by Olly Jarvis
‘No.’ She took a swig from the bottle. ‘How could you do that? Humiliate me like that?’
‘I had to. It’s my job,’ Jack pleaded.
‘Did you know he raped me?’
‘That’s not for me to answer,’ he said.
‘But did you know he did it?’
‘The truth can’t matter to me,’ he said, remembering Huntsman’s advice.
‘It matters to me!’ she screamed across the rooftops. Then, staring down at him with smudged eyeshadow: ‘Do you believe he raped me?’
Jack thought about his answer. He owed her that. He looked around at Nowak, sitting up now, still dazed from the blow. Then he replied: ‘Yes, I believe you.’
She let her arms fall down by her sides, the rage leaving her body.
Jack could see what this admission meant to Lauren. ‘I had to do my job. I never thought it would be like this.’
His words calmed her.
‘I’m so sorry about what you’ve been through.’ Jack took a step forward. ‘Things will get better, slowly. Please, let me help you down?’
Her resistance appeared to subside, then: ‘You’re only saying all this to make me change my statement?’
‘No. I don’t care about that right now,’ he replied. ‘Come on,’ he said, raising an arm towards the pillar.
‘What about the police and everyone else?’
‘I won’t tell them if you won’t.’
Seemingly placated by Jack’s assurances, she bent over to take his hand, The movement caused her to lose her balance. She flailed her arms to try and steady herself. Losing control, her foot slipped, causing her to trip sideways off the pillar. A shrill cry.
As if frozen in time, Jack saw Lauren bounce off the top of the railings. Instinctively, he lunged forwards, his hand reaching through the bars, grabbing at the falling body. He had half a grip on her dress, which began to rip away. He thrust his other hand through and snatched at her wrist. He held on, her swinging weight pulling his arm almost out of its socket. He got his other hand on her arm, but she was slipping. He half-turned his head back towards Nowak. ‘Help me!”
Nowak didn’t move, his piercing eyes willing Jack to fail.
‘Don’t let go,’ Lauren pleaded between screams.
People came out onto the terrace, first Lara, followed by Nowak’s parents.
‘Help me, over here,’ Jack shouted in desperation.
Nowak senior ran past Gustaw, reached through the railings and took Lauren’s other arm. They pulled her up onto the ledge and then back over the railings until she collapsed in a heap, sobbing.
Appreciating the full horror of what had just happened, Gustaw’s father stared at the distraught figure, curled up on the ground. His expression was one of shame.
In that moment, Jack could see that this man truly knew his son.
Chapter 73
Jack helped Lauren up, then took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. ‘You’ve hurt yourself,’ he said, noticing a gash on her leg where she’d hit the pillar.
‘I’ll call an ambulance,’ someone shouted from the gathering crowd.
‘No,’ said Lauren, picking up her bag. ‘I’m fine.’
‘It’s OK,’ said Jack, remembering his promise. ‘I’ll take her to A&E in a taxi, it’ll be quicker.’
The group parted as Jack led Lauren towards the doorway. Neither acknowledged Nowak as they passed.
‘Jack?’ said Lara. ‘You sure that’s a good idea?’
‘She’s right,’ Statham chipped in. ‘Interfering with a witness? This could look bad for you.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ he replied, directing his answer at Lara. ‘I’m sorry to leave you like this.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ she said, raising her glass.
Jack could tell she was making light of it for Lauren’s benefit. ‘Thank you,’ he mouthed.
Neither Jack nor Lauren spoke in the short cab ride across town, or during the half hour wait for an MRI. It felt strange; their only previous dialogues having been of the greatest intensity.
Lauren broke the silence: ‘It’s all right, you don’t have to wait with me.’
‘It’s OK, I like it here.’
She chuckled.
‘Did you always want to be a model?’ he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
‘No, I wanted to take the photos but I’m too thick for all that. You gotta go to college.’
‘You still can.’
She glanced at him askance. ‘You really can leave, you know – you’re already off the hook.’
