Douglas Kennedy - A Special Relationship

'As befitting anyone battling with clinical depression'.

'She worried me constantly'.

'Even though there wasn't a specific incident in which you thought that the child's life was in danger?'

'You don't think that breastfeeding a child while on an extremely high dosage of sedatives is endangering a child?'

'Mr Hobbs', the Judge said, 'you are not asking the questions here'.

'Nevertheless I will answer it, My Lord', Maeve said. 'Though it is true that your son ended up in hospital after this incident, it's also very clear that a mistake had been made on the part of your wife. A mistake made when she was suffering from both depression and extreme sleep deprivation. A mistake she made while you were getting your eight hours, fast asleep on the sofa in your study'.

She paused for emphasis. Then her voice lost its steely chill and she became dangerously pleasant again.

'A very simple question, sir: did Ms Goodchild do anything after her return from hospital to make you fear that the child's life was in danger?'

'As I said before, she suffered from severe mood swings which made me fear that she might lash out'.

'But she didn't lash out, did she?'

'No, but...'

'And on the subject of her earlier outbursts, let me ask you this: have you never said something foolish in anger? An anger fuelled by postoperative shock and clinical depression?'

'I've never suffered from either of those conditions'.

'That is fortunate. But you've never said something in anger?'

'Of course I have. But I've never threatened a child's life...'

'Returning to your book...'

This sudden veering away from the subject immediately worried me. It showed that Maeve had conceded a point to him, and was trying to cover her tracks by moving on as quickly as possible.

'Now, I gather you have received an advance for your novel?'

Tony looked surprised that she knew this information.

'Yes, I've recently signed a contract with a publisher'.

'Recently - as in four months ago?'

'That's right'.

'So, up until that point, what did you do for income?'

'I had very little income'.

'But you did have Ms Dexter...'

'When she knew that Jack was in danger, Ms Dexter... Diane... did offer to take us in. Then when I decided to look after Jack full-time, she offered to take care of our day-to-day running expenses'.

'Now you say you're looking after Jack "full-time". But isn't it true that Ms Dexter has hired a full-time nanny to look after Jack?'

'Well, I do need time to work on my book'.

'But you said the nanny is full-time. So how many hours a day do you write?'

'Four to five'.

'And what does the nanny do the rest of the time?'

'All the other duties associated with child care'.

'And so, after the four to five hours of writing time, you're with your son'.

'That's right'.

'So you really didn't leave the Chronicle to look after your son full-time. You left the Chronicle to write your novel. And Ms Dexter was there to conveniently subsidize that endeavour. Now, Mr Hobbs: your advance for this novel of yours. It was £20,000 if I'm not mistaken?'

Again, Tony looked thrown by the fact that she knew this sum.

'That's right', he said.

'Not a vast sum - but about average for a first novel. And if I'm not mistaken, Ms Dexter hired Jack's nanny from a firm called Annie's Nannies, just down the road from you in Battersea'.

'I think that was the name of the firm, yes'.

'You think? Surely a committed father like yourself would have been in on this nannying decision from the start. Now I checked with Annie's Nannies - and it seems that the average cost of a full-time nanny is, before tax, around £20,000 per annum. Which means your advance just about covers the cost of your son's child care, but nothing else. Ms Dexter does all that, doesn't she?'

Tony looked at Lucinda Fforde for guidance. She indicated that he had to answer.

'Well... I suppose Diane does cover the bulk of the costs'.

'But you yourself bought your wife's air ticket to the States when she had to rush back after her brother-in-law's death'.

'Ex brother-in-law', Tony said.

'Indeed. But your wife rushed back to comfort her sister, is that not right?'

'Yes, that's true'.

'Did you encourage her to return to the States?'

'I thought her sister needed her, yes'.

'Did you encourage her, Mr Hobbs?'

'Like I said, it was a family emergency, so I thought that Sally should be there'.

'Even though she was very worried about being away from her son for several days?'

'We had child care... our housekeeper'.

'Answer the question, please. Was she concerned about being away from her son for several days?'

Another nervous glance towards Lucinda Fforde.

'Yes, she was'.

'But you encouraged her to go. You bought her ticket. And while she was out of the country, you went to court and obtained the ex parte court order that temporarily granted you residence of your son. Is that the correct sequence of events, Mr Hobbs?'

Tony looked deeply uncomfortable.

'Please answer the question', Traynor said.

'Yes', Tony said, in a low voice, 'that's the correct sequence of events'.

'One final question. Did you buy your wife an Economy class ticket to Boston?'

'I don't remember'.

'Really? Because I have the ticket here, and it's a higher priced Premium Economy ticket. You don't remember buying her this more comfortable class of travel?'

'I let my travel agent handle the details'.

'But surely you instructed him about which class she should travel in? I mean, the difference between an Economy and a Premium Economy ticket is over three hundred pounds'.

'He might have offered me the Premium Economy ticket as an option, and' -

'Because you wanted her to be comfortable on her flight to and from Boston, you approved the extra expenditure?'

'Yes, I suppose so'.

'And having flown her Premium Economy to the States, you then went to court to obtain the order effectively barring her from seeing her son... ?'

Lucinda Fforde was on her feet. But before she could say anything, Maeve cut her off.

'No further questions', she said.

Tony did not look happy. Though he'd managed to deflect a few of her attacks, he was also someone who hated to be wrong-footed. And I thought she'd done a rather good job of that.

'Re-examination?' Traynor asked in that slightly bored voice of his.

'Yes, My Lord', Lucinda Fforde said. 'And it is just one question, Mr Hobbs. Please remind us again why you felt it necessary to seek an emergency order, taking residence of your son'.

'Because I feared that she might fall into one of her dangerous moods again and, this time, actually carry out her threat to kill him'.

I gripped my hands tightly together, trying to force myself to stay silent. I had to admire Lucinda Fforde's supremely clever tactical logic: after all the palaver of a cross-examination, return to just one central point and undermine all the other points scored earlier against her client by one reiteration of an absolute fucking lie.

When Tony was told he could step down, he returned to his seat next to the Dexter woman. She gave him a little hug and whispered something into his ear. Then her name was called to enter the witness box.

She looked very impressive, standing up there. Poised, assured, just a little regal. I could understand what Tony saw in her. She possessed a certain glamour quotient which I knew he always craved. Just as I also knew that he probably took one look at her property portfolio - and her taste in interior decor - and realized that she was a great catch. Just as she - a woman who had recently edged into fifty - would have admired his professional accomplishments, his worldliness, his sardonic wit, and his need to flee the entrapments of home and office. And then there was the little fact that he came accompanied by a child...