Calling Down the Storm E-Book

Peter Murphy

• Herausgeber: No Exit Press
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Serie: A Ben Schroeder legal thriller
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 625

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The Fifth Ben Schroeder Novel April 1971. When DI Webb and DS Raymond respond to a 999 call at Harpur Mews in Bloomsbury, a horrific scene awaits them. Susan Lang is lying on the ground, bleeding to death. Her husband Henry is sitting nearby, holding a large, blood-stained knife. In shock, Henry claims to have no memory of the events that led to his wife's death, leaving his barrister, Ben Schroeder, little with which to defend a potential murder charge. Unbeknownst to his strict Baptist wife, Deborah, Justice Rainer has a secret life as a gambler. In his desperation for money to fund his habit, he has already raided his own and Deborah's resources, and now he has crossed another line - one from which there is no return. To his horror, as the trial of Henry Lang starts, Rainer discovers a sinister connection between the trial and his gambling debts which could cause his world to unravel. In a rare case in which the judge is in greater peril than the defendant on trial, both Lang and Rainer have called down the storm on their own heads. Their lives are on the line, and time is running out.

Leseprobe

CALLING DOWN THE STORM

Calling Down the Storm is the story of two separate but strangely parallel lives: the life of a defendant on trial for murder, and the life of the judge who presides over his trial.

April 1971. When DI Webb and DS Raymond arrive at Harpur Mews in Bloomsbury in response to a 999 call, a horrific scene awaits them. Susan Lang is lying on the ground, bleeding to death. Her husband Henry is sitting nearby, holding a large, blood-stained knife. In shock, Henry claims to have no memory of the events that led to his wife’s death, leaving his barrister, Ben Schroeder, little with which to defend a potential charge of murder.

Unknown to his strict Baptist wife, Deborah, who lives in the family home in Guildford, Mr Justice Conrad Rainer has a secret life in his London flat, a life as a high-stakes gambler. In his desperation for money to fund his gaming, he has already raided his own and Deborah’s resources, and now he has crossed another line – one from which there is no return.

To his horror, as the trial of Henry Lang starts, Conrad discovers a sinister connection between the trial and his gambling debts, a connection that could cause his world to unravel. And then, there’s the other terrible secret he is hiding in his flat. In a rare case in which the judge is in greater peril than the defendant on trial in his court, both Henry and Conrad have called down the storm on to their heads. Their lives are on the line, and time is running out.

About the author

Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and spent a career in the law, as an advocate, teacher, and judge. He has worked both in England and the United States, and seved for several years as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He has written six novels: two political thrillers about the US presidency,RemovalandTest of Resolve; four legal thrillers featuring Ben Schroeder set in Sixties London,A Higher Duty, A Matter for the Jury, And is There Honey Still for Tea? andThe Heirs of Owain Glyndŵr. His collection of court room dramas Walden of Bermondsey will be published later this year. He lives with his wife Chris, in Cambridgeshire.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR PETER MURPHY

REMOVAL

‘Weighty and impressive’ – Crime Time

‘A brilliant thriller by a striking new talent. Murphy cracks open the US Constitution like a walnut. This is Seven Days in May for the 21st Century’ –Clem Chambers, author of the Jim Evans thrillers

‘Peter Murphy’s debut Removal introduces an exciting talent in the thriller genre. Murphy skilfully builds tension in sharp prose. When murder threatens the security of the most powerful nation in the world, the stakes are high!’ – Leigh Russell, author of the Geraldine Steel mysteries

A HIGHER DUTY

‘An absorbing read’ – Mystery People

‘A very satisfying read’ – Fiction is Stranger than Fact

‘A gripping page-turner. A compelling and disturbing tale of English law courts, lawyers, and their clients, told with the authenticity that only an insider like Murphy can deliver. The best read I’ve come across in a long time’ – David Ambrose

‘His racy legal thrillers lift the lid on sex and racial prejudice at the bar’ –Guardian

‘If anyone’s looking for the next big courtroom drama… look no further. Murphy is your man’ –ICLR

‘Peter Murphy’s novel is an excellent read from start to finish and highly recommended’ –Historical Novel Review

‘This beautifully written book had me captivated from start to finish’ – Old Dogs – New Tricks

A MATTER FOR THE JURY

‘An utterly compelling and harrowing tale of life and death’ – David Ambrose

‘One of the subplots … delivers a huge and unexpected twist towards the end of the novel, for which I was totally unprepared’ –Fiction is Stranger than Fact

AND IS THERE HONEY STILL FOR TEA?

‘An intelligent amalgam of spy story and legal drama’ – Times

‘A story that captures the zeitgeist of a turbulent time in British history’ – Publishers Weekly

‘A gripping, enjoyable and informative read…Promoting Crime Fiction loves Peter Murphy’s And Is There Honey Still for Tea?’ – Promoting Crime Fiction

‘Murphy’s clever legal thriller revels in the chicanery of the English law courts of the period’ – The Independent

‘The ability of an author to create living characters is always dependent on his knowledge of what they would do and say in any given circumstances – a talent that Peter Murphy possesses in abundance…Arnold Taylor loves And Is There Honey Still for Tea?’ – Crime Review UK

‘There’s tradecraft of the John le Carré kind, but also a steely authenticity in the legal scenes… gripping’ – ICLR

‘Digby, the real protagonist, will keep you guessing until the very end’ – Kirkus Reviews

THE HEIRS OF OWAIN GLYNDŴR

‘A thought-provoking, intriguing unmasking of courtroom sparring and Welsh nationalism’ – Lovereading

‘After swapping his gavel for a pen, a former Crown court judge has published the fourth book in his popular legal saga’ – The Hunts Post

‘All the details of barristerial life, the rules of ethics and evidence, the social attitudes and the courtroom procedure appropriate for the late 1960s period setting are pitch perfect… the book raises very contemporary questions about the roots of radicalism, the motivations for terrorism and the conduct of the security services in combatting it’ – Paul Magrath

‘The story illustrates and discusses effectively questions of nationalism and national identity, particularly the Welsh language with what is seen by the would-be bombers as English interference in Welsh affairs and culture. As a featured character Schroeder is low-key, clever and determined, but it is Arianwen and the others who hold most interest in this case. It is to the author’s credit that this fiction sometimes reads and feels like a dramatic re-telling of a real event’ – Crime Review

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em,

Know when to fold ’em,

Know when to walk away,

And know when to run,

You never count your money

When you’re sittin’ at the table,

There’ll be time enough for countin’

When the dealin’s done.

