The Cinderella Plan

by Abi Silver

  ‘Do you remember that time you and Fiona Black threw my school bag in the swimming pool and all my notes were ruined?’ Celia had leaned towards her and cut into her thoughts.

  Judith’s face flushed crimson. Now Celia mentioned it, she did have a dim recollection of an altercation at the side of their old school pool, when they were all filing out and back to lessons, but she knew for certain that she had not been involved.

  ‘My art folder was in there; I was taking art ‘O’ level. All my work was spoiled.’

  ‘I hardly think this is the time for reminiscences,’ Judith replied. ‘Shouldn’t you be focusing on the case?’

  ‘I’m totally focused,’ Celia replied, her lips drawn tight together at the end of her sentence. ‘And I have a clear conscience.’

  As the court rose to greet Judge Wilson, Judith reflected again on Celia’s comments and, as she thought harder, the memory came flooding back. Celia’s words bothered her immensely, not only because she knew there was at least a grain of truth in them, but also because she could not be certain that she had been wholly innocent of any involvement. It was less that she had planned the attack or even encouraged it, more that she had taken no steps to intervene, when others had indicated they wanted revenge on Celia for past grievances. She could have stepped in, insisted they all take the moral high ground, “let bygones be bygones”, but she hadn’t. And afterwards, when she had heard Celia’s wail and had seen her desperately fishing her belongings out of the chemically-impregnated water, she had walked on without breaking stride.

  ‘Ms Mansome. Before we begin hearing from Mr Abrams, there are a few things I wanted to clarify please.’ Judge Wilson was ensuring they both knew who was in charge. ‘Your case is that Mr Salisbury was in control of the vehicle at the time of the collision. You say that he was driving dangerously because he, what, failed to slow down sufficiently, failed to control the vehicle effectively or was not looking at the road? Which of these is your case?’

  ‘All of them, your honour. We say that Mr Salisbury was in control of the vehicle from at least 70 metres before the collision. However, he either did not see or chose to ignore the road signs and, as a result, he continued to travel at almost 40mph, heading straight for the family. Additionally, he was looking at his phone. We can’t say whether he was looking over a prolonged period, but this certainly distracted him and contributed to his failure to drive safely.’

  ‘And how do you say you know that Mr Salisbury was in control of the vehicle?’

  ‘That is what I am hoping our next witness will clarify. I can explain it now, but it will be better to hear it from the expert.’

  ‘All right. So you are relying on the expert?’

  ‘Yes your honour.’

  ‘Good. That’s clear. And Ms Burton. You are disputing that your client was in control. Is that correct?’

  ‘Yes your honour. I, too, should prefer to draw this evidence out from Mr Abrams’ testimony.’

  Judge Wilson scrutinised the two women. He remembered the old days when he had stood in their shoes. He had disliked interventionist judges, just as much as they undoubtedly did. But the new guidance dictated a more managerial approach and, in any event, he was not one of those judges who had chosen the bench for an easy ride.

  ‘Ms Mansome. If Ms Burton is able to establish that her client was not in control of the vehicle at the moment of the collision, then do you accept that the dangerous driving charge fails?’

  Celia rose to her feet with her usual poise, but Judith knew this was not an easy question to field at this stage. Did I help throw her school bag in the swimming pool? she considered, once more, as the profile of the mature woman in full flow, morphed into that of the thirteen-year old version; a girl who had always changed her clothes in the far corner for PE, and who had covered herself with her towel at every opportunity.

  ‘Your honour, can I respectfully request that we await Mr Abrams on this point too?’

  ‘I don’t see why we need to do that? I don’t need details, just the framework. If the car was in control at the moment of collision, then surely Mr Salisbury is not guilty. That’s right isn’t it?’

  ‘Not personally, no. Of course, decisions taken in his capacity as CEO of SEDA may well then be open to scrutiny.’

  ‘But that would not be a matter for my courtroom today, unless you are proposing, at this very late stage, to radically enlarge the scope and put Mr Salisbury’s company on trial too. Not only would that be highly irregular, it would suggest to me that you had little confidence in your primary case.’

  Celia opened her mouth and closed it again. Judith detected a slight shift in her body weight towards her left shoulder, over which her solicitor sat.

  ‘No, your honour. I accept that the trial is concerned with what Mr Salisbury did that afternoon, in his personal capacity,’ Celia said.

  ‘Good. I’m pleased we’ve cleared that one up. So, as I said, if the car is shown to have been in control at the moment of collision, then you accept that Mr Salisbury cannot be guilty.’

  ‘Yes, were that to be proven, but that is not the evidence we shall present.’

  ‘All right. So that’s clear too then.’

  There, he had asserted himself sufficiently for now and received at least one straight answer from each lawyer.

  Judith noticed Celia’s hands fluttering as she organised her papers for the next witness. Perhaps she was not as brave as she seemed, or her own reminiscences about days gone by, flung at Judith, had unsettled her too.

