by David Cooper
Soraya’s reaction was lightning fast. She stood up and gave Craven two fresh page references.
“Can you tell us if these jog your memory at all, Mr Craven?”
Craven flicked back through the bundle.
“Yes, I think they do. On the second page, at the bottom, that was the picture. It had red ink on it. I thought it looked like someone had drawn devil’s horns on the person in the picture.”
The new pages that Soraya had asked Craven to read were Ripple’s standard candidate CV template. At the end of the second page, running across from side to side, was a commercial imprint for Ripple. It included a personal message from Karen, addressed to potential interviewers, alongside the company’s address and contact details. And on the left of the imprint, quite unmistakably, was a photo of Karen.
As she conjured up an image of what Craven had described, Karen realised in an instant what he had meant. If Craven’s recollection was correct, Squire must have had a Ripple CV in front of him when he was conducting the interview, and must have succumbed to the temptation for petty but symbolic revenge upon her by defacing the photo.
So was Craven on my books all along, then? Did Wayne entice him and erase the file?
Collins realised that he could not let the point pass by unchallenged.
“Your Honour, we ought not to be speculating idly about a hypothetical document that is not before us, may not be the CV of this witness, and may not even exist. With all due respect to this witness…”
“I take your point, Mr Collins, but it is not unknown for relevant documents to go missing when it becomes apparent how far reaching they may be.”
“With respect, Your Honour, if there was such a document as described by the witness, it would never have been in Wave Recruitment’s possession, custody, or control, and neither they nor Mr Avery would have been in a position to disclose it.”
“That’s not one of your best points, Mr Collins. A few minutes ago we heard that your instructing solicitor was present at Mr Craven’s interview, along with Mr Squire. If Mr Craven’s recollection is correct, it would be most improper for such a document not to have been identified as relevant and preserved. And you cannot seriously be suggesting that a recruitment agency would let an interviewer have their one and only copy of a candidate’s CV, can you?”
“Your Honour, no. We’re clearly left to assess the credibility of the witness.” Collins admitted defeat and sat down.
“Indeed we are. I sense that it would not be at all controversial for me to observe that individuals with the same condition as Mr Craven will usually lack the capacity to sustain a false story.” Once more Judge Banks turned back towards Craven. “Do you need any more time to continue reading?”
“Yes please, Your Honour, there was something else…” Craven flicked forward in the bundle. “These text messages are incomplete.”
For a moment, Soraya thought that Craven was referring for some inexplicable reason to the exchanges between Avery and Dawn from the weekend immediately before Avery’s resignation. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Avery was staring at Craven in horror.
It can’t be anything about destabilising Dawn, surely. We talked that issue into the ground yesterday…
Wait a minute. It’s something completely different. If only…
Soraya looked carefully in Craven’s direction and willed him to continue explaining. He remained silent, as if waiting to be asked. In the meantime, the judge looked carefully through the exchange of text messages between Craven and Avery, which Avery claimed he had kept for posterity via blown up photocopies of his phone screen, to commemorate his first agency commission via Wave Recruitment.
“Which messages, Mr Craven?”
“The ones from when I’d just been offered the job, Your Honour.”
“Thank you. What do you mean by incomplete?”
“Well, can I just explain this one that I received from Wayne, saying ‘Congrats on job offer. Rufus has just confirmed. Letter imminent. Well done!’ I replied to it almost straight away with ‘Thank you, Wayne. I am so glad that I got back in touch with you. Paul.’ That’s the next one here in this bundle. But there’s something missing.”
Soraya noticed that Craven had by now become much more confident in his answers as a result of his reading exercise. There was no sign of his earlier naivety and hesitation. Behind her, Lennie and Karen were looking intently at the two text messages, wondering exactly how they might be incomplete. At first sight, both of the blown up copies appeared to be intact. Had either of them glanced to their right, they would have noticed that Collins was looking disconcerted and that Avery had turned pale.