– Don Schlitz, The Gambler

1

Wednesday 28 April 1971

The man was sitting on the ground, his legs drawn up halfway towards his chest, his hands resting on his knees. In his right hand he held a knife, the blade four or five inches long, the brown plastic handle stained to look like wood. The knife was covered in blood.

The woman was lying directly in front of the man, no more than four feet away from where he sat. She lay on her back, her arms stretched out at her sides, her eyes gazing absently up to the sky. A large pool of blood had formed around her, flowing from her neck and midriff and spreading under her legs. She was dying.

It had started to rain, but neither noticed.

DI Johnny Webb and DS Phil Raymond arrived at the scene within five minutes of the call coming in. The killing took place in Dombey Street, a stone’s throw from Holborn Police Station in Lamb’s Conduit Street, where the officers were just starting a break in the canteen. Leaving their cups of tea untouched, they commandeered PC Williams, a young uniformed constable who was making a start on a bacon and egg sandwich at the next table. The three of them ran at full speed across Lamb’s Conduit Street, turning left into Dombey Street less than a minute after leaving the police station.

One look at the man was enough to tell them that they had a serious problem. They stopped abruptly and desperately tried to evaluate the situation. It didn’t look promising. They knew that an ambulance had already been dispatched from Great Ormond Street Hospital, which, like the police station, was only a street or two away. Great Ormond Street is a children’s hospital, not a specialist emergency unit; but it was a case of any port in a storm – help was on the way, and that was good. But before the ambulance crew had any chance of helping the woman, something had to be done about the man holding the knife. The woman’s body was lying just off Dombey Street at the entrance to a narrow courtyard called Harpur Mews. The man was sitting in the entrance itself, with his back to the street, taking up most of its width and blocking access to her.

There was no time to lose. The officers exchanged several urgent hand signals. Webb took the lead. He approached the entrance quietly, and began to feel his way gingerly towards a position in front of the man, making as wide an arc as he could in the limited space around the man’s left side. Raymond, treading as lightly as he could, made a direct approach towards the man’s back until he was within touching distance. Williams waited like a sprinter in the blocks for Webb to advance sufficiently to allow him a clear path, and as soon as he saw daylight he raced through the gap on the man’s left. When he reached the woman, he knelt protectively by her side between her and the man, a last desperate line of defence in case the man attacked her again.

As Webb approached, he noticed that the man was not responding at all to the activity going on around him. He must have known that the officers were there, but he sat perfectly still, his eyes fixed on the ground, his breathing barely noticeable. Webb turned his attention to the knife. His eyes focused on it and stayed there. He was approaching the point of no return now. He would have to put his body within range of a strike. There was no other way to disarm the man. If he chose to use the knife, Webb had no way of defending himself except to raise his arms, offer them up to defensive wounds to deflect more deadly blows, and hope that his colleagues would overpower the man before he could do any worse damage. Even that might not work. He would have to bend down to take the knife, which made him mortally vulnerable to a sudden upward swing of the blade. If the woman’s condition had been less serious, he might have waited for back-up, but with things as they were, that was out of the question. There was no choice. He was only a foot away now.

‘I’ll take that, sir, if you please,’ he said, as calmly as he could.

There was no response at all. This was the moment. He was aware that Raymond was at the man’s back, ready to pounce. He extended his right hand towards the man’s right hand. Their hands touched briefly on the handle of the knife. To his amazement, the man did not resist at all. The officer simply lifted the knife from where it lay, on his palm and under his thumb. The man had almost no grip on the knife; it was a wonder he had not dropped it, and it took almost no effort for Webb to make it secure. He gave an audible sigh of relief, and for some moments he stood in the rain, holding the knife down and away to his right, his eyes shifting between the man and the woman, wondering what had brought them to this.

2

‘You don’t happen to have any evidence bags with you, I suppose?’ Webb asked.

Williams was helping Raymond to lead the man, whose arms were now handcuffed behind his back, to a patrol car which had just screeched to a halt by the entrance to the mews, its blue lights still flashing.

‘Sorry, guv,’ Williams called over his shoulder. ‘Didn’t think I’d be needing one up in the canteen.’

Webb smiled. He had been holding the handle of the knife as delicately as he could under his raincoat. With any luck there would still be a print or two left on the handle, and the rain had not entirely removed the blood from the blade; there would be something left for Forensic to look at.

A few feet away from him the ambulance crew was still working feverishly on the woman, huge wads of gauze applied to her wounds in an attempt to stem the tide of blood, an impromptu intravenous drip inserted into an arm, the bag of fluids held high by one of the crew. All in vain: hopeless. Their leader had told him as much when they arrived, with a single shake of the head. It would not be long before they admitted defeat and removed her body to the ambulance.

Very gently, Webb slid his handkerchief from his trouser pocket, wrapped the knife in it, and walked over to the patrol car. The man was now sitting in the back seat, motionless, staring down at the floor. Webb opened the boot, removed a wheel jack from its cloth cover, and converted the cover into a makeshift evidence bag for the knife. He closed the boot and leaned against the side of the car with Raymond and Williams, watching the ambulance crew begin their disengagement.

