Ten Guilty Men (A DCI Morton Crime Novel Book 3)

by Sean Campbell

  ‘I heard. Your leg all right?’ Kieran’s brow furrowed in concern.

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Then give me a précis for each of your suspects,’ Kieran said.

  ‘Suspect number one is Gabriella Curzon. She’s yesterday’s hostage taker. She’s the victim’s half-sister, and best friend.’

  ‘What does she do for a living?’

  ‘She used to model,’ Morton said. ‘Now she’s a law student.’

  ‘So she knows the rules.’

  ‘I’ll get to that. First, means. Around the time Ellis was murdered, Gabriella was alone in the house for approximately half an hour. After Kallum Fielder and Aleksander Barchester left for the night, she was alone in the house with Francis Patrick Malone, a low-level–’

  ‘I remember Paddy Malone. He’s a regular.’

  ‘Paddy left to deal drugs. He was gone for half an hour and got back at approximately five to one in the morning, right before the clocks went forward by an hour for British Summer Time.’

  ‘He can’t be sure?’

  ‘Nope. The timings are all very loose other than those which we’ve taken from CCTV. Our suspects and witnesses were either drunk or high or both. Between that and the clock change, none of them can be sure what happened and when. We know that by 02:17, Gabriella was at Richmond Station. She caught a cab, and then went home with Paddy Malone.’

  ‘Short window.’

  ‘I agree,’ Morton said. ‘She was emotional that night. She had an argument with Aleksander Barchester. He said it was over her drug taking, but she claims she hasn’t touched anything more than a glass of wine in over three months.’

  ‘Do you believe her?’

  ‘Yes. I think they argued over Ellis. We found seminal DNA belonging to Barchester on Ellis’ bedroom sheets.’

  ‘Bingo. There’s motive.’

  ‘If I’m right, yes,’ Morton said. ‘But Gabriella is no saint. She went home with Paddy after all.’

  ‘This girl. She pretty? How would you rate her out of ten?’

  ‘Seriously? You’re going to letch on a suspect?’

  Kieran shook his head. ‘Don’t be daft. Just answer the question.’

  ‘Easily a nine. And if you tell Sarah that, you’re a dead man.’

  ‘Right. But Paddy, well, he’s isn’t the prettiest picture in the art gallery is he? It sounds like she was using him as an alibi,’ Kieran said.

  ‘But for that to work, she’d have needed to guarantee he left her at some point.’

  ‘How drunk was he?’

  ‘Very. He passed out in the taxi on the way home, and woke up without her the next morning.’

  ‘Then she could easily have found enough time to commit murder.’

  ‘Perhaps. But Brianna is the better suspect in terms of time. She could have slipped back into the house any time between half twelve and just before three. As long as Gabriella didn’t see her, she’d be golden.’

  Kieran stroked his chin thoughtfully. ‘Brianna is set to inherit. She’s got a much better motive.’

  ‘What if both Ellis and Brianna died? Wouldn’t Gabriella get Edgecombe Lodge then?’

  ‘Normally, yes.’ Kieran said. ‘But you can’t profit from committing a crime. If Gabriella had murdered Brianna, she’d have been disinherited automatically.’

  ‘And if they’re both dead, and no one else inherits, then it goes to the Crown, right? We’re back to the Queen did it.’

  ‘No, we’re not. Gabriella is a half-sister. She can only inherit if Brianna doesn’t.’

  ‘Brianna’s alive,’ Morton said. ‘Surely that means Gabriella doesn’t get the house.’

  The lawyer shook his head slowly. ‘Not quite. Gabriella was never going to get the house by killing Brianna but–’

  ‘Gabriella’s notes on probate law said otherwise.’

  ‘Well, there’s why she’s a law student and I’m a lawyer. The rule of survivorship applies to spouses, not siblings. There’s only one way Gabriella can inherit.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘If Brianna is convicted for Ellis’ murder then she will be disinherited. If Gabriella killed Ellis and then successfully sets up Brianna, she’ll get everything,’ Kieran said. ‘All she’s got to do is convince a jury to believe Brianna did it, and she’ll get away with murder and inherit the lot in one stroke.’