  ***

  Mr Abrams was a tall, thin man with a sparse head hair and a neatly clipped ginger beard. His approach to the witness box was permeated by a jolt, each time he lifted his left leg, which resulted in a tiny spasm in his left cheek. His affliction reminded Judith of a crude puppet on a string, a movement in one limb inevitably triggering a shift somewhere else.

  ‘Mr Abrams. You examined the vehicle, SEDA registration number SAL1 16, which was involved in the accident?’ Celia dived straight in.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you tell us what you determined?’

  ‘Yes. The car had damage to its bodywork, dents and scratches at the front, mostly on the driver’s side, from the collision with Mrs Layton, whose elbow smashed the windscreen. There are some photographs which show this clearly.’

  ‘How do you know it was Mrs Layton whose arm smashed the windscreen?’

  ‘I would have concluded independently that the two children were too light to damage the car so badly at that speed. But it’s clear from the film of the accident.’

  ‘What film is that?’

  ‘This car, made by SEDA, it moves by using sensors of various kinds; cameras, infra-red, radar, laser. Some of these are stored in the unwieldy structure on the roof, some on the bumpers, but there are cameras in other places including on either side of the dashboard.’

  ‘And you were able to access this film?’

  ‘Yes. I can show you the collision from the viewpoint of the various different cameras. I also examined the laser and radar when writing my report.’

  ‘Thank you. Let’s have a look then, shall we?’

  Celia played the film of the collision, at full speed, from the perspective of the camera fitted on the driver’s side, positioned at the junction of the windscreen and bonnet. As the clip began, a temporary traffic light sign was visible on the pavement, but the car continued to travel steadily at 36mph, as shown on a display in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

  The car then rounded a left-hand bend, and a temporary traffic light structure appeared on the carriageway, together with a road sign. The Layton family also came into sight, waiting in the central reserve, the front wheel of the pram sticking stubbornly out into the road. When the car was almost level with the traffic light, it swerved suddenly and violently right, crossing onto the southbo
und carriageway, but then as little as two seconds later, it veered left again, back to its original path.

  Then the camera lifted a fraction into the air, as the bonnet connected first of all with Mrs Layton, followed by each of her two children. The car decelerated rapidly and came to an abrupt halt, only centimetres short of the concrete wall.

  The film ended. It had lasted twenty-four seconds only; it felt like an eternity.

  ‘Ms Mansome. I now have a reasonable idea of the trajectory followed by the car leading up to the moment of impact. I have no wish to prolong the agony, but we will need to see this film slowed down and another camera angle might show us the collision with more precision,’ Judge Wilson said.

  ‘Your honour, this is the best camera footage we have,’ Celia replied, ‘but I’ll slow it down, as you have requested and I believe that will provide sufficient information.’

  Celia began the video, at reduced speed and, as the car advanced on the family, she stopped the film periodically and blew up each image. It became clear from closer scrutiny and the series of stills, that the car had been steered to the right very late, only just short of the traffic light itself. And, as the car shifted back to the northbound carriageway, the cheeky face of Bertie Layton, his tongue between his teeth, exuberance personified, was visible momentarily, before he disappeared from view.

  By the time the film had played a few times over, most of the audience and some of the jury members were openly weeping. The judge called a twenty-minute break and cleared the court room.

  ***

  Constance went to James, who was sitting slumped against the wall in his cell downstairs.

  ‘That’s the worst bit over with,’ she said, inching in close to him.

  ‘The worst bit over? Is that what you think? I’m surprised we weren’t treated to a 360-degree view, or one with enhanced colour and Dolby sound or maybe in the new 4D. We could have felt the boy’s blood spatter our faces.’

  He covered his eyes with both hands and his shoulders shook violently. Constance stared at the ceiling.

  ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ James said. ‘I don’t deserve this. That poor family certainly don’t deserve this. Is this really justice?’

  ‘We only have a few minutes before we go back into court. You need to compose yourself.’

  James sniffed. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’ll do that.’

  ‘And I know it must be very painful, but I thought the film might have brought back some memories for you?’

  ‘No, nothing.’

  ‘Have you any idea why you didn’t slow down?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Was there anything you’ve heard today that has given you an idea of why you steered into the family?’

  ‘No. But there is one small thing I noticed.’ James dabbed at his eyes and sat up. ‘I wanted to let you and Judith know.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Well, in the photos, the bumper of my car was pretty bashed in on the driver’s side.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘One of the main sensors is on that side. It would be difficult to say if it was functioning properly earlier, once it had sustained that level of damage.’

  ‘That’s useful. I’ll pass that on. Anything else?’

  James shook his head.

  ‘You would tell me, wouldn’t you, if you did remember something else?’

  ‘Yes. I would tell you. Of course, I would.’

  59

  JUDITH LOOKED up to find Martine standing at the end of her row. For a moment, she contemplated ignoring her. Then she relented and slid her way over.

  ‘How’s it going, do you think?’ Martine asked, curiously breathless, given that she had only walked over from the public seating area.