The street was busy now. Two more patrol cars had arrived, the officers standing by uncertainly. There was nothing obvious for them to do. Scenes of crime officers would soon arrive to take control of the site. But they would not leave until Webb, the senior CID officer present, dismissed them. Next to one of the cars, the ambulance waited, its back doors open. On the other side of Dombey Street, a few people had opened doors and windows to see what was going on. One or two had ventured out into the street. A single officer stood in the middle of the street to make sure they did not encroach on the scene, though no one was showing even the slightest interest in coming any closer. The neighbours seemed calm and incredulous. It was a Wednesday afternoon, not long after lunch: not the time when you would expect something like this. But then again, when would you expect something like this?

‘Did he say anything?’ Webb asked.

‘Not a word, sir.’ Raymond replied. ‘He didn’t resist when we put the cuffs on him, either. He went completely limp. I thought we were going to have to drag him to the car, but he did manage to walk on his own.’

Webb shook his head.

‘Well, I hope he has something to say for himself. It looks like he’s made a real mess of her. Do we know who he is?’

Raymond made a tent of a fold in his raincoat and took two items from his jacket pocket, keeping them dry while allowing Webb a quick look.

‘Driving licence and cheque book in the name of Henry Lang, with an address in Alwyne Road, N1. Where’s that?’

Webb shrugged.

‘It’s off Canonbury Road, sir,’ Williams offered. ‘Bit of a posh residential area. You wouldn’t expect to find people carrying knives up there.’

‘I’m not surprised by anything very much any more,’ Webb replied.

‘There’s a business card in the name of Mercury Mechanics, with an address in King Henry’s Walk, N1,’ Raymond added.

‘Not far from Alwyne Road,’ Williams ventured, ‘a few minutes’ walk at most.’

‘He didn’t have any car keys with him,’ Raymond said. ‘Strange for a mechanic, wouldn’t you think?’

‘Perhaps he liked to walk, or take the bus now and then,’ Williams suggested. ‘Just a thought, sir,’ he added in due course, having received no reply.

‘Perhaps someone here knows him,’ Webb continued, after a silence. He looked across the street. The neighbours were still looking on, but no one seemed to be in a rush to volunteer information. The houses on both sides of the street were four storeys tall and all had windows overlooking the narrow street. Surely to God, someone must have seen something? He pushed himself up from his leaning position against the car.

‘Did she have anything with her?’

‘A handbag, sir,’ Williams replied. ‘It’s in the car.’

‘All right. This patrol car can take Mr Lang to the nick and get him booked in. We will talk to him when we get back. Tell them to leave her handbag on the desk in my office. Start talking to those people over there and see if anyone saw or heard anything. If they did, make sure you get statements.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And when you’ve done that, knock on the other doors up and down the street, and see if there’s anyone who’s a bit shy about coming outside, but may have been peering through the lace curtains. If you need more help, call in and tell them I authorised it.’

‘Yes, sir.’

The ambulance crew had lifted the woman on to a stretcher and removed the IV. They were carrying her slowly the short distance out of Harpur Mews towards the ambulance. Only the pool of blood, which seemed barely diminished despite the rain, remained to suggest that anything untoward had occurred to interrupt a peaceful Wednesday afternoon. Three scenes of crime officers had arrived. Webb knew them; he had worked with them before and they were thorough. If there was anything to find, they would find it. He saw them conferring with one of the uniformed officers. If they were lucky, the rain would have left them something to work with, some trace of evidence to seize and analyse. If not, they would have to gather evidence wherever they could.

Webb allowed his gaze to rest on the houses in front of him. As he watched, the front door of the house immediately across the street from the mews opened, and the figure of a woman appeared slowly and hesitantly. She stood for some time with the door slightly ajar before emerging fully into view. She was slightly built, with dark brown hair, dressed in a long, flowing white cotton skirt and a beige blouse, around her neck a thick silver-coloured necklace, rigid and unadorned, her feet in brown sandals with a slight wedge. Webb’s first impression of her age was vague, somewhere between 30 and 40, but difficult to pin down more precisely. He could see little of her face, which was almost covered by the large white handkerchief she was holding up to her eyes. Her distress was obvious. He nudged Raymond, and they made their way across the street to her.

‘Are you the police?’ she asked quietly.

‘Yes, madam. We are from Holborn Police Station. I am Detective Inspector Webb, and this is Detective Sergeant Raymond. And you are…?’

‘Wendy Cameron.’

‘Can you help me at all about what happened here?’

She nodded and pushed the door open.

‘I saw it all,’ she replied, ‘through the window. You’d better come in.’

3

‘Would you like some tea?’

They had closed the front door, leaving the horror of the mews behind them, and made their way through to the kitchen at the rear of the house. It was suddenly more peaceful, and for the first time Webb was able to release some of the tension he had felt building inside him since they had arrived on the scene.

‘Yes. Thank you, Mrs Cameron. I’m sure a cup of tea would do us all some good. Just milk for me, please.’

‘Two sugars, please,’ Raymond said.

She struck a match and lit one of the burners on the gas stove. She filled the kettle and put it on to boil.

‘It didn’t take you long to get here,’ she said, her tone still shocked, distant. ‘Everyone says that when you call the police it takes them ages to come, but you were here in no time at all.’

‘As I said, we are based at Holborn Police Station, at the top of Lamb’s Conduit Street,’ Webb replied, ‘so we were almost on the doorstep. We were able to dash down here as soon as the call came in. Was it you who called it in?’

‘Yes. Was the ambulance in time to save her?’

‘No, I’m afraid not.’

She nodded, placed both hands on the kitchen table, and bent low over it, as if reminding herself to breathe.

‘That’s what I thought,’ she said eventually. ‘I didn’t see her moving at all.’

‘Did you go outside?’ Raymond asked.

‘No. I was too frightened. Shocked, too, I think.’

‘Yes, of course,’ Webb said. ‘You did the right thing, staying inside. There was nothing you could have done out there, and it might have been dangerous for you.’

They waited in silence for the tea to be made and served, allowing her time to recover her composure. They sat around the table, Wendy on one side, the officers on the other. She opened a tin, a Delft blue with a windmill and tulips on the lid, and offered biscuits.

‘So, do I take it you know these people?’ Webb asked.

She nodded.

