by Gil Hogg
The document was admitted in evidence despite Vale’s objections and copies were made for the Court.
“Is this a copy of the report from Trask detailing the deaths of twenty-four villagers?” Amherst asked Vale.
“Yes. A slur on one of my best officers by a troublemaker trying to evade front-line service.”
“Very well, Colonel Vaughan. Let’s come back to your orderly room on the day. Mr McDade will say you left your desk, stood before him, balled his shirt up, insisting that he participate in the parade. It was only then that he pushed you away.”
“I never touched him. He punched me.”
“You were sitting. How did McDade get close enough to hit you?”
“I was on my feet, standing in front of him.”
“Why?”
Vaughan hesitated. His wall eye veered around the room. “I wanted to… emphasise my order.”
“You were angry and you put your face close to Mr McDade’s to emphasise?”
“Not angry.”
“Really? You couldn’t give your order from behind your desk?”
Amherst looked at the members of the Court. I could see that they were imagining an angry man. Amherst’s expression was one of cynicism and he turned as if to sit down. And then he swung back to the witness again.
“By the way, Colonel, a small point. I take it you agree that your office had recently been mopped and the floor was wet?”
Vaughan assented miserably.
Amherst sat down and leaned across to me. “I doubt Vale will re-examine. He’s got his man’s story out. He’ll keep quiet about Trask’s complaint at this stage because it surprised him and he’ll want to think about it.”
As Amherst predicted, Vale did not re-examine. Vaughan left the witnesses’ chair stooped and looking bewildered. The President announced an adjournment until the following morning.
“A first-round win for us?” I asked Amherst when the Court had left the room.
“I think so,” he said with his crooked smile. “Vaughan seems to have doubts about what he’s done, and the image of authority stands or falls with him.”
26
Amherst walked some of the way back to my quarters with me, the escort MPs trailing behind out of earshot.
“Tell me about James,” I said.
“She’s prepared to say she acted hurriedly wanting to get out of camp. She thought it over later and realised Trask wasn’t the attacker. Her evidence justifies you. I think you could be acquitted on her evidence.”
I had my head down, eyes on the flagstones, considering. “It’s a gut feeling. I’d sooner she wasn’t called.”
“Her evidence is clear.”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Don’t worry about the girl. All we want her to do is to tell the truth. She can protect herself adequately by saying she had no idea of the seriousness of the charge or she’d have taken more time and trouble.”
I could only express my unwillingness by silence. I was speaking about feelings. Amherst wanted logical argument. I parted from him and the escorts marched me into the building.
I had a shower and changed into a T-shirt and shorts. An orderly brought my supper, a heaped plate of curry and rice. I fetched two cans of cold beer from the refrigerator and sat at the table. I soaked the yellow rice in the curry sauce, filling myself, not thinking of anything but the pleasure of eating and washing the food down with cold beer. Afterwards, bloated, I lay on the bed and went to sleep.
It was dark when I awoke. I was wet with sweat. I dropped my clothes on the floor and showered again. I didn’t think of the case but remembered the curry. The cook must have been interested in food to learn the skill and do it so well. I came out of the bathroom and saw a woman standing in the bed-sitting room with her back to me. I hadn’t heard her come in, but she heard me now. She didn’t turn.
“Are you decent?” she asked.
“No.” I took a clean vest and shorts from a chair by the door and put them on in the bathroom.
When I came out Ann James was rudely moving about the room examining articles, a book, a photo, my watch, restlessly. “You’re comfortable for a man in prison.”
“How the hell did you get in here?”
She sat down on the bed and began to idly turn the pages of a US Forces magazine. “Sweet talk,” she said. She grinned and went on flipping the pages.
“What are you doing here?” I asked incredulously.
“I’ve been summoned. First, I had your man Amherst at me. Now I’ve been summoned. Look, I don’t understand why you got yourself into a mess over a rat like Trask.”
“I had a duty to try to help him.”
She shook her head. She couldn’t comprehend my remark. She traced a design on the blanket with a long lacquered fingernail.
“You shouldn’t be here. Why’d you come?”
“Curiosity. I never thought you were such a twat.”
She twisted from her small waist and replaced the magazine on a table by the bed. “What am I supposed to say in court?”
“Tell the truth. You were mistaken.”
I noticed now how sexless her face was, lips too thin, nose too long and sharp, eyes too small. With her foxy expression she seemed mean.
“That lets you out, does it?” Her rough voice was cutting.
“It helps… ”
She stood and stepped toward me impatiently. “And I get torn to shreds!”
“No, you can explain… ”
“I’ve got a lot to lose!” She came threateningly close, staring.
I moved my head slightly in understanding.
“My job, that’s what! If the Army decides I’m trouble, I’m out!”
“This can’t affect your job.”
I sat down on a chair. Her restless movement disturbed the heavy air. I could smell powder and sweat and see patches of damp on the pink cotton sweater.
“Tell your lawyer friend I’ll be the worst witness he ever had! I’ll be saying Trask was the man and I never told you anything different!”
