is necessary, in my view, to allow these matters to be fully and properly examined, in your presence. And for that examination to be conducted at this stage of the trial, instead of waiting for the prosecution to conclude its case and for the defence to present theirs, which would be the normal course of events…’

The judge paused, to clear his throat again, and Jennifer was startled to see Perry turn and smile encouragingly at her. She was too surprised to respond.

‘… To that end,’ resumed Jarvis, ‘certain witnesses who have already given evidence will today be recalled, for their evidence to be explored more fully than it was when they first appeared. I will do my best to ensure that this is done in a comprehensible manner, to prevent this extremely unusual course causing you any confusion…’

Briefly Jarvis’s attention switched to Hall, as if in warning. ‘… If, however, something emerges that any of you do not understand, I require you at once to advise me, through the court officials. At which time it will be clarified. Is that quite clear to all of you…?’

There were uncertain nods throughout the jury. The press beehive hummed.

‘… We will pick up, however, with the witness who was giving evidence at the conclusion of yesterday’s hearing,’ announced Jarvis. ‘Doctor Peter Lloyd…’

The hospital doctor re-entered the box, agreeing with a nod that he understood he was still bound by the oath he’d taken the previous day. Hall was already standing, waiting.

‘Doctor Lloyd,’ said Hall. ‘Your answer to my final question, yesterday, was that during the time she spent under your care a total of five separate blood tests were taken from the accused?’

‘That is correct.’

Taken by you?’

‘Three were.’

‘Did you take the first, upon her admission?’

‘Yes.’

‘That first test, upon her admission, would have been for a particular and specific purpose, would it not?’

‘Yes.’

‘What?’

‘Mrs Lomax had quite severe injuries, to her arms and hand. She’d lost blood. It was necessary to give her a transfusion.’

‘Before which you had to establish what?’

‘Her blood group.’

‘Why was it you who took that first sample?’

‘I was the duty emergency doctor that day.’

‘How long did it take pathology to identify Jennifer Lomax’s blood group?’

Lloyd shrugged. ‘Maybe thirty minutes. As I’ve said, it was considered an emergency: there’s a fast-track system. By the time the wounds had been cleaned and Mrs Lomax prepared for surgery, we had the results.’

‘Which were?’

‘That Mrs Lomax’s blood group is B Rhesus Positive.’

‘Which was the blood you transfused?’

Lloyd appeared surprised by the question. ‘Of course.’

‘What effect would there have been upon Mrs Lomax if blood other than B Rhesus Positive had been transfused?’

The doctor appeared even more confused. ‘An extremely severe reaction. Anything else would have been incompatible. She would have gone into shock: could even have died from renal failure.’

‘But Mrs Lomax did not go into shock or suffer any adverse effects from your transfusion?’

Lloyd shook his head, bewildered. ‘No.’

‘During the pathological examination of blood samples subsequently taken from Mrs Lomax, would the group always be identified?’

‘Yes. The check system requires it.’

‘Do the medical records in front of you show the blood group of those four other separate tests?’

‘Yes.’

‘What are they?’

‘The only group they could be, of course, B Rhesus Positive.’

‘Thank you, doctor. I am extremely obliged,’ said Hall, sitting. As he did so he turned invitingly to Keflin-Brown, who shook his head against any re-examination. After the constant groundswell of noise with which Jennifer had been surrounded on the previous two days, the court was now breathlessly silent as everyone tried to understand what was unfolding. The burn of Jane’s presence was definitely hotter and Jennifer felt herself sweating again. She reached out herself for the ever-ready handkerchief, using it to dab her upper lip and forehead. There was an unintended jerk, a twitch of frustration, but Jennifer easily kept her hand steady.