‘Henry and Susan Lang. They were my clients.’

‘Clients?’ Raymond asked.

‘I’m a welfare officer for the High Court – for divorce and child custody cases. The judges ask us to interview the parties and write a report if they need information or an evaluation for a case they’re doing.’

‘What kind of report would that be?’ Webb asked.

‘It varies. In most cases, I report on arrangements for children, to help the court to decide who should get custody, or how much access to allow the non-custodial parent. In some cases, it’s just to assess the prospects for a reconciliation before the case goes ahead.’

Webb suddenly felt his stomach turn over. He glanced at Raymond.

‘What kind of report were you doing in the Langs’ case?’

‘It’s about the children. The divorce would probably have gone undefended – they couldn’t wait to get rid of each other – but there was going to be a hell of a fight over custody and access. Mr Justice Wesley had given Susan interim custody, with liberal access to Henry. But that doesn’t mean she would have got custody after a full hearing. There were two sides to that.’

‘How old are the children?’ Raymond asked.

‘Marianne is seven, and Stephanie is five.’

‘More importantly,’ Webb asked, ‘where are the children?’

‘Oh, they’re safe,’ Wendy replied. ‘They will be with Susan’s mother. That’s where they spend most of their time, if the truth be known. Susan was always ready to fight for them and scream about how much she loved them when she was in court, or with me, but I’m not sure she thought about them very much the rest of the time.’

‘But she was determined to get custody?’

‘Yes. But so was he; even more so, if anything.’

‘Were you ready to submit your report?’

‘No. The judge asked for the report before he held the next hearing, but I told him I would need at least six weeks because of pressure of work and I still had some way to go. I would have had to do a detailed inspection of both homes – the matrimonial home, where Henry is still living, and Susan’s flat. Then I would have met with both of them again, at least once individually and once together, before I prepared my final draft.’

‘I see. And they were in a meeting with you today, between what times?’

‘Between 12.30 and 1.30, or thereabouts.’

‘Did you see either of them with a knife?’

She reacted sharply.

‘Good God, no. I wouldn’t tolerate anything like that. I would have called the meeting off immediately. Then I would have called the police, and reported it to the court.’

Webb nodded.

‘So, what did you see through the window?’

She froze, cup in hand, and looked somewhere into the distance above Webb’s head.

‘As I say, they left at about 1.30,’ she replied. ‘I came back here to the kitchen to sort something out for lunch, but after a few minutes, I thought I could hear raised voices. I made my way back to the front room, and I saw Henry and Susan arguing. They were across the street, and they had stepped just inside the mews. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but it was obviously about the children. We had been talking about the children during the meeting, of course. I was about to go outside and remind them that arguing in front of me wasn’t the wisest thing for them to be doing, when I was going to report on them to the judge. And then…’

‘It’s all right, Mrs Cameron. Take your time.’

‘And then it happened.’ She put the cup down and held her head in her hands. ‘I saw him strike blow after blow, six or seven in all, one after another, bang, bang, bang, just like that. I don’t think she saw it coming. There was no struggle. I didn’t see her do anything to defend herself. She just went down in a heap. I didn’t even realise that he had a knife until I saw how much blood there was. And then he was just sitting there on the ground, doing nothing. I managed to lock my door, grab the phone and call the police. And then you came, and that was it.’

‘Had you ever known Henry to be violent before?’

She shook her head firmly.

‘Good God, no. He’s a quiet, mild-mannered man. He’s not some kind of…’ She took a breath and visibly pulled herself together. ‘The answer is no,’ she continued. ‘I would never have believed what I saw today.’

Webb drained his tea cup.

‘All right, Mrs Cameron, you’ve had quite a shock. I’m not going to ask you any more questions now. I’ll send a constable to take a full statement from you tomorrow. We will need to hear all about the Langs’ divorce, in as much detail as possible. We will also need a copy of all the drafts of your report.’

She stood, as they did.

‘I really want to help,’ she replied. ‘But you must understand, I am an officer of the High Court. Everything I do is confidential. I report to the judge. I will have to ask the judge first. I’m sure it won’t be a problem, but…’

Webb nodded.

‘I understand. But please ask the judge for permission as soon as you can. We will be questioning Mr Lang later this afternoon. It’s going to be a lot easier getting to the truth if we know what’s been going on.’

‘I’m trying to make sense of this,’ she said, as the officers were leaving. ‘You know, if Susan had done something like this, I think I might be less shocked. She has a temper, and the meeting did get pretty heated. But Henry… something must have gone really wrong, and I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming.’

‘You can’t blame yourself, Mrs Cameron,’ Webb commented. ‘This is not your fault in any way.’

‘No, I know. It’s not that. It’s just that I’m trying to explain it to myself, to make sense of it.’

‘You did say that Henry wanted custody of the children even more than Susan did,’ Raymond reminded her. ‘What was it that made you think that?’

She considered for some time.

‘Henry doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve,’ she replied, ‘and he never banged on and on about wanting the children in the way she did. But when he did say something, he seemed very intense. You could tell he meant it…’ She stopped. ‘I don’t want to say any more now. I am sure it will become clear to you once you question him.’

‘Are you going to be all right?’ Webb asked. ‘Do you have someone you can talk to?’

She smiled.

‘I’ll be fine,’ she said. She had opened the door, and was staring fixedly across the street. ‘Will they clean all that blood up this afternoon? It’s so horrible. I can’t bear having it there where I see it every time I open the door.’

Webb glanced at the three forensic officers who seemed intent on searching every last inch of the entrance to the mews for clues.

‘I’m sure they will do it as soon as they can,’ he replied.

4

On arriving back at the police station, Webb carefully repackaged the knife in a plastic evidence bag and assigned Raymond to make sure that it found its way to the forensic science laboratory without delay. He then made his way down to the cells. It was quiet. The previous night’s consignment of drunks, working girls, and assorted nuisances had long since been dispatched to the Magistrates’ Court to be dealt with, and the remands had not yet returned. He found the duty sergeant, PS Bert Miller, his feet up on his desk, with a cup of tea and a copy of the Daily Mirror. On seeing Webb, Miller threw the newspaper down on the desk beside him, and swung his feet down to the floor.