“God knows, I never wanted you in the court!”
“I told you, the Prosecutor’s subpoenaed me. I gotta go or have MPs chasing me. I gotta stand down from my work and be around for the trial. You’ve got a hell of a nerve, buddy. You want to be a saint, and you want me to jump on the barbeque with you. What kind of mouse are you?” Her nostrils flared with temper. She spat a gob of saliva at me.
She picked up a rod used for closing the window shutters and brought a blow down on my shoulder. I sprang off the chair staggering away from her. The hurt was only repulsion at being embroiled with her. I tore the cane out of her hand. Clawing, she came at me with a howl of frustration which seemed to me to reach far beyond our encounter, a howl which came out of the deep of her own troubled life.
I turned her away from me, plunged one hand into her bush of hair, caught my fingers around the belt of her skirt, and propelled her across the room. I threw open the door, and shoved her through, swearing and yelling.
The guard was standing at the end of the corridor, hands on hips in amazement. I latched the door and went out into the garden where I was further away from the frenzy of her cursing and banging on the door, and the shouts of the guard trying to get control of her.
27
The first witness in the morning was Peter Weston. He responded quietly to the oath. His brown eyes were soft and yielding. Under Vale’s guidance he confirmed Vaughan’s evidence.
Amherst began his cross-examination in a friendly way. “Mr McDade told you his doubts about Trask’s guilt?”
“Yes and I arranged for him to see the CO.”
“If McDade was right the charge against Trask shouldn’t have gone ahead.”
“If he was right. The decision was for the CO.”
“Did Colonel Vaughan link the charge against Trask with his complaint about the killings on patrol?”
“He said he thought Trask was a troublemaker.”
�
�What did you think?”
“I thought so too.”
“McDade is a good officer?”
“As far as I know.”
“Don’t be mealy-mouthed, Major. He’s well regarded isn’t he?”
“Correct. I didn’t mean to sound ungenerous.”
“Can you think of any reason why he would want to lie about Ann James?”
“No, sir.”
Amherst ended it there, and it seemed to me that at that point, Vale’s case had become a small parochial matter.
Later Vale called Ann James as required by the President.
I was dreading the moment; I could see nothing in her appearance that suggested last night’s struggle. She fingered her face with a white hand, wore little make-up and had her hair tied back tightly. She smiled and her presence brought a sense of relaxation to the proceedings if not to me. Vale offered her for cross-examination saying he had no questions.
“She looks a clean, decent sort of woman,” Amherst whispered. “She ought to go down well.”
I was gripped by panic. How wrong he was. Her fury of the previous night dinned in my ears.
Amherst moved toward her radiating friendliness. “You told Colonel Vaughan and Major Weston that Trask was the soldier who assaulted you and another soldier?”
“Yes.”
“Tell us what Colonel Vaughan said before you identified Trask.”
“He said I’d be held up if I couldn’t identify the man. He was determined to find the man and I’d have to wait until the investigation was completed.”
“Did that worry you?”
“Yes. We were ready to go. The truck was waiting. I didn’t want to miss the next engagement.”
“So how were you feeling at the time of identification?”
“I was worried and confused.”
“How long was Trask in the room?”
“I don’t know. A half a minute. He was behind me.”
“You only had a brief glance?”
“I couldn’t turn around and stare could I?”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“I must have. He was one of the crowd.”
“And what do you think now about your identification?”
“I’m not really sure who went for me or hit the other guy.”
The sweat of fear had oozed from my forehead during her words, but now her vindication of my story exploded in me intoxicatingly.
“You told Mr McDade this before you left camp?” Amherst asked.
“Yes.”
Amherst gave the Court a glance which said, “There, you see?” before sitting.
I leaned over to him when she had left the witness stand. “She’s lying about Trask. She’s fucked him.”
Amherst’s eyes flickered. “Jesus! How do you know?… Never mind, we’ve finished with her.”
*
When the Court had risen, I said to Amherst, “It looks OK doesn’t it?”
“Yes. And it can only be strengthened by your evidence tomorrow.”
“Sounds easy,” I said without any confidence that it would be easy.
“It won’t get you clean away, Bob. The Court is left to interpret your little private ruckus with Vaughan, but it’s nickel and dime stuff. A reprimand, maybe.”
Vale came over to us, his eyes resting icily on me for a moment. “You’ve done a good job, Geoffrey. Very neat and economical.”
When Vale had moved away, Amherst said, “Tell me how you know Ann James fucked Trask?”
“She told me one reason for identifying Trask was that he hadn’t paid her for a screw.”
Amherst’s good humour had gone. “It’s not anything that would hurt your case, but you should have told me. Why didn’t you want her called, Bob?”
“Just an emotional ‘Ugh!’”
“Nothing factual, huh?”