‘What do you mean?’
She opened up her handbag and handed him an envelope. ‘Open it.’
It was a heart-breaking suicide note, which ended by setting the record straight – insisting that she was raped, but admitting that the man who offered the bribe was unknown to her, and definitely not the defence barrister.
‘I’m not a liar,’ she said. ‘It was stupid, what I said about you.’ She took a deep breath, then exhaled. ‘Despair.’
‘You don’t have to explain.’
‘You can keep it, give it to the police.’
Jack couldn’t stop staring at the note, mesmerized by its power to exonerate him. Then, thinking through the implications, his joy evaporated. He held it up and tore it in two.
‘What you doin’?’
He tore it into four, then again and again until a handful of tiny pieces remained.
‘Why?’
‘It’s an admission to perverting the course of justice. You’d go to prison.’
She gawped at Jack. ‘Never met a fella like you before.’
‘I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but you could always tell them you made a mistake.’
‘Mistake?’
‘Yeah, that you’ve since realized it wasn’t me.’
‘You trust me to go and do that?’
‘Of course.’
She stared at him. ‘Why do you want to help me?’
‘Selfish reasons – to appease my conscience. Maybe I’m giving thanks to Him up there,’ he said, raising his head. ‘If you’d died tonight…’ His voice broke up. ‘…it would’ve been the end of both of us.’ He used his sleeve to wipe away a tear.
‘But they would’ve had to drop the case against you?’
‘That’s not what I meant.’
She watched his face for a while, as if trying to understand him. ‘Is she your girlfriend?’
‘Who?’
‘The one in the black dress?’
‘Oh, err, no, just a friend, colleague in fact.’
‘Would you like her to be?’
The question was unexpected. Almost in a croak, he confided: ‘Yes.’
A comfortable silence bound them.
Chapter 74
It was early Saturday morning by the time Lauren Riley had been treated.
After the taxi had dropped her home, Jack went to his apartment, collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep that lasted most of the weekend.
By Monday morning he didn’t just feel rested, he felt at peace. It was as if he were coming to terms with what his job entailed, accepting that things were out of his control. Even thoughts of the Smart family were now somehow easier to bear. Colleagues had told him being a barrister deadened the senses, hardened a person. Was this what they meant?’
He stopped off at Carluccio’s in Spinningfields for some eggs benedict, then crossed Crown Square. He was ready for the verdict, whatever it might be.
Barry Smith, from the CPS, was the only advocate in the robing room. ‘Hello, Jack.’
They hadn’t seen each other since Smart’s bail application. ‘It’s today, isn’t it, Smart’s trial?’ Jack remembered.
‘Yeah,’ Barry replied. ‘I’ll be glad when it’s over.’
‘Lara told me you’ve got a silk to lead you?’
‘Yeah, they didn’t trust me to do it – not after losing the bail app.’
&n
bsp; Jack felt bad. He wasn’t the only lawyer who had paid a price that day. ‘Who’s doing it?’
As if on cue, the door opened and a tall, silver-haired man with aquiline features entered the room: his nemesis, Lionel Katterman QC.
‘Oh, if it isn’t the boy wonder.’ Then, scrutinizing Jack: ‘You’ve got egg on your face.’ The arrogant silk laughed as Jack wiped his mouth. He always managed to make Jack feel like a bullied little boy again. ‘I haven’t forgotten, Kowalski.’
Reverting to type, Jack moved to escape the confrontation. But as he got to the door, his anger rose. He wasn’t a nervous, inexperienced advocate any more. He turned around and looked Katterman straight in the eye. ‘Neither have I.’
Thrown off by the response, Katterman didn’t respond. Things had changed while while he’d been away.
Jack went down to court worrying about how Lara would take the news. How would she share a courtroom with that man? He might have been acquitted, but they both knew the truth.
‘Wow!’ Lara exclaimed as Jack came into the courtroom and took his seat. She leaned forward across the bench. ‘You look a hell of a lot better.’