  ‘She was desperate for Brianna to admit she killed Ellis.’

  ‘Did Brianna confess?’

  ‘She did, but she had a knife to her throat at the time,’ Morton said. ‘You can’t use that, can you?’

  ‘No... But I’m dealing with this from a criminal lawyer’s perspective. I don’t know whether that admission would be admissible in probate court. I suspect not, and if it were then it wouldn’t be particularly probative, but we can’t assume Gabriella isn’t working off some wonky student logic. Anything else against Gabriella?’

  ‘She set Kallum Fielder up to argue with Ellis, but she did so at Brianna’s request. They’ve both been open about this.’

  ‘How did they cause the argument?’

  ‘They stole two hundred pounds from his wallet, allegedly to see if he trusted Ellis or not. Kal was planning to propose. The missing money started the very public fight they had early on during the party.’

  ‘If Kal and Ellis had married, he’d have become her heir. Neither sister would have inherited. It doesn’t point to either of them alone.’

  ‘True. It might explain why Ellis was murdered that night though.’

  ‘I agree. But I’m more interested in who killed her than why she was murdered on that particular night. Tell me about Brianna.’

  ‘Brianna Jackson is twenty-eight. She’s divorced, no children, and she works as a veterinary assistant, which is why she has access to pentobarbital. Ayala found a stash when he searched her flat, hidden inside the toilet cistern. The lab matched it to both the victim and Walworth Veterinary Clinic where she works.’

  ‘Were she and Ellis close?’ Kieran asked.

  ‘Nope. Ellis encouraged her parents to leave their estate to good causes. Brianna inherited very little, and we believe this was a major source of contention. It doesn’t help that Ellis was fabulously rich, which Brianna was clearly jealous of, and Brianna is scraping by, surviving on handouts from her big sister which I think was payment for pento rather than generosity.’

  ‘And with your victim getting clean, that money was about to dry up,’ Kieran concluded.

  ‘Exactly. That and the window to inherit combined give her plenty of motive.’

  ‘What about means?’

  ‘She came back,’ Morton said. ‘We’ve got her leaving Richmond on the district line, disembarking at Kew Gardens and doubling back on foot. She claims she was doing so to apologise.’

  ‘At gone midnight? That’s flimsy.’

  ‘I agree. She also set Kal up – via Gabriella. She had a key, and let herself in.’

  ‘Sounds like means, motive and opportunity.’

  ‘I agree. She was ostensibly the last person in the house. If she didn’t do it, Gabriella did–’

  ‘And vice versa. What time did Brianna return to the house?’

  ‘Half twelve.’

  ‘Wasn’t Gabriella there then?’ Kieran asked.

  ‘Yes, she was. Both claim not to have seen each other. Gabriella said she had a drink in the kitchen, used the bathroom then went out front for a smoke. Brianna on the other hand claims she found the house dark and the party over. She says she only came in for a few minutes and then left – without seeing anyone or finding the body.’

  ‘So the only way they could be telling the truth is if Brianna came in while Gabriella was in the bathroom, and left before Gabriella came outside for her cigarette – otherwise they would have seen each other. David, if that’s a coincidence then buy me a lottery ticket, because the odds are insane.’

  ‘What are you suggesting?’ Morton asked.

  ‘Two options. Either one of them commit
ted an immensely complicated murder but left no conclusive evidence by sheer dumb luck.’

  ‘Or?’

  ‘Or they’re working together. They’ve got neatly opposing stories. They’ve made you think they don’t get on, and they’ve pointed the finger at each other without being prompted to do so. It’s a classic cut-throat defence. If Gabriella says Brianna did it, and Brianna says Gabriella did it, then boom, reasonable doubt – and they both walk free. All they need to do after that is have Brianna issue a victim impact statement to minimise Gabriella’s sentence for kidnapping and then split the money later. They’re family so it wouldn’t be illegal to help each other out. It wouldn’t even be that suspicious.’

  ‘Kieran, you’ve got a cynical mind. I just don’t buy it.’

