The Sea Cave
Page 32
There was a stir as the spectators refocussed their attention. This was the part they had come to hear.
‘You say that it is usual in cases like this to examine the sexual organs. What do you mean by “Cases like this”?’
‘I mean a case in which a young woman is molested and dies from the molestation.’
‘So you have examined a number of unfortunate women?’
‘I have.’
‘Can you give a figure?’
‘Not without my records.’
‘An estimate. A hundred? Less than a hundred? More?’
‘I don’t guess at figures.’
‘All right, but quite a few?’
‘Quite a few.’
‘And you’ve given evidence in quite a few cases of this kind?’
‘Quite a few.’
‘And rape cases? I mean, where the girl hasn’t died, but says she was raped.’
‘Yes.’
‘Quite a few?’
‘Yes.’
‘And in some of the cases, did the court find that the girls were, how shall I put it, stretching credibility? In other words, that they had acquiesced in the act, and later, for whatever reason, had been afraid of the consequences and cried rape.’
‘Yes.’
‘It is a fact, is it not, doctor, that rape is a difficult charge to make stick?’
‘That is not my province.’
‘But you have just said that some cases, cases in which you were involved, were thrown out of court. That’s what you meant, isn’t it?’
‘I would not use the phrase “thrown out”,’ Fleischman said, his thin lips pressed together.
‘What I mean is, the men were acquitted. Will you have it that way?’
‘Yes, that is so.’
‘Now you say that you – and I quote – “found bruising on the walls of the uterus and also on the tissues of the vagina, bruising which is usually associated with forcible penetration”.’
‘That is correct.’
‘What do you mean precisely by forcible penetration, doctor?’
‘I mean the forcing of the male organ into the vagina against the wishes of the woman.’
‘I see. In this instance, was the bruising very extensive?’
‘Not very. I have seen worse.’
‘Were there lacerations?’
‘No.’
‘Doctor, would you accept the fact that there are degrees of sexual intercourse?’
‘That sounds like “a little bit pregnant” to me.’
There was a gust of laughter, but Fleischman did not seem to think he had made a joke. ‘Sexual intercourse is sexual intercourse.’
‘Bear with me, doctor, if we go into this matter . . .’
Mr. Justice De Wet Fourie had been shuffling his papers for some moments, and now he said, ‘Mr. Prescott, do we have to listen to all this?’
‘M’lord, I am trying to show . . .’
‘I am perfectly aware of what you are trying to show. What I wish to know is whether or not it is relevant.’
‘If your lordship will grant me a moment or two longer, I think I can make this clear.’
Grudgingly, the judge nodded, and Prescott turned back to Fleischman.
‘Let me put it another way, doctor, would you agree that there are gentle forms of sexual intercourse, but that there are also rougher forms? In other words, there is a spectrum of activity from gentle to rough. That some men are rougher than others.’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Do you think that the bruising of which you spoke could have been caused, not by rape, but by rough intercourse?’
Fleischman hesitated. ‘It is possible.’
Prescott consulted his papers. ‘Can you say with any certainty when this bruising took place: five hours before death? Ten? Fifteen?’
‘Not with any certainty.’
‘So that the two acts might not have coincided.’
The judge broke in. ‘I don’t follow you.’
‘I mean the rape and the murder, m’lord.’
‘Are you trying to separate them?’
‘M’lord, I’m trying to show that one is not necessarily the corollary of the other. Dr. Fleischman stated in his evidence-in-chief that Miss Sachs was not a virgin, but, on the contrary, gave the impression of an active sexual life. I am trying to show, m’lord, that she might have indulged in boisterous sexual activity at some time before her death and that the murder itself may have occurred for reasons unassociated with rape.’
‘Could that be so, doctor?’ the judge asked.
‘I suppose so, m’lord.’
‘Thank you, doctor,’ Joshua Prescott said, and sat down.
Guy Bedford, who had once again joined Kate, leant towards her and said, ‘He’s trying to throw suspicion on someone else.’
‘Who?’
‘God knows. Anyone, as long as it’s not your husband. It’s a well-known trick.’
The prosecutor had risen to his feet. He was a precise, pedantic man, who liked to grip his pointed beard and pull on it gently as he spoke.
‘Just one question, doctor. You say you have been involved in “quite a few” such cases. Can you recall any one in which sexual intercourse was carried out by one person and the killing soon after by someone else entirely?’
‘No.’
‘The rapist was always the killer?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you.’
*
Bedford drove her home again after she had seen Charles, and she had barely closed the door when the telephone rang. It was Dr. du Toit, from Helmsdale. He sounded angry, and she realised that she had forgotten to telephone Saxenburg the previous night; she had been too caught up with the Bedfords and the chance of contact, however distant, with Tom.
‘I’ve just seen Charles,’ she said. ‘He wanted something to read . . . Yes, the food is being sent in. They take him back to Roeland Street every night . . . No one seems to know exactly how it’s going. It’s mostly been the same as the second inquest so far . . . No, Mr. Prescott has said nothing to me. I asked him yesterday what he thought and he said it was too early to tell.’
