M.R. Hall - The Disappeared

'I have several other witnesses to call, Miss Denton. I'll make my decision on this certificate when we've heard their evidence.'

With a look of surprise, Denton said, 'Surely, if you don't intend to challenge this certificate, the correct course would be to direct the jury to return an open verdict sooner rather than later. Mr Skene's statement does at least confirm that the intelligence places the missing men outside the country. It's not concrete evidence, but as far as I can see it is the best evidence that will ever be available.'

'Unless I can see it, it's no evidence at all, Miss Denton,' Jenny said, prompting an approving nod from Khan.

Denton shot straight back. 'Ma'am, although it's a highly unusual occurrence, a coroner's verdict can be overturned and a fresh inquest ordered when the verdict is clearly perverse. And although it may be frustrating, without hearing the content of this intelligence the jury can reach no credible verdict other than an open one.'

Calmly, Jenny said, 'Miss Denton, my jury will deliver a verdict of their choosing when, and only when they have heard all the available evidence. That may or may not include your so-called intelligence.'

Alison appeared at the committee-room door on the right- hand side of the hall and mouthed, 'Dr Levin's here.'

'Bring the jury in, please,' Jenny said. 'And then we'll have Dr Levin back.'

Martha Denton shot a look over her shoulder at Alun Rhys and thumped into her seat. Rhys fixed Jenny with a threatening glare, but there was nothing he could do except sit and watch. The jury filed back to their places and Sarah Levin made her way out from the committee room.

She glanced apprehensively between Jenny and the lawyers as she took her seat in the witness chair.

'You're still under oath,' Jenny said. 'I've asked you to come back to help us with a few background questions that may be of assistance. Has anyone from the police or Security

Services spoken to or made contact with you since you gave evidence yesterday?'

'No.'

'Has anyone told you what you may or may not say in evidence?'

She shook her head.

Jenny was unconvinced, but tried not to let it show. Havilland and Denton would leap at the merest suggestion of bias.

She struck a conciliatory tone. 'You were a Stevenson scholar, weren't you? After graduating, you secured a scholarship to study for your doctorate at Harvard university in the USA.'

'That's right.'

'You were one out of only a dozen or so that year.'

'Yes.'

'Did you have any American connections while you were an undergraduate at Bristol?'

'No,' Levin replied, with a trace of apprehension.

Jenny pressed on. 'A man in his forties was seen leaving Manor Hall at midnight on 28 June - the night Nazim and Rafi disappeared. He was described by Dani James as wearing a blue puffy anorak and a baseball cap. He was carrying a rucksack or holdall. Do you know who that man was?'

'I've no idea.'

'Did you know any American men at the time who met that description?'

'No . . .'

'You don't sound very sure.'

'No, I didn't.'

'Last week a man of a similar description, only several years older, was seen leaving the building where Nazim

Jamal's mother lived, only minutes after she had died. Have you met any fifty-year-old American men lately?'

Martha Denton slapped her hands on the desk in front of her as she sprang to her feet. 'Ma'am, what possible relevance could this have to the events of eight years ago?'

'Miss Denton, I'll remind you that I decide what's relevant, not you.'

'Ma'am, if I'm correctly informed, Mrs Jamal's death is currently the subject of a police investigation. It is only right that I remind you that any speculation in this court regarding it runs the risk of prejudicing the jury and invalidating their verdict.'

'Sit down, Miss Denton. And don't interrupt again.'

Jurors smiled. Martha Denton did as she was told with a venomous glare.

Jenny returned her attention to the witness. 'You haven't answered my question, Dr Levin.'

'I can answer it very well. I don't know a man meeting that description.'

'But you do know Anna Rose Crosby, don't you?'

Alun Rhys sat up sharply.

'Yes . . .' Sarah Levin said tentatively.

'Could you please tell the jury who she is?'

'She is . . . she was a student in my department. She graduated last summer.'

'And you helped get her a job last autumn as a trainee in the nuclear industry.'

'I was her tutor ... I wrote the usual references.'

'And are you aware that she has been missing for the past fortnight?'

Sarah Levin glanced anxiously at the lawyer's bench. Alun Rhys had left his seat and was crossing the floor of the hall towards them.

'I did know that, yes.'

'Are you aware that last year she became involved with a young Asian man - a postgraduate student at the university - by the name of Salim Hussain?'

'No ... I didn't know that.'

'And do you have any idea why the same American man might have been looking for her since she's been missing?'

Sarah Levin shook her head, her eyes on Rhys, Denton and Havilland. Their solicitors were hurriedly conferring.

'You've no idea at all, Dr Levin?'

'I told you, no.'

'Really? Would it help prompt your memory if I told you this man seems to have been contaminated with a radioactive substance that you'll doubtless be familiar with — '

Denton interjected. 'Ma'am, I am instructed that this line of questioning has to stop.'

'I've told you already, Miss Denton — '

Rhys leaned over the desk behind her, issued Denton with further orders and hurried from the hall.

Denton stalled, her expression of indignation replaced with one of bewilderment. 'Ma'am. I am instructed to inform you -' she spoke as if she could scarcely believe what she was about to say herself - 'that Dr Levin is a criminal suspect and will be placed under arrest immediately.'

'She's a witness in a lawful inquiry. Anyone who interferes with her giving evidence will be in contempt of court.'

Rhys crashed through the doors at the back of the room flanked by two uniformed police officers, a sergeant and a constable.

'Apologies, ma'am,' the sergeant stammered. 'I've been asked to arrest Dr Sarah Levin.'

'You can wait until she's given evidence or be committed for contempt,' Jenny snapped.

'Do it,' Rhys ordered.

The two police officers marched up to the witness box.

Jenny unleashed her fury at them: 'Don't you dare interfere with the proceedings of this court.'

Behind the emotionless masks of uniformed men obeying orders, the two policemen took hold of a terrified Sarah Levin and led her from the witness box. Rendered speechless with impotent rage, Jenny watched them take her from the hall. As they left, it was DI Pironi who held the door open for them.

'Mr Pironi,' Jenny said, in scarcely more than a whisper, 'are you going to tell me what's going on?'

From the crummy depths of her handbag she fished out the two Xanax tablets covered in fluff and grime which she'd kept - pretending to herself they weren't there - for dire emergencies. She swallowed them both and waited a clear two minutes for them to hit her system before summoning Pironi. Alison traipsed in behind him. Jenny was beyond objecting. No breach of protocol could make the situation any more absurd.

Jenny glared at him. 'Well?'

'I've no idea, Mrs Cooper,' he said, deadpan. 'What just happened in there was nothing to do with me. I think you can pin that one on MI5. And what I've got to tell you is nothing to do with them. Not yet.'

Jenny pressed her hands to her aching head. 'What are you talking about?'

'About an hour ago I had a call from Mr McAvoy ... He claims to have found the remains of Nazim Jamal and Rafi Hassan. He's given a location in north Herefordshire.' Pironi swallowed. 'And to quote him, he said, " That black-hearted bastard Tathum held onto it until his last God-forsaken breath ."'