‘I was wondering when we might see you, Johnny,’ he smiled. ‘You’ve got a right one here, and no mistake.’

Miller and Webb had joined the force at about the same time, more than 20 years before, but their career paths had been very different. While Webb had scrambled for a job in CID as soon as he decently could and worked his way up through the ranks, Miller’s taste was for work in uniform, out of doors, away from the police station, dealing with the public.

His family had eventually persuaded him to apply for promotion to sergeant, which he had done reluctantly, and had regretted ever since they sewed the stripes on his uniform. As duty sergeant he spent far too much time on routine custody matters, which involved endless paperwork. He took every available opportunity to take part in any assignment away from the station, but sergeants were in short supply, and most of the outside jobs these days were entrusted to constables. In cases where a serious crime required a show of uniformed strength, a large drug bust for example, he always volunteered, but there was often some upstart graduate-entry inspector who wanted to prove to the world that he could handle the physical side of policing and pulled rank to take his place. Despite all this, Miller loved and respected the job. Even though he knew Webb well, he would have called him ‘sir’ or ‘guv’ if there had been another officer within earshot.

‘Still not talking, is he?’ Webb asked.

Miller snorted.

‘Not a word. But that’s the least of it.’

‘Oh?’

‘There’s some kind of medical problem. I’ve got Dr Moynihan with him now.’

Webb looked at Miller in surprise.

‘Medical problem? What medical problem? We didn’t notice anything when we arrested him. He was quite capable of stabbing his wife violently just a few minutes before that, so I don’t see what he would need a doctor for.’

Miller got to his feet and sipped his tea.

‘All I can tell you,’ he replied, ‘is that I was checking on him every 15 minutes after I put him in the cell. Once the escorting officers told me the circumstances, I took it upon myself to put him on a suicide watch.’

Webb made a face.

‘Come on, Johnny, don’t look at me like that. You’ve known me long enough. I don’t like taking chances, you know that – not when it’s my responsibility. I don’t want some poor sod offing himself on my watch, even if he has just killed his wife. Anyway, as I say, I’m checking on him regularly, and the third time I go in, he’s sitting there on the floor of his cell, shaking. And I don’t mean shivering. I mean shaking, uncontrollably. I go in and ask him if he is all right. No reply. So I approach him and take his arm, and…’

Miller stopped and shook his head.

‘I’ve never felt anything like it. He was freezing, Johnny, absolutely bloody freezing. Talk about Scott of the Antarctic. You could have frozen water on his arms. That was why he couldn’t control the shaking. He was just too bloody cold. And you know what it’s like down here. It can be a bit on the warm side in the cells, even in winter. There would be no reason for him to be cold, much less shaking himself to death like that.’

Miller breathed out heavily and leaned back against his desk.

‘So I grabbed all the blankets I could find and wrapped them around him, and then I made him some very hot sweet tea; lots of sugar. That seemed to help. He calmed down a bit, but he was still far too bloody cold. At which point I thought, I can’t take chances with this. This bloke could be seriously ill. I need to know what I’m dealing with. You couldn’t have interviewed him in that condition, anyway. So I called Dr Moynihan, and we will see what he has to say.’

Webb nodded.

‘All right, fair enough, Bert. How long do you think Dr Moynihan will be with him?’

Miller shrugged.

‘Your guess is as good as mine. He’s been in there for a good half-hour already. Why don’t you take yourself off to the canteen and have a cuppa? I’ll let you know as soon as there is anything to report. The only thing is – I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr Moynihan wants him taken in to Guy’s or Barts for the night, for tests or observation. You know how careful he is.’

‘All right, Bert, thanks,’ Webb said.

He turned to leave, but then swung back abruptly.

‘And he really hasn’t said anything at all?’

‘Not to me. Not a dicky bird. If it hadn’t been for the documents he had with him, I would have had to book him in as “identity unknown”. Don’t we know anything else about him?’

‘Not yet. I have a feeling we will get some more from our eye witness, the welfare officer, eventually. But she can’t tell me any more without getting permission from the High Court. It’s all confidential, isn’t it?’

Miller smiled. ‘Typical.’

‘Yes, well, we’ll get there,’ Webb reflected. ‘But I’m going to be a lot happier once he starts talking.’

5

Webb returned to his office. Susan Lang’s handbag had been deposited in the centre of his desk. It was a large bag, filled to bursting with odds and ends – cosmetics, tissues, and packets of Polo mints. There were also two sets of keys, which looked like house keys and car keys. The car keys were on a Morris Minor key ring. There was a slim black address book. And, buried deep at the bottom of the bag, Webb found a packet of Durex condoms and a small plastic bag containing a white powder. He held the bag in his hands for some time, before opening it slightly, inserting a finger, and tasting with the slightest touch of his tongue. He nodded. Well, of course: what else could it have been? Picking up his phone, he summoned DC Simon Rice. When Rice arrived, Webb instructed him to prepare an inventory of the handbag’s contents, placing each item in its own evidence bag with an identifying label attached.

‘Then get this powder over to the lab as soon as you can,’ Webb continued. ‘I’m going to hold on to the address book and the keys for now. I will sign them in when I have finished with them.’

‘Very good, sir,’ Rice replied. He seated himself in front of Webb’s desk, and began work on his list of exhibits.

DS Raymond came in just as Rice was finishing the last label. He inspected the items carefully.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ he asked. ‘In the bag?’

‘Yes,’ Webb replied.

‘Brilliant.’

‘I know. What have you got?’

‘The knife’s on its way to the lab, sir. There was a green Morris Minor parked just around the corner from the scene,’ Raymond said, pointing at the car keys, ‘in Orde Hall Street, I think it’s called. It could be hers.’

Webb nodded. He turned to DC Rice.