‘Sleep,’ he explained. ‘Sorry about leaving you at the party.’
‘Forget it,’ she replied. ‘How’s Lauren?’
‘Better, I think.’
‘How does it feel to save a life?’
‘Very funny.’
‘I’m serious. I think I’m a little jealous,’ she said with a coquettish grin.
‘Really?’
She laughed.
‘You’re teasing me.’
She laughed again.
Her levity made it harder to tell her about Katterman. ‘Lara,’ he said, unable to keep it to himself any longer. ‘Do you know who’s prosecuting Smart?’
‘Not yet.’
‘It’s Katterman.’
She grimaced.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It was bound to happen eventually.’
Her Honour came into court before they could discuss it further.
Gary Dixon was brought up into the dock momentarily so that the formalities of reswearing the bailiffs and directing the jury to continue with their deliberations could be carried out.
‘I’ll go down and see him,’ said Lara. ‘Got to see Smart anyway.’
PC Khan came over and interrupted their conversation. ‘Can I have a word, Mr Kowalski?’
Jack noted the urgency in the officer’s voice. ‘Yes?’
‘I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, the letter went out this morning.’
‘Letter?’
‘Yeah, the Lauren Riley thing, it’s being NFA’d.’
‘No further action?’ Lara clarified, a wide smile spreading across her face.
‘Yeah, she came in on Sunday, said she’d made a mistake about the ID.’
Jack’s instincts about her had been right. He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, officer.’ This was going to be a good day.
The usher came out onto the concourse. ‘We’ve got verdicts!’
‘Already?’ asked Lara.
‘The weekend can focus minds,’ said Jack.
Hornby and Jack exchanged anxious glances as the jury filed back into the courtroom.
‘Would the defendant please stand?’
Jack and Lara looked around at Dixon, shifting nervously in the dock, and then at Jermaine and PC Khan in the gallery. No sign of Jammer.
‘Would the foreman please stand?’
A hard-faced woman in spectacles rose.
‘On count one, how do you find the defendant, guilty or not guilty?’
‘Not guilty.’
Gasps.
‘On count two, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?’
‘Not guilty.’
A shocked silence smashed around the courtroom.
The judge thanked the jury for their careful consideration and discharged the defendant. ‘Mr Kowalski,’ she said. ‘It’s good to have you back, I’ll rise.’
She was gone before Jack had time to respond.
Hornby gave Jack a grudging nod.
This win felt good.
Lara was the first to congratulate him out on the concourse. ‘You never let me down, Mr Kowalski.’
‘We did it together.’ Carried away in the moment, he asked: ‘Dinner tonight?’ Then, losing some of his boldness: ‘To celebrate our victory?’
‘I’d love to,’ she replied. ‘I’ve got to go and see Smart though, haven’t found his barrister yet.’
‘Of course, you get off.’
‘Jermaine has gone down to reception to wait for Gary,’ she said over her shoulder as she strode off towards the cells. ‘He wants to thank you before you leave.’
‘OK,’ he called after her. Life was good.
‘Quite a woman,’ said PC Khan, following Jack’s eyes.’
‘She certainly is.’
Neither spoke for a moment. PC Khan confessed: ‘I feel a fool.’
Jack gave the officer his full attention.
‘I never thought Jammer… I suppose you never really know a person, taking advantage of Gary like that.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up about it. Love makes people do the strangest things.’
‘Is that what it was?’ Khan asked rhetorically.
‘Actually,’ Jack mused, ‘I don’t think it was.’ The case was over, and Jack saw no point in going over it any longer. ‘Onto the next one, officer.’
Khan forced a smile. ‘Guess so.’
Jack went up to the robing room and got changed, all the tension leaving his body. He chucked his wig in the tin, stuffed it in his bag with his gown and made his way down to reception.
The Dixon brothers were waiting for him.