“What’s missing, Mr Craven?” Judge Banks enquired.
“The first message. I started the conversation off, then Wayne replied, and that last one was my reply to him.”
“Oh, I see. That’s a pity.”
As the judge turned to her computer screen, evidently assuming that the message no longer existed and that further speculation about its contents would serve no useful purpose, Soraya was seized by a sudden inspiration and stood up once more. She was unaware that she was only ahead of Lennie by a few seconds, as he seized his pen and wrote ‘Phone???’ on a sheet of paper, and attempted in vain to pass it over to her.
“Mr Craven, do you by any chance still have a copy of your outgoing text message to Mr Avery on your phone? The one you say you sent to start off the conversation?”
Craven thought for several long moments.
“Yes, I think I do. I can have a look, if you like.”
Instinctively, Collins rose, an objection beginning to take shape. But Judge Banks had appreciated the relevance of Soraya’s question immediately.
“Mr Craven, please wait until my clerk is at your side, and please ensure that he can watch every step you take.” She turned back to face both barristers as the clerk stood up and walked over to the witness stand. “I have no doubt that we need to get to the bottom of this. I am not going to stand on needless ceremony, given what I have just heard about Mr Craven’s interview. If there is another item of relevant evidence that we can all take into account here and now, it would be an unconscionable waste of time and resources to compel either side to raise it via an adjournment or an appeal. I take it that neither of you wishes to object?”
Collins could not bring himself to speak, only too aware that the unexpected twist was anything but welcome. For her own part, Soraya contented herself with a smile, sensing that she might be on the verge of a game changer. She looked at her notepad and saw that the next prompts for questions to put to Craven were ‘diary entry’, ‘flowers/card’ and ‘jacket’.
“Just waiting for the phone to power up, Your Honour.” The clerk broke the uneasy silence.
“Thank you, Robert. Take your time.”
From their places on the front row, both barristers looked intently in Craven’s direction as he tapped on the screen of his phone and whispered an explanation to the judge’s clerk, before raising his head.
“Would you like me to read it out, Your Honour?”
“Please do so, Mr Craven.”
“OK. ‘Bastables offered me the job twenty minutes ago. I am really pleased. They will confirm it with you. Thank you very much for all of your efforts in helping me. I really appreciate them. Regards, Paul.’ Would you like to see it, Your Honour?”
“Yes, I believe I would.” The clerk carefully took the phone off Craven and placed it in his open palm before approaching the judge’s podium. As the tension mounted, Karen looked to her right and noticed a look of abject consternation on Avery’s face. For a fleeting instance, Avery turned to his left and was unable to avoid catching Karen’s eye before quickly averting his gaze once more. The significance of the phrase ‘twenty minutes ago’ had not been lost on anyone in the courtroom.
Judge Banks read what was on the screen of Craven’s phone without taking it out of her clerk’s hand. Her face inscrutable, she careful
ly typed the full contents of the message into her computer, before turning to Craven.
“Mr Craven, with your permission, may I ask my clerk to attempt to make clear photocopies of what is displayed on the screen of your phone?”
“Of course, Your Honour.” The clerk disappeared to carry out the task. No one dared break the silence until he returned. In the meantime, the judge had scrolled back through her notes of the cross-examination, occasionally pausing to flick through the trial bundle. From where she was sitting, it was evident to Soraya that the judge had been focusing on the section containing the statements of Avery and his witnesses. The clerk returned and approached the podium.
“Thank you, Robert. One moment.” Judge Banks deliberately paused and let the tension mount. “Miss Modaresi, Mr Collins, the message that I have just read on the screen of Mr Craven’s phone is exactly as Mr Craven recited just now. It also bears the date upon which he sent it to Mr Avery. The date upon which he did so is Thursday the fourteenth of March.”