  ‘Then what would you have me do? Pick one at random and hope for the best? You’ve got a virtually identical case against both.’

  ‘Gabriella has proven bad character. She held a woman hostage!’

  ‘And Brianna would have done the same in a heartbeat. She left a nick in your leg. And you think she’s been dealing.’

  ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘Charge them together as co-conspirators.’

  ‘I don’t think they both did it,’ Morton said. ‘Can’t we charge them individually and let the jury decide?’

  ‘I can’t. If I charge both separately, they can point to the mere existence of two prosecutions as reasonable doubt. Neither case would make it as far as a jury. I have to make the case for them working together to murder Ellis.’

  ‘I don’t like it. If only one of them did it then you risk sending an innocent to prison.’

  ‘Nobody in prison is innocent. Not legally. You’re guilty if and when a jury says you are. It’s up to a jury to decide the facts and base their decision on those facts.’

  ‘This is wrong.’

  ‘Is it? You said yourself you can only provide the facts as you find them. The facts support a prosecution of both of them as co-defendants. Then it’s up to twelve members of the public to decide. They can find them both not guilty if they don’t think my case is good enough, and they might well do. But we can’t do nothing, and charging them individually isn’t an option.’

  ‘I’m not going to allow this.’

  ‘Allow it? I’m the prosecutor. This is my case, Morton. You’re overstepping your authority. I’m charging both of them with the murder of Ellis DeLange. Trust the jury. They’ll make the right decision.’

  Chapter 59: Richmond Magistrates’ Court

  It took a few weeks for the DeLange murder to wind up on the docket at Richmond-upon-Thames Magistrates’ Court for the first stage of the trial, which was simply to transfer the case over to the Crown Court. It struck Kieran as a bit of an oddity but it was a formality which had to be adhered to, and so he had made an early trip up to Richmond.

  The building itself was an unusual one. It was constructed out of whitewashed concrete and Plexiglas, and looked more like an art centre than a working criminal court. It sat at an odd juxtaposition to tree-lined streets filled with expensive apartments with balconies from which the residents could watch criminals being dragged into court.

  And this morning there was quite a spectacle.

  Camera crews were lined up outside the front entrance, clogging up the entire street, in the hope of hitting pay dirt when the defendants were hauled into court.

  They were much too late. The defendants had been moved to the holding cells underneath the court the night before, so the only shots they were going to get were of the lawyers walking into court.

  The morning’s real winner was Oscar Bruehl, a civil parking enforcement officer for Richmond Borough Council. He was having a field day working his way along the street, dishing out enforcement notice after enforcement notice to waywardly parked cars. By the time he’d shuffled idly by the news crews, most of the street had been carpet-bombed with black-and-yellow parking tickets, and Oscar had fulfilled his quota for the month – not that he officially had one, of course.

  ***

  Kieran always enjoyed the peace and quiet of the robing room before a court appearance. There was a certain ceremony to going into court, though today would not be a day to wear his wig and gown, as the plea before venue was a mere formality.

  Kieran didn’t mind. He was on the payroll. It didn’t matter to him how often he had to appear in court. At the end of the day, he’d collect his salary and go home – unlike the defence counsel, who often had to work for legal aid rates, or wait on payment for months at a time.

  He was happy with his lot in life. Being a prosecutor seemed to him the very best of both worlds. He got a salary and a pension, and there were none of the pesky ethical dilemmas of working defence. Every person that Kieran had put behind bars thoroughly deserved it. Morton might not have agreed with the decision, but it was his to make. He would put the case to the jury, and let them decide.

  He looked in the mirror, straightened his immaculately pressed tie and Inns of Court cufflinks, and walked out into the hallway – and straight into opposing counsel.

  ‘Miss Hollis.’ He nodded.

  ‘Mr O’Connor. Do you have a moment?’

  An ambush. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I’d like you to consider dropping the case.’

  ‘You know I can’t do that. The evidence merits a trial, and I have no intention of dropping anything. You make your case, and I’ll make mine,’ Kieran said and then began to walk away down the corridor.

  ‘Then you should know that neither I nor Mr Morgan-Bryant intend to attempt severance.’