Jermaine was the first to reach out and shake Jack’s hand. Gary did the same, his eyes watering. ‘Thank you for everything.’
‘No problem,’ Jack replied. ‘What now?’
Before Gary could answer, Jammer joined them.
‘What do you want?’ asked Jermaine aggressively.
‘Your exam result,’ Jammer explained to his apprentice, handing Gary a piece of paper. ‘You did it.’
They all looked at the certificate. ‘It’s the first thing I’ve ever passed,’ said Gary.
‘I rang SL Repairs,’ said Jammer. ‘The job’s still there for you.’
Gary opened his mouth to thank him, then changed his mind.
Jermaine put an arm around his younger brother. ‘Let’s go,’ he said, guiding him away from Jammer, who rounded on Jack: ‘You tricked me.’
Jack scoffed. ‘I shouldn’t have had to.’
‘I loved him.’
‘You sacrificed him. You talked a boy into robbing someone for you. That’s not love.’
‘God will judge me, not you.’
‘God?’ Jack lost his temper. ‘Faith isn’t something that you can turn on and off when it suits you.’
‘What do you know about faith?’ Jammer snapped.
‘Nothing.’ Jammer was right. ‘My mother did, though. She never lost her faith, even when she was dying. I didn’t see a man of God in that witness box, only self-interest.’
‘I did what I thought was best for us.’
‘You want my forgiveness? Save it for confession. For all you know, what you made Gary do killed that old man.’
‘He was dying anyway, he had cancer.’
Jack had heard enough of the man’s hypocrisy. He swung his wig bag over his shoulder and headed for the exit. He stopped, turned and came back. ‘How did you know that?’
‘Know what?’
‘That he had cancer?’ Jack asked, remembering a pamphlet he’d found in the box Lara had got from Dean Ross.
Jammer didn’t reply immediately. ‘Gary told me.’
‘Gary never knew.’
‘Ross must’ve told him at the robbery.’
‘Not possible, he wasn’t diagnosed until later.’ Jack’s blood ran cold. �
�You went to the house. You saw some paperwork, didn’t you?’ Jack tried to see behind Jammer’s eyes. ‘Did you do something to him?’
‘I’m not listening to this.’
‘You pushed him down the stairs?’
Jammer shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
‘Because he knew about the money – and about you?’ The realization caused Jack to step back.
‘You’re crazy, he fell, the police said that.’
‘They weren’t there,’ Jack replied.
‘No one was, so we’ll never know what happened.’
‘But you’re wrong.’ Jack dropped his wig bag and fronted up to Jammer. ‘There was a witness who saw the whole thing.’
Jammer seemed confused. ‘Who?’
Seething, Jack pointed upwards. ‘Your God.’
The revelation seemed to hit Jammer like a thunderbolt. His legs almost buckled, then he straightened up and walked off without a word.
Chapter 75
‘Jack!’ Lara was running down the stairs. ‘I thought you’d gone?’
Jack was still trying to process his conversation with Jammer.
‘Are you OK? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
Before he had a chance to explain what had just happened, Lara said: ‘McDonald’s not here, he had some kind of angina attack at Euston.’
‘What?’
Jack watched Lara flick her hair before putting her phone to her ear. ‘Shit, can’t get hold of Dobkin.’
‘Have you told the judge?’
Trying to make another call, Lara wasn’t listening.
Jack held her shoulders and made her face him. ‘Calm down, tell me what Finlay said?’
Lara took a deep breath. ‘He’s given me a few minutes to find out if McDonald can be here later, or if I can get new counsel.’
Jack sat her down on one of the seats, both oblivious to the police, witnesses and criminals passing through reception.
‘Have you rung McDonald’s chambers?’
‘Yes.’ Jack’s presence was already helping Lara focus. ‘He’s in hospital, he won’t be doing this trial.’
‘OK, you need a new barrister, where have you tried so far?’
‘All the chambers in Manc. All the decent barristers are in court doing other trials.’