The significance of the judge’s comment struck home like a thunderbolt. In an instant, Karen realised that Avery had somehow managed to place Craven with Bastable & Co, on his own account and for his own benefit, four days before the date upon which he had unexpectedly terminated his employment with Ripple and resigned as a director. Not afterwards. He had somehow managed to conceal the successful introduction from her altogether. And he had in turn somehow managed to obtain Squire’s help in passing it off as a Wave Recruitment introduction…
Lennie had in the meantime attracted Soraya’s attention for a quick conversation. They were already one step ahead of Karen, wondering how the dispute could have been carried all the way through to trial without anyone on Avery’s side breaking ranks, even though Avery and his team must have known all along that the whole edifice could come crashing down around them at any time. And where does this leave Squire…what on earth could have possessed him to do this?
“Miss Modaresi, do you have any further cross-examination?”
Soraya broke off from her discussion. “Just a few points, Your Honour.” She realised that Judge Banks had decided to conclude the evidence before making any comment on the startling development comprised within Craven’s text message.
“Mr Craven, do you by any chance recall what time of day your interview at Bastables took place?” Soraya asked.
“Yes, it was first thing in the afternoon. Two o’clock.” The confidence in Craven’s answer did not pass unnoticed. Soraya asked him to find the copies of Avery’s desk diary entries, ensuring that everyone in the court was focused upon the mysterious handwritten entry for what was now known to be his interview date.
“Were you ever aware of Bastables being rather impolitely described as Bastards?”
“Not before I joined, no.” Craven thought for a moment, and recalled the lunch he had had with Roger Blake and his other colleagues shortly after he had revealed the fact that he suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome. “I first heard about it from some members of my department a few weeks ago. They were relieved that the firm became BLH Solicitors after it merged. They never liked being associated with a rude name like that, for all those years.”
Karen shot another glance in Avery’s direction. He was looking away, but his slumped posture spoke volumes.
“Thank you.” Soraya continued. “Now I don’t want to embarrass you, Mr Craven, but can I ask you to look at the copy of the printed card that arrived at my clients’ office attached to a bunch of flowers, addressed to Mrs Vallance?”
“Mrs Vallance?” Craven seemed to place undue stress on the first word.
“That’s right, Dawn Vallance. I won’t ask you to read it out, but can you throw any light on how it came to arrive?”
By now Craven was blushing.
“Er…I sent them…it was to thank her for a favour…I never realised she was married…”
Karen leaned sideways towards Lennie, gestured in Avery’s direction, and whispered ‘fancy claiming he sent them’, adding an unsavoury description. Lennie nodded.
“What was the favour, Mr Craven?” Soraya placed a tick beside her last question.
“When I came in for a meeting earlier that week, I was caught in a sudden downpour on my way up from New Street Station. I got really wet. Dawn offered to dry my jacket for me when I was seeing Wayne.” Craven hesitated. “I only knew her as Dawn. I didn’t remember seeing any wedding ring. If I’d any idea she was married…”
Craven tailed off, not knowing how to spare himself further embarrassment. Soraya chose to step in.
“There’s no need to go into any further detail, Mr Craven. I have only one more question to ask. What is your mobile phone number?”
Craven gave the number without hesitation. Lennie latched onto the point of Soraya’s question straight away and read quickly through the copies of Avery’s phone records. He wielded a highlighter over the relevant entries for the day of Craven’s interview and attracted Soraya’s attention before showing them to her. Soraya nodded and turned back to face Craven.
“Thank you, Mr Craven. You’ve been very helpful. I don’t have any more questions for you.”
Soraya sat down and looked over towards Collins. He had wondered whether to clutch at straws and ask Craven if his phone settings might have been inaccurate, but Soraya’s last question had left the link to Avery’s own records beyond doubt. His demeanour was already making it plain that all of the fight had gone out of him. Deep down, he was reeling at the manner in which his solicitors had contrived to leave him looking embarrassed and foolish on Avery’s behalf.
“I’ve no re-examination, Your Honour.”