We parted with Amherst withdrawn. I was escorted back to my quarters. I hurriedly swallowed the dish of noodles that were brought to me. I was restless, excited. I smoked innumerable cigarettes and finished a half-full bottle of whiskey. I went out into the garden in the dark. The air was cool. I stepped onto the grass, my bare feet sinking into the spongey, damp soil. The buildings were dressed lightly in mist. The bushes were black globs, the sky a rich, dark blue. I could hear the distant drone of an aircraft and the thump of thunder – or was it artillery? A few feeble lights glowed, perhaps a cook or a cleaner at work, or a forgotten bulb on an empty stair. Tiredness overcame me like a paralysis. I felt weak and went back to my room to sleep.
*
A knock on the door awakened me.
“It’s half-past nine,” Gail said. “You should be up.” She stood in the doorway in her captain’s uniform looking drained of energy.
I rolled out of bed and gave her an affectionate hug on the way to the bathroom. I shaved, showered and dressed with Gail at the open bathroom door.
“I’ve got some time off, Bob. I’m coming to the courtroom. I’ve seen Major Amherst and he seems fairly confident.” She saw my stiff grin in the mirror. “You’re a little down.”
“It’s not over yet.”
“We’ll make a new life for ourselves when we get out of this place, Bob.”
“You bet we will!” My surge of affection for her clashed with my memory of what her brother had done. I could see her apprehension in the mirror as I combed my hair. I went on combing long beyond the needs of neatness or vanity.
“Bob?”
The sergeant escort rapped and shouted from the front door, “Ready, Mr McDade?”
“I have faith in you, Bob. Good luck,” Gail said, clasping my arm as I passed.
28
Amherst could not help a gleam of assurance when he opened his case.
“McDade’s defence is that the argument with his CO did not amount to an assault. McDade was provoked and acted in a self-protective manner. Unfortunately, Colonel Vaughan lost his footing when McDade fended him off. What appears to have ignited the exchange was McDade’s reluctance to engage in publicly announcing on parade the punishment of a man whom he believed was innocent.”
The Court was attentive and I thought they were influenced by Vaughan’s admission that he left his desk and approached me closely. As I took my seat in the witnesses’ chair I could feel I had their goodwill. Gail, pale and round-eyed, was at the back of the room. Vale was sunk over his papers, his hand across his brow.
I confirmed the main facts to Amherst. “Did you have any idea where the confrontation was leading?”
“No, I just felt I couldn’t participate in the public spectacle.”
“What would you have done if Colonel Vaughan had said he would nominate somebody else to deal with the parade?”
“Nothing. In talking to Colonel Vaughan I’d done all I could do. I didn’t intend to push him or even touch him. But when he grasped my shirt I pushed him away. I didn’t push hard. The fall was caused more by the wet tiles than any force on my part.”
Amherst sat down and Vale advanced, blotchy and angry-looking in contrast to the demeanour of the Court. I had a start of fear. He asked many questions, but he was not able to budge me. Then he retired to his papers and seemed confused, riffling them.
“Do you want to go further, Colonel Vale?” the President asked.
“Yes, sir. Mr McDade, how did you know or believe Trask was innocent?”
“I knew him. I talked to him.”
“What about Miss James?”
“She withdrew what she’d said to Colonel Vaughan.”
“What special connection gave you the advantage of such information?”
Amherst sighed in disapproval. I was trying to appear relaxed, to conceal that my nerves were at snapping point.
“I had no special connection,” I said. “I questioned her after she’d spoken to Colonel Vaughan.”
“How well did you know her?”
“I’d never seen her before the night of the concert.”
“Did you talk to he
r after the concert?”
Amherst sniffed and shuffled.
“No.”
“Any other time?”
“No – wait, casually, and momentarily, before the concert when the hall was being set up.”
“You weren’t investigating then?”
Amherst interrupted. “Why, sir, are we pursuing this line?”
“Are you objecting, Mr Amherst?” the President asked.
“No, sir,” Amherst said reluctantly.
“Let’s move on, Mr Vale,” the President said, unimpressed either by Vale’s probing or Amherst’s irritation. “We do have a war out there.”
“Just one final question, sir. Mr McDade, have you ever spoken to Miss James or discussed her evidence with her after your investigation?”
I took a great mental breath. The tumult and hysteria of her visit last night reeled through my head in a second. “No sir, I never have.”
I looked over the heads of the audience to Gail. Vale signalled his cross-examination was over. My ordeal was over. Neither Amherst, nor the Court had further questions.
“You can resume your seat with counsel, Mr McDade,” the President said.
I sat down. Vale rose to his feet.
“I ask leave to recall Miss James.”
“Is this really necessary, Mr Vale?” the President said, and then assented reluctantly.
I leaned over to Amherst. “I don’t understand.”
Amherst cupped his hand over his mouth. “Look, when he asked you about talking to James about her evidence it was a routine question about collusion. Now he wants to ask her the same question. A formality. A waste of time. But he’s entitled to do it. Dear old Max flogs on until we drop.”
I felt exhausted. My stomach contracted. I pulled at Amherst’s sleeve. “Listen, I did see Ann James after the concert and after the investigation. She came to my quarters here.”
Amherst’s face at first showed astonishment, and then flooded with blood. “You fool!” he hissed. “You goddamned fucking fool!”