  Kieran stopped dead in his tracks. He’d been expecting defence counsel to argue that being tried in the same courtroom was prejudicial. He’d have pretended to argue, but ultimately subtly lost that argument so that he could present two cases to two juries.

  ‘You’re not going for separate trials?’

  ‘No. As we see it, no jury can convict both. The evidence of collusion is almost as flimsy as the circumstantial evidence you’re trying to use.’

  ‘There’s an entire mountain of circumstantial evidence.’

  ‘No jury is going to convict two women for the same murder. Your evidence is the same against both. That’s more than enough for reasonable doubt.’

  ‘I disagree but thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’ll see you downstairs, Miss Hollis.’

  ‘Mr O’Connor? One more thing. Watch your back. That Morgan-Bryant is out to get you.’

  ‘I know.’

  ***

  Court One had never been so full. Every seat in the public gallery was full, and a number of journalists waited in the hallway. Morton had to resort to flashing his ID to secure a seat.

  The court rose as the district judge walked in, and then sank back into their seats as His Honour Judge Richards sat upon the bench.

  ‘My, my, we do have a busy courtroom today. I’ll warn you all at the outset to keep quiet during proceedings, and please don’t forget to turn off any mobile phone you may be carrying. If I so much as hear a phone vibrate, I will hold those responsible in contempt.’

  An usher stood, and read out the charges. Brianna and Gabriella stood in the dock with only a Perspex divider between them.

  ‘Who do we have in court today?’ Richards asked.

  ‘Miss Hollis; I represent Gabriella Curzon. Mr Elliot Morgan-Bryant represents Brianna Jackson, and my learned friend Mr Kieran O’Connor appears for the Crown.’

  ‘Then down to business. Do the defendants accept that there is a prima facie case to answer here?’

  ‘We do, Your Honour,’ Genevieve Hollis said. Morgan-Bryant stood for a moment to echo her.

  ‘Bail?’

  Kieran stood. ‘We request remand, Your Honour. Both defendants are a flight risk. Miss Curzon is awaiting sentencing on another matter, and there are additional charges pending against Miss Jackson. We consider that neither defendant has substantial ties to the community and therefore repres
ent a flight risk given that both of them have easy access to capital.’

  ‘Mr Morgan-Bryant, Miss Hollis. What say you?’

  Miss Hollis stood. ‘My client is already on remand for the charge that the prosecution is alluding to. She has proven her willingness to appear when required by attending today. She has already surrendered her passport to the courts to secure bail on that charge pending sentencing. She has a home in London and is currently studying for her final exams, which are due to take place shortly. We would ask that you extend the same courtesy so that she can continue studying, which will minimise the disruption when my client is eventually proven innocent.’

  ‘Proven innocent? You’re very confident, Miss Hollis. Mr Morgan-Bryant?’

  ‘I would ask for bail. My client has a home, a job, and is set to inherit a large estate. She has no reason to abscond.’

  ‘Your Honour, the Crown would respectfully disagree. If Miss Jackson is found guilty, then she will not inherit and thus has every reason to flee.’

  Richards nodded, looked down at his scribbled notes and then said: ‘Brianna Jackson, you are remanded pending trial. Miss Curzon, I will release you on the usual bail conditions. You may not leave the jurisdiction. You may not contact any witnesses.’

  Hollis rose. ‘Thank you, Your Honour.’

  ‘Are there any other pre-trial matters which I need to attend to?’ Richards asked, and looked around the courtroom.

  ‘None, Your Honour,’ Kieran said. ‘Both defendants have received advanced disclosure of the case against them, and the Crown stands ready for trial.’

  ‘Then pursuant to section six subsection two of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980, I have no choice but to commit this case forthwith for trial in the Crown Court. All parties will be informed of the court date by post.’

  Morton watched on. It was all routine stuff for Kieran, but it still fascinated Morton. In a mere three minutes, bail had been dealt with and the defendants sent off to be tried for murder.

  Chapter 60: Three Sundays

  The prosecution lawyer had been as good as his word, and once the agreement to testify was signed, Paddy was out of HMP Pentonville once more. Life was good.