“I’m obliged, Mr Collins. Mr Craven, I have nothing further to ask. Please feel free to step down.”
“Am I free to leave?” Craven had looked nervously towards Avery and Hutchings while the last formalities were concluded. Their hostile expressions were impossible to miss.
“Yes, you may leave.” Craven wasted no time in hurrying away, keeping his gaze firmly focused on the courtroom exit and averting his eyes from the glares that Avery and Hutchings were continuing to cast in his direction. The door soon closed behind him and Judge Banks took control once more.
“Miss Modaresi, Mr Collins, as anticipated I shall ask you both to update your skeleton arguments and to email the updated versions to my clerk, preferably no later than ten o’clock this evening. I will be aiming to deliver judgment at eleven thirty tomorrow, midday at the latest. For the avoidance of doubt, I do intend on this occasion to deliver judgment rather than simply hand it down in written form. Do either of you have anything else to raise?”
Soraya remained silent. As Collins contemplated the wreckage of Avery’s defence, and wondered if there might be any chance of keeping liability down to an award no greater than what had been offered ahead of the trial, he thought of asking for permission to make a closing speech. The idea rapidly disappeared once he assessed it as tantamount to throwing petrol onto a bonfire, and he held his peace.
“Very well. You will both appreciate that I have deliberately said nothing until now about the implications of what I have just heard. I will make one single observation before I rise. You should be in no doubt that so far as those matters are concerned, my judgment is likely to reverberate.”
Without a further word, Judge Banks stood up and left. As soon as the door closed behind her, Collins spun round and hissed angrily at Avery and Hutchings. “We need to speak to Wagstaff and Squire. Right now!” All three of them stood up and headed for the exit. Soraya’s attempt to attract Collins’ attention and agree a time to exchange their updated closing submissions was lost on thin air. Karen was still reeling at the drama of the previous hour when she felt a nudge on her elbow.
“I never expected any of that, Karen. Did you?”
Karen immediately realised that Tom Ritchie had heard every word of Craven’s evidence and the legal exchanges that had surrounded it.
“No, not a w
ord. Who tipped you off to come down here, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Ritchie thought for a moment.
“I can’t reveal my sources. But strictly between you and me, when I clocked the number on my phone displayer, it certainly wasn’t your opponent.”
“You mean it was the solicitors?” Lennie chipped in. While Soraya had begun a long conversation with the judge’s clerk, he had taken the chance to look at the copy of Craven’s genuine signed statement for himself, and was astounded to read the contents of the internal emails that the clerk had inadvertently copied in addition. He was desperate to share his newly discovered knowledge with Karen.
“I couldn’t possibly say.” Ritchie tapped his nose and stood up. “Eleven thirty tomorrow?” In a moment he was gone. Karen and Lennie were left looking at each other, neither knowing quite what to say until Karen broke the silence.
“Did I imagine all of that?”
“I don’t think so. Not unless I did too. Just take a look at this lot.” He passed Karen the set of copies and she quickly read through them.
“Bloody hell. No wonder Craven flipped his lid just now…no, I take that back. No wonder he saw the light. Fancy finding out that this is what your employers really think about you. In all my years in recruitment, I’ve never known anything quite as bad as this.”
“My thoughts entirely.” Lennie replied. “Looking at these last ones, I wonder if he might have been on a final warning? They might have promised to let him off if he’d stuck to the agreed script. ‘I know nothing’, in true Manuel style.”
Karen burst out laughing at Lennie’s fake Spanish accent.
“Who knows? Anyway, Craven’s obviously done the right thing. Probably doesn’t quite realise it.” She paused as a thought struck her. “Can I hang onto these until tomorrow? I have a cunning plan.”
Lennie hesitated.
“I’m not sure…strictly speaking, they belong to Craven…hang on though, that’s not right, I don’t think for one minute that he was supposed to have them, so they’ll belong to the firm…”