  ‘It’s early days,’ Judith replied.

  ‘But what the policeman said, about the traffic light, what does that mean?’

  ‘It means we have a little more work to do this evening.’

  ‘Do you think that’s why James crashed? The light near me, over the summer, was always sticking on red and everyone started ignoring it, driving through it in the end. I could tell the judge about that.’

  ‘That’s a kind offer but we need to focus on this particular traffic light.’

  ‘Is there anything else I can do to help?’

  Judith was amazed at Martine’s sudden interest and offer, given her lack of practical assistance with the case so far.

  ‘You could encourage James to defend himself with a little more conviction,’ Judith said. ‘At the moment he appears to have decided that it’s better for him to go down than the company, and that may mean they both sink together.’

  ‘That’s the way he feels. He thinks that if anyone is going to take responsibility for this, it should be him. And that’s what everyone else wants, isn’t it? For him to be guilty. It’s so much easier to understand. He was looking at his phone or driving too fast. We can understand those things. They’re all things we might do ourselves.’

  ‘If that’s how it is, why didn’t he just plead guilty?’

  ‘He would never do that. He hates giving up on anything. He’s not hiding anything. He just doesn’t remember what happened.’

  ‘But he knows all about these cars, how they work. He could give us more help with the expert evidence, instead of refusing to engage.’

  ‘He’s angry about the expert report. He thinks it’s unfair.’

  ‘Well it would be helpful if he would explain to us precisely how to challenge it, rather than leaving us floundering.’

  ‘I’ll talk to him, but he can be very stubborn.’

  ‘Thank you. Oh, one small thing you might be able to help me with. There’s a man I’ve seen around today in court, average height, overweight, balding, striped suit. Sits at the back but seems very engaged.’

  ‘Sounds like Peter, Peter Mears. I’ll look out for him, so I know for sure. He didn’t say he was coming. He works for the Department of Transport, on something code-named “Cinderella”. James has known him for years.’

  ‘Cinderella?’

  ‘That’s what they call it. The project to sell SEDA’s cars in the UK.’

  ‘James works with Peter Mears?’

  ‘And there are others. Ask James or ask Toby. Toby was at the last meeting. He should be able to tell you all about it.’

  60

  ‘MR ABRAMS. What other material did you examine, in order to reach the conclusions in your report?’ When they reconvened, even Celia was relieved when the judge said he had seen the film played a sufficient number of times to understand what had happened, and asked her to move on.

  ‘What you saw, before the break, is the live footage from cameras and lasers mounted on the chassis of the car, recorded by the car, like I said.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But we also recovered the EDR, the event data recorder, which is the equivalent of a black box for these vehicles.’

  ‘And what information does that contain?’

  ‘It is a full record of how the car was driven before the collision, its route, its speed, how the controls were being used, instructions to the voice-activated software.’

  ‘Can you explain how the EDR works?’

  ‘Yes. All cars in the USA have them now and many here in the UK, although you wouldn’t necessarily know it. In SEDA’s cars, all driving telemetry information is constantly being monitored by the EDR. The sensors all over the car, on the steering wheel, in the braking system, on the accelerating system, send a signal to the EDR, which it retains for a few minutes at a time. Then the space gets all filled up and it is recorded over if you like. Of course, when an accident happens the EDR has no new data to record, so we can see the last few minutes of the car’s performance.’

  ‘And can you tell us what this showed?’

&
nbsp; ‘Yes.’ Mr Abrams opened up a laptop and an usher connected it to the screen in the court room. This showed a map with a red line indicating the journey of the car northwards and he used his cursor to point as he spoke.

  ‘This is the route the car took. It averaged 36mph on straight pieces of road, lower speed, down to 24mph on more winding parts of the road or slower where there was congestion. It successfully navigated four traffic lights and two pedestrian crossings. There was no unusual veering in any direction, the driving was regular and safe, with slow and steady acceleration and deceleration until shortly before the collision site. It was driving at all times in autonomous mode.’

  ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘These level three SEDA cars have an inbuilt mechanism which, in an emergency, alert the driver and order him or her to re-take control of the car.’

  ‘Is that what happened here?’

  ‘At this point, on the route,’ Mr Abrams pointed with his cursor to show a place a few centimetres before the collision site, ‘VERA, the car’s computer system, asked Mr Salisbury to re-take the controls.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘The EDR also picks up and records the commentary of the voice commands, the sounds in the car’s interior and pressure on any of the buttons on the dashboard. We interrogated that data and matched it with the satellite navigation system and the sensor on one of the wheels. This established that Mr Salisbury had been invited to re-take control of the vehicle at 150 metres, approximately where the temporary traffic light sign was situated, and that he had applied pressure to the manual override button shortly afterwards to switch to manual mode. We also heard him shouting out, as you heard when you watched the film, suggesting he was focusing on what was going on.’

  ‘Or the exact opposite,’ Judith whispered loudly to Constance.

  ‘What signal would the car have given to Mr Salisbury to “invite him” to take control?’