‘Simon, keep the car keys, and when you’ve dropped everything else off in the evidence room, take a walk and see if you can open a Morris Minor anywhere within a radius of a couple of hundred yards of Harpur Mews, using these keys. You might as well start with the green one in Orde Hall Street. If it’s still there, I’d be very surprised if it’s a coincidence.’

‘Right you are, sir.’

‘If there is a car you can open, don’t interfere with it. Stay out. Call Forensic to look at it, and don’t leave the car until they get there.’

Rice nodded, gathered up the evidence, and left.

‘I’ve made inquiries about next of kin,’ Raymond said. ‘I’ve asked the High Court to release any names and addresses in the divorce court’s files. We should know something soon. I phoned Mercury Mechanics and talked to a lad called Ernie, who confirmed that Henry Lang is the governor. Apparently they do very high-end repairs and maintenance, Bentleys, Jaguars, foreign sports cars, that kind of thing. I’ve arranged to go over there and take a look around later. We may have to wait to get entry to his house until we can contact the next of kin.’

‘Any news about the children?’

‘Yes, sir. Mrs Cameron was right – they’re with her parents.’

‘Good,’ Webb said. ‘Has anyone told you what’s been going on here?’

‘Yes, sir. I went down to the cells in case you were there. Bert told me all about it. What’s going on?’

‘I have no idea, but I’m sure someone will explain it all to us eventually.’

‘Sounds to me like he’s trying it on,’ Raymond muttered sullenly.

‘Yes,’ Webb said, ‘well, you may be right, but there’s nothing we can do about it until we can speak to Dr Moynihan. Come on, let’s go and get a cup of tea.’

6

Dr Moynihan found them in the canteen about 20 minutes later.

‘Interesting case,’ he observed, setting his mug of police station tea down on the table, and easing himself into a chair. ‘Not the kind of thing a police physician has to deal with every day.’

Brian Moynihan was an amiable man in his mid-forties, transplanted years ago from his native Belfast when he went up to Cambridge to read medicine at Trinity Hall, and then moved on to a residency at the Royal Free in Hampstead. He had fallen in love with London instantly and had given up any thought of returning to Northern Ireland, though his accent remained intact. He had been the official police physician for the Islington and Bloomsbury area of North London for some seven years and, as such, was called in regularly to examine a wide range of people, from drunk drivers to drug addicts, whenever the duty sergeant thought that a medical opinion was needed. He wore a blue three-piece suit with a blue and white dotted bow tie, and well-shined light brown shoes.

‘I’ve had to ask Sergeant Miller to have him escorted to Barts. He will be there for a night or two for observation. Don’t worry. They will keep a close eye on him.’

Webb pretended annoyance.

‘Is that really necessary, Doctor? You do know, I hope, that he was arrested for murdering his wife in very brutal circumstances? We are very anxious to question him.’

Moynihan laughed politely. He was used to pressure of that kind from police officers by now, and had become utterly impervious to it. Once he was called in, the welfare of a detained person was his responsibility and his alone, and no police officer, however senior, was going to influence his judgement on a medical question.

‘Question him?’ he replied. ‘My dear Inspector, at this precise moment you would get more information out of my cat than you would out of Mr Lang. It would be a complete waste of your time, I assure you. In any case, I can’t permit it, from a medical point of view.’

Webb drummed his fingers on the table in frustration for a few seconds, and then reluctantly relaxed. It was pointless to argue. He took a deep breath.

‘What exactly is wrong with Mr Lang – from a medical point of view? Is it even a genuine medical problem?’

‘Oh yes,’ Moynihan replied at once. ‘He’s not malingering. There’s definitely something wrong. I’m not exactly sure what, at this stage. They will perform a few basic tests at Barts to eliminate the more obvious physical causes – concussion, effect of drugs, and so forth. But my hunch is that it’s not physical in that sense. My money is on shock of some kind, a very severe shock.’

Webb and Raymond considered this for some time.

‘He was completely passive at the scene,’ Raymond said. ‘He didn’t resist arrest, or try to run away – which he could have done, given that he had a knife. He didn’t say anything in reply to the caution when he was arrested, and apparently he hasn’t spoken to anyone since then.’

Moynihan nodded.

‘All classic symptoms,’ he replied. ‘It is as though he’s frozen, unable to function normally. The freezing expressed itself literally in his body when Sergeant Miller found him shaking uncontrollably in his cell. He had warmed up a bit physically by the time I saw him, thanks to the sergeant’s quick thinking, but his mind is still frozen. He couldn’t speak at all. I’m pretty sure he understood what I said to him, but he couldn’t respond to me.’

‘What could have brought this on?’ Raymond asked. ‘Could it be a reaction to what he did to his wife?’

‘Certainly. The trauma of what he did – seeing the blood, perhaps, seeing that his wife was dying – could well have triggered it. Shock of that kind has been well documented. It was commonly observed in soldiers in both world wars.’

‘What treatment will they give him at Barts?’ Webb asked.

Moynihan shrugged.

‘There’s not a lot they can do, really. They just have to keep him warm and hydrated, and keep him under observation. If it is shock, sooner or later it will lift, and he should get back to normal. But they can’t rush it. It may take a day, it may take two days or, if it is severe, it may take longer. In some of the wartime cases, it lasted for months, or even years. Of course, those were much more serious cases, but there’s no way to tell. We will just have to wait and see.’

‘Well, look on the bright side, sir,’ Raymond said, turning to Webb. ‘We have an eye witness, and we were on the scene ourselves a minute or two after it happened. Even if he never speaks another word again, the way I see it, we’ve got him bang to rights.’

7

Monday 5 April 1971 – just over three weeks earlier

Jess Farrar walked briskly into the ladies’ robing room at the Royal Courts of Justice and gratefully dropped the heavy briefcase she had hauled from her chambers on to the floor with a loud thud.

‘God, why do these cases have to have so much paper?’ she asked.

Her opponent smiled, walked over, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

‘To drive us all mad, obviously. I always assume that at least 90 per cent of what solicitors give us is unnecessary in any given case. How are you, Jess?’