‘What about Charles?’ du Toit repeated.
She thought of the pale, nervous man she had seen in the room below the court. Prescott had been there, with Smith, Godlonton and a policeman. She had been a supernumary.
‘He’s all right,’ she said.
‘Give him my best. Don’t forget.’
‘I won’t.’
‘And love from his mother.’
‘Of course. How is she?’
‘It’s taking its toll of her. The worry. The tension. Listen, don’t forget to telephone me tomorrow.
‘I won’t forget.’
She stood holding the telephone after he had rung off, her mind on the old woman in the upstairs room and the man in the cell.
‘You’re coming back with me again,’ Guy said.
‘I couldn’t.’
‘Jenny insists, so do the children.’
She was welcomed like a favourite aunt. She read stories again and was part of their rough-and-tumble bedtime games. But some of the joy had gone out of it for her and she asked to be taken home early. She decided not to go to the Bedfords’ house again. In some ways, it only made matters worse.
Chapter Six
Douglas Buchanan was making a poor impression in the witness box. He had been given a chair, and initially Kate had felt the sympathy of the court was with the crippled man, but he was so ill at ease and unwilling to meet the eye of the prosecuting counsel that he gave the impression of being shifty and unreliable.
‘So what happened when you came back to Helmsdale after the picnic?’ Nel asked.
‘The others went off. Mr. Preller and my sister were in his motor, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander went to the hotel. I took Miss Sachs home.’
‘How long were you at the house with Miss Sachs?’
‘An hour, mebbe.’
; ‘Could the witness please speak up,’ Mr. Justice De Wet Fourie broke in. ‘I’m getting earache trying to hear him.’ There was a ripple of laughter, but the judge turned his angry, bright eyes on the spectators and they quickly lapsed into silence.
‘An hour,’ Duggie repeated, more loudly.
‘And then?’
‘I came back to the hotel.’
‘Did you see the accused again?’
‘Aye, he came back to the hotel about eleven. I was having a dram wi’ Mr. Alexander. We all had a dram and Mr. Alexander went up to see if Mrs. Alexander was all right. They’d had a row that day, y’see. He didna return. So we went back to Cape Town.’
‘Was there anything odd about Mr. Preller? I mean, in his manner or his dress?’
‘He seemed agitated. His shirt had a wee tear near the collar and his hair was ruffled.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Aye. He had a scratch on his right cheek.’
‘Had you ever seen him like that before?’
‘Never. He was always very neat.’
‘Thank you, Mr. Buchanan.’
Joshua Prescott rose like a walrus. He went back over the picnic. ‘Is it true that you and Miss Sachs were making – how can I put it? – a kind of twosome, that day?’
‘You could put it that way.’
‘But then she went swimming with Mr. Alexander, did she not?’
‘Aye.’
‘And they played games and teased each other?’
‘Aye.’
‘How did you feel about that?’
‘It was all in fun.’
‘You were not jealous, it was just a bit of fun?’
‘That’s all.’
‘And afterwards you went home with her. Was there anyone else in the house?’
‘No.’
‘And she gave you a drink?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you had been drinking quite a bit that day, all of you?’
‘Well, I canna say that.’
‘Come, Mr. Buchanan, you are quite a heavy drinker, are you not?’
‘I . . .’
‘What was that? Can you speak up? We cannot hear you, Mr. Buchanan. Yes or no?’
‘I had a sair leg. It helped.’
‘You had a bad leg? Is that it? And alcohol helped?’
‘Aye.’
‘And the others?’
‘They drank a fair bit.’
‘Did you have sexual intercourse with Miss Sachs when you took her home?’
‘No.’
‘Did you try?’
‘No.’
Kate remembered what Charles had told her: how Miriam had taunted him about Duggie being a better lover than he, and she knew Duggie was lying. Everyone is the same, she thought, they’re only concerned with saving themselves.
‘Had you ever had sexual intercourse with Miss Sachs before?’ Prescott said.
Duggie looked around the court. Mr. Nel was on his feet, objecting.
The judge said, ‘Mr. Prescott, I hope this is relevant.’
‘It is, m’lord. If Mr. Buchanan had sexual intercourse with Miss Sachs while he was with her in the house, that would possibly explain the bruising.’ He turned back to Duggie. ‘I repeat, had you ever been intimate with Miss Sachs?’
‘Aye.’
‘I put it to you that you took Miss Sachs home that evening, and that you indulged in rough sexual intercourse.’
‘That’s no’ the truth of it!’
Kate watched him limp away from the witness box. He was sweating, and he kept his eyes away from Charles. As he passed her, he looked up and gave a sickly smile.
Guy Bedford whispered to her, ‘Prescott’s trying to muddy the water.’
‘How?’
‘As far as I can see, he has no witnesses of his own, so the only thing he can do is try to confuse the issue, cast doubts, suspicions. It’s a better gambit with a jury, but you can never tell even with a judge and assessors. They’re only human.’
Jerry was next. Nel took him through the picnic and what had happened later. Then it was Prescott’s turn again.