‘I’m fine, Harriet, thanks. You?’

‘I’m well. How is Ben? Did you have a good weekend?’

‘Pretty good. Nice dinner in Islington on Saturday night. It was a bit fraught earlier in the day, though.’

‘Oh?’

‘West Ham lost again –’

‘Oh, dear –’

‘Yes, so Ben and Simon were pretty depressed for a while.’

‘He still takes Simon to games, does he? He’s been doing that ever since he and I joined chambers, just when Simon’s mother, Anne Gaskell, was getting her divorce, before she and Kenneth were married.’

‘Yes. He doesn’t see him as often now. Simon’s playing football himself most Saturdays, and when he is free to go to Upton Park he usually goes with his father. But he and Ben still go once in a while. He’s grown into such a nice young man, Harriet, and he’s already talking about which university he wants to go to. He’s thinking of law. It’s amazing how time flies.’

‘Well, a lot of that is down to Ben. He took an interest in Simon when he must have been feeling very low.’

‘It’s been good for both of them. Simon really looks up to Ben and I think having someone who looks up to him has been good for him.’

Harriet smiled. ‘Talking of Ben, has he had anything to say about our case today?’

Jess laughed. ‘Not much. I have told him about it – well, we always talk about our cases – but with his wife on one side and his chambers room-mate on the other, he’s been a bit coy about it. I get the impression he thinks that discretion is the better part of valour.’

‘I can’t say I blame him – especially with our former head of chambers trying it.’

‘Yes, it all feels slightly incestuous, doesn’t it?’

‘Absolutely, and Bernard Wesley would be the first to applaud that. Keep it all in the club, as far as possible. That was always his motto as head of chambers.’ She paused. ‘And I know he will be scrupulously fair, but I have to admit, he’s not the judge I would have chosen for my side of the case.’

‘A bit too prim and proper for you?’ Jess smiled.

Harriet nodded. ‘I think my girl could have done with someone a tad more understanding of human foibles. Not that she has any, of course –’

‘Of course not.’

‘But I know your man is going to throw some mud at her –’

‘The boyfriends, yes –’

‘Whom she started seeing out of desperation only because he was working all the hours God sent –’

‘In an effort to keep her in the lifestyle to which she had become accustomed –’

‘Or because he didn’t care about her any more –’

‘Said lifestyle including a predilection for drink and drugs.’

Harriet did not reply immediately.

‘I don’t think you can prove that.’

‘I think I can.’

Harriet nodded.

‘Look, Jess, do we have to fight this all the way? Can we talk about it?’

‘Maybe. What’s she suggesting?’

‘She’s the mother. She wants custody. If he will give way on custody, she will allow him very liberal access, including nights and weekends to accommodate his hours of work. He can basically see them whenever he wants to. It will be a very good deal for him.’

‘Harriet, she’s running around with drug dealers. She’s not a safe custodial parent for the children.’

‘She denies that.’

‘He is convinced of it.’

‘I don’t think you can prove it.’

‘In front of Bernard Wesley? I think I can.’

They were silent for some time.

‘I can’t understand why she wants custody, anyway,’ Jess added. ‘Having to look after the children must be cramping her style a bit.’

‘I don’t think that’s fair. She’s entitled to a night out.’

‘It’s not just a night out though, is it? Our information is that the children spend more time with her parents than they do with her. She’s out almost every night, getting back in the early hours. My man’s not making this up, Harriet. This is coming from her friends. I’m going to ask Bernard to order a welfare officer’s report.’

Harriet shrugged.

‘Fine. I can hardly oppose that.’

‘The welfare officer is bound to talk to the children. They’re old enough to know what’s going on, or at least to tell the welfare officer where they are spending all their time. The truth is going to come out.’

‘She says she has nothing to fear from that.’

‘I still don’t understand why she wants to put herself through all this. I would have thought it would have suited her down to the ground to have access when it fits in with her social life, and not have to deal with the responsibility of full custody.’

Harriet nodded.

‘I take your point, Jess. But at the end of the day, she is a full-time mother, even if she does venture out for some fun at night. And he’s not exactly the perfect custodial parent, is he? He works all the hours God sends. He’s never home, and that’s not good for the children either.’

‘It’s not ideal,’ Jess agreed. ‘But if it comes to a choice between a father who’s working too hard and a mother who is running round with drug traffickers, I think Bernard is going to go with the father. And frankly, if you fight this all the way in front of Bernard, and I can prove that she’s taking hard drugs, he is quite likely to order that any access should take place under supervision – if he allows her any access at all.’

Harriet was silent for some time.

‘Well, I’ll speak to her again,’ she said. ‘But I can’t hold out much hope, Jess. She’s digging her heels in. She seems to feel that the whole world is against her.’

‘Too much cocaine can do that to you, I’m told,’ Jess replied.

8

‘May it please your Lordship,’ Jess began, ‘I appear for the husband, Henry Lang, in this case. My learned friend Miss Harriet Fisk appears for the wife, Susan Lang.’

They were in one of the large, cavernous old courtrooms in the Royal Courts of Justice which looked as though it could accommodate a vast throng of spectators; but because the case involved children, the court was sitting in chambers, and the public were excluded. The small group of people present, seemingly huddled together in the small central space in front of the judge, looked almost comical set against the imposing dimensions of the room. The large empty spaces produced an eerie echo whenever anyone spoke. It was not a relaxing atmosphere, and even though she now had considerable experience of court appearances, Jess felt nervous. Behind her sat the reassuring figure of her instructing solicitor, Geoff Bourne of Bourne & Davis, and his presence was a comfort. Jess had worked for the firm before becoming a barrister, and so knew Geoff well. He could be relied upon to inject calm into tense situations, but she wondered whether today that skill might be pushed to its limits.