‘Now let me see, you’re a friend of Mr. Preller’s, are you not? An old friend?’
‘We were at school together.’
‘And you’ve been close ever since?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you were tremendous rivals too, weren’t you? I mean, in sport, things like that?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘You suppose so? I put it to you that you spent much of your time playing golf and tennis and competing with each other.’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you compete in other ways?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I mean, with girls? Were they not fair game between you?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I’ll try to explain. Is it not true that at one time Miss Sachs had been close to Mr. Preller?’
‘They grew up together.’
‘That is not answering the question. Were they, or were they not, close?’
‘Yes.’
‘Now at the picnic, Miss Sachs swam in the rock pools, and you swam with her.’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you wear bathing-costumes?’
‘We hadn’t brought any.’
‘What did you swim in, then?’
‘Nothing.’
‘I see. The court has heard that you and Miss Sachs played games in the water, enjoyed yourselves.’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you not find this provocative?’
‘It was only . . .’
‘A bit of fun?’
‘That’s right.’
Guy Bedford turned to Kate again. ‘He’s got us focussed on Alexander now. Anyone, so long as we don’t focus on your husband. He’s clever, I’ll give him that.’
Prescott looked at his notes. ‘Let’s move on. You and Mr. Buchanan were drinking at the hotel when Mr. Preller returned, is that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘And he sat down and had a drink with you. He was looking ruffled. Did he offer any explanation?’
‘He said he’d taken Miss Sachs down to one of the old houses, a place where they had often been before. He said they’d had a . . . well, a fight.’
‘Did he say why?’
‘No.’
‘But you guessed?’
‘Well, I thought he would have tried, you know, to, uh . . . to make love to her.’
‘And he told you and Mr. Buchanan he had left her down on the coast road?’
‘He said she wouldn’t get into the car.’
‘I see. Then what did you do?’
‘I left them a few minutes later to see how my wife was.’
‘Was she ill?’
‘She’d had a headache.’
‘You and she had had a row, hadn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Because I had swum in the nude with Miss Sachs.’
‘So you went to see if she was all right. And was she?’
‘She was asleep.’
‘And?’
‘I was tired too, so I went to bed.’
Prescott fanned himself for a moment, then said, ‘And that’s where you stayed? In bed?’
‘Yes.’
‘So if I were to bring a witness who says he saw you getting into your motor-car about that time, he would be mistaken?’
‘I . . . uh . . .’ Jerry looked around uncertainly. Kate could see his big, square hands gripping the sides of the box.
‘Mr. Alexander, may I remind you that you are under oath.’
‘I . . . you see, I couldn’t sleep. So I went for a drive.’
The court stirred. Prescott paused, and with an actor’s sense of timing, said, ‘A drive. I see. Where did you go for your drive?’
‘Just along the road.’
‘Which road. The coast road?’
‘No . . .’
&nb
sp; ‘The road that runs past Miss Sachs’ house?’
‘No.’
‘Come, Mr. Alexander, which road?’
‘The Agulhas Road.’
‘You went out onto the Agulhas Road. What then?’
‘I stopped and had a cigarette.’
‘In the middle of the night you got up, got into your car, drove out onto the Agulhas Road and had a cigarette?’ Prescott’s voice was filled with contempt and disbelief.
‘Yes.’
‘What did you do then?’
‘I went back to the hotel. I thought I’d have a last nightcap with Mr. Preller and Mr. Buchanan, but they had left for Cape Town. So I went back to bed.’
‘Did your wife wake up?’
‘Yes. She spoke to me, asked if anything was wrong.’
‘But she is tragically not with us now?’
‘She died in a car accident.’
‘So we have only your word for all this?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Yes, I suppose so, too. Mr. Alexander, I put it to you that you heard what Mr. Preller said about his experience with Miss Sachs, that you got out your car and went down to the coast road and found her walking back to town. You offered her a lift and tried to make love to her. When she fought you off, you strangled her, perhaps accidentally, but she died nevertheless. You then took the body to the cove, undressed it and put it into the water, hoping it would be sucked out to the reef and that she would have been thought to have drowned.’
‘That’s a lie!’
‘Thank you, Mr. Alexander.’
Nel rose to his feet. ‘Just two questions, Mr. Alexander. Did you go near the coast road?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Were you ever intimate with Miss Sachs, that night or any other?’
‘No, sir.’
At the lunch adjournment Nel came across to Prescott and said, ‘That’s the first I’ve heard of this witness of yours.’
‘What witness?’
‘The one who’s going to say that Alexander went driving.’
‘I didn’t say I had a witness. I said if I were to bring a witness.’
Nel smiled. ‘Do you think I don’t know your tricks, Josh?’
‘Stands to reason that’s what he’d be likely to do after what had been happening all day. And that naked swimming. Christ, she was like a bitch on heat.’
They went out of the court together. Kate stood watching them, thankful that Mr. Sachs was not in court to hear them.
‘They seem so friendly,’ she said to Bedford. ‘You wonder they can be on different sides.’