Henry Lang, looking uncomfortable in his best grey suit and a red tie, sat next to Geoff. He was visibly agitated, and was doing his best to ignore his wife, who sat only a few feet away with her solicitor, Val Turner, behind Harriet Fisk. It would not take much interaction between the two of them to set things off. Geoff was determined not to allow that to happen, and Jess had confidence that he would keep Henry in check. But Jess had met Henry Lang in two lengthy conferences, and his distress about the proceedings he was involved in was very obvious. It was not unusual for parties to divorce cases to have strong feelings, and any lawyer doing that kind of work had to get used to dealing with emotional outbursts. But there was something about Henry Lang, an intensity she could not quite define, but something that ran deep and which worried her. She could only hope that he would not reveal whatever it was to Mr Justice Wesley. Raw emotions, understandable as they might be, did not impress a judge who had to decide which parent was more likely to be a stable, cooperative force in the lives of the children.

‘Yes, Miss Farrar,’ the judge replied, with a broad smile in the direction of each of the barristers in turn.

The Bar was a small profession, and it was not unusual for a judge to know the barristers who appeared in front of him quite well. But the connection in this case was especially close. Mr Justice Wesley had only been on the High Court Bench for about a year, and as Bernard Wesley QC he had played an important role in recruiting Harriet Fisk to join his chambers – the first woman to do so – and in encouraging Jess Farrar to become a barrister. There was a strong personal connection, too. Bernard and Amélie Wesley were sociable people and gave regular dinner parties; both Jess and Harriet had been their guests more than once.

This familiarity was a challenge, of course. Wesley knew that it was more than usually important for him to be – and to be seen to be – objective and unbiased. He also knew that to be objective and unbiased was difficult, if not impossible, certainly once he had started to read the case papers. Written affidavits, even though sworn to under oath, were not the same as live evidence given in court by witnesses who could be cross-examined. But to someone with a lifetime of experience of reading case papers, even an affidavit could have the ring of truth or untruth to it, and Wesley’s first impressions were rarely very wide of the mark. With the best will in the world, those impressions were already forming in his mind, which meant that he would have to take all the more care not to let them show.

‘My Lord, this is the husband’s application for custody of the two children of the family. Your Lordship should have affidavits from both the husband and the wife. May I ask whether your Lordship has had the opportunity to read them?’

‘I have,’ the judge replied.

‘I am much obliged. My Lord, it will be my submission that this is a case in which your Lordship would be greatly assisted by a welfare officer’s report. There is a huge conflict of evidence between the parties, which your Lordship will inevitably have to resolve, and I would submit that the full hearing of my application should await the report.’

She looked expectantly at the judge, who turned to Harriet Fisk. Jess resumed her seat.

‘I don’t disagree with my learned friend, my Lord,’ Harriet said. ‘Mrs Lang has no objection to a report being ordered, of course. The only application I am instructed to make today is for interim custody, pending the report. The children are with the wife, and it makes sense for them to remain with the wife until the matter is finally resolved.’

Jess sprang to her feet immediately.

‘That might make sense if the court could be assured that the children were not being left alone.’

‘Whenever my client has to go out, they are cared for by her parents, who live conveniently close,’ Harriet countered.

‘And if the court could be assured that the children were not being exposed to criminal influences,’ Jess added.

‘That is pure speculation,’ Harriet replied. ‘Your Lordship has heard no evidence about any criminal activity.’

‘It’s in the husband’s affidavit.’

‘On which I have not had the opportunity to cross-examine him. When I do, I am confident that your Lordship will reject those allegations as baseless.’

Bernard Wesley held up a hand.

‘Yes, yes, all right, I’ve got the point.’ He looked across to his right, where the welfare officer had been sitting, following the proceedings carefully. ‘Mrs Cameron, how long do you think you will need for your report?’

Wendy Cameron consulted her notebook.

‘My Lord, taking into account other work, and as we are about to run into Easter, can I ask for somewhere between six and eight weeks? I will speak to the parties today to make arrangements for an initial interview, which will save some time. But I can’t really guarantee a report any sooner than that.’

Mr Justice Wesley nodded.

‘Yes, very well. I’m going to ask the solicitors on both sides to keep in touch with the welfare officer and let the court know when it would be realistic to set a date for a final hearing.’

He paused.

‘Assuming, that is, that the parties are not able to reach an agreement. Needless to say, it is always in the best interests of the children if the parties can reach an amicable agreement about custody and access. I hope both sides will bear that in mind.’

This was something Wesley always said to parties in custody cases, but in this case, even as he made the request, he had little confidence that it would have any effect.

‘There remains the question of interim custody,’ the judge added. ‘Is there anything either of you would like to add before I give judgement on that matter? Bearing in mind that I have read the affidavits, but as yet have heard no evidence beyond the affidavits.’

‘Nothing from me,’ Harriet said.

‘No, thank you, my Lord,’ Jess added.

‘Very well.’

Bernard Wesley donned his reading glasses and arranged his papers in front of him on the bench.

9

‘This is the husband’s application for custody of two children, aged seven and five. I stress that the judgment I give today is an interim judgment, and the parties should not assume that the ultimate result will be the same. I have read the detailed affidavits submitted by both parties, in which they set out their positions at some length. There is a considerable conflict of evidence between them, and I think it will be necessary for me to hear evidence from the parties, and perhaps from other witnesses. I have also decided to order a welfare officer’s report, as both counsel agree this would be appropriate. The welfare officer, Mrs Wendy Cameron, is now present in court, and she will hear what I am about to say.

‘The parties, Henry and Susan Lang, are now both 32 years of age. They were married on 9 June 1962. Their elder daughter, Marianne, was born on 8 October 1963, and their younger, Stephanie, on 4 February 1966. At first, all seems to have been well, and the marriage was reasonably happy. They had little money to begin with, but that does not seem to have caused any serious problems between them. They lived initially in a flat in the Dalston area. Mr Lang, I think both parties agree, is a hard-working and ambitious man, a mechanic by trade, and he quickly set about improving their fortunes. While many men in his position might have been content with a job as a mechanic, earning the standard wage, Mr Lang aimed higher.