‘But he’ll be fit for Monday?’
‘Oh, yes. Providing he looks after himself over the week-end. Plenty of rest and exercise and he’ll be fine. I also suggest that the prison medical service takes over his insulin injections. To make sure they are delivered consistently and over the correct time periods. He might well have missed some of his injections and made up for it by overdosing. Taking too much in a short period of time. He also told me he’d had nothing to eat after breakfast at six this morning. And from what he tells me that wasn’t much. He had to leave the prison before the usual breakfast was available. It might be an idea to limit his time in the witness box and ensure he gets the right sort of nourishment while he’s at court.’
‘Could that have been a factor?’
‘I doubt it, but it would be sensible to make appropriate arrangements, just in case. Type two diabetes is not fully understood, even now. I have had many patients in the past who have controlled it through diet and exercise alone, but that takes some doing. I don’t think Hanlon has the required determination’
‘Don’t you? I might have to beg to differ about that! But thank you doctor. We won’t keep you any longer. You’ve been very helpful.’
‘I might add,’ said Hutchinson as he stood up, ‘that lounging around all day in a cell doesn’t help. Exercise is very important, but I suppose there’s not much opportunity for that in prison?’
‘There are facilities provided,’ said Cronshaw.
‘Especially where he’s going next,’ added Morrison.
‘Good,’ said Hutchinson as he made for the door.
After the doctor departed, Cronshaw chuckled to himself.
‘You’ve got to hand it to Hanlon. He’s planned this right down to the point he collapsed. The jury will remember exactly what he was saying when he apparently lost consciousness. Nothing like a bit of drama to fix something in the jury’s mind.’
‘But he can’t have been pretending,’ objected Markham-Moore. ‘His sugar levels were dangerously low.’
‘Of course they were. We know he’s prepared to take risks. His entire life has been one of taking risks. Who but a risk-taker would involve himself in blackmailing a judge? No, he’s deliberately overdosed on insulin to ensure he did collapse. Perfect timing too!’
‘But why?’ asked Markham-Moore. ‘What’s in it for him?’
The chief inspector interrupted.
‘Perhaps he thought he’d be rushed to hospital. Remember, he tried to get to hospital from Whitemoor when he offered a kidney for his so-called son.’
‘Well, he’s failed if that was his motive. But something tells me there’s more to it than that.’
‘I have the same feeling,’ said Hood. ‘There’s too much happening for it to be a coincidence. We’ve made no progress locating his son. I suspect he was lying about that. The woman Bridget who wrote to him has not been found. Probation doesn’t have an address for her or any idea where she might be.’
‘Then there’s this Maguire business,’ said Cronshaw.
‘Yes. I suppose she’s likely to undermine Hanlon’s identification if she’s called and we mustn’t overlook Doyle. He’s about to be released. A perfect storm. None of which is going to help us. I have real concerns about Doyle. I’m beginning to wonder if the assaults on him weren’t designed for that very purpose. To get him released.’
Hood’s frustration was quite evident.
‘But he was stabbed, wasn’t he?’ said Morrison. ‘And rushed to hospital.’
‘True. But nothing vital was damaged. The senior prison officer at Draycott Heath shares my doubts. He reckons it could have been a put-up job. Another prisoner by the name of Manning - Dudley Manning - he was with Doyle when he was found. He’s since been paroled. And what do you know? He’s vanished. He’s in breach of his parole conditions but no-one knows where he is.’
‘Where should he be?’ asked Cronshaw. There was a note of real concern in his voice.
‘His parole address is in Coventry. He used to be a dentist in Leamington Spa, but he was struck off following his conviction for fraud. He was very pally with Doyle in Draycott.’
‘Do we know what he looks like?’
‘I have a photo, but I don’t know how up to date it is. Do you think he might have been here?’
‘It’s a possibility. Doyle might have asked him to keep an eye on things. There is CCTV covering the court entrance isn’t there?’
‘Yes. I’ll check it out, if you think it worthwhile?’
Cronshaw nodded.
‘If you would. I’m concerned he may be up to something on Doyle’s behalf, or on someone else’s.’
Hood paused and scratched his forehead.
‘I was wondering, sir. Is it too late to stop Doyle’s release?’
Cronshaw sighed.
‘Probably, but I’ll mention your concerns to the Attorney General. He won’t be released until this trial is over, but at the rate we’re going, that should be at the end of next week!’
‘Hanlon’s illness might drag it out for a bit longer?’
‘Everdene will be finished with him before lunch on Monday,’ said Cronshaw, ‘and the rest of our case will probably be agreed. Then there’s your evidence. We’ll be on to the defence case by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.’
‘Unless further problems emerge,’ said Markham-Moore.
‘There’s something else,’ said Hood. ‘We’ve checked with the hospital in Swansea. Someone giving the name Kelly Maguire was admitted there on the fifteenth of March just like Mr Everdene suggested. It was an emergency admission and so no-one really checked her identity. It was accepted she was who she said she was. She had her appendix removed. But this is the interesting bit. She discharged herself against medical advice during the afternoon of the seventeenth. She just upped and left. It wasn’t noticed she had gone until the evening. And she never attended any follow-up sessions.’
‘But surely they checked her medical records?’
‘Not in any detail until after the operation.’
‘Did they match with what they knew about the patient they operated on?
‘Blood type was the same and there was nothing that stood out as being inconsistent.’
‘You’ll have to ask her to show us her scar,’ said Markham-Moore. He was not being entirely serious.
‘If there’s any doubt about it, I shall,’ said Cronshaw. He sighed. ‘What about the stuff uplifted during the search of Grayling’s home? I’ve asked that it should be re-examined.’
‘There’s a whole storeroom full of it. My superintendent wants rid of it but it’s all still there. I insisted we kept it until this trial was over. I’m having it gone through now. Hooper and Craddock are examining it as we speak. Is there something in particular you’re after?’
‘His correspondence. Letters, postcards, all that sort of thing.’
‘I think he had most of that destroyed before he died. His computer disappeared too. But I’ll have it checked out by Monday.’
Chapter Thirty
Julia Hamilton was still lodged in the Crown Court female cell area two hours after the judge had risen. She was, of course, kept well away from Hanlon, although she could not have missed hearing the activity surrounding him. She was told there would be a delay before she was removed to Foston Hall. Inspector Bullock intended to use her transfer back to prison as part of his security operation. The vehicle containing her would leave first, providing an additional inconvenience for anyone planning to try and release Hanlon. Three identical detention vehicles would leave one after the other, all with police escorts. It would be impossible to work out which vehicle contained Hanlon until they separated after leaving Nottingham city centre. One of them would contain no-one other than two custody officers.
The delay gave Edwin Everdene and Felicity Garrard additional
time to speak with their client. Giles Pepper was not in attendance. He was engaged in another case at Southwark Crown Court. The senior partner, Oliver Digby, was standing in for him. Julia Hamilton was more than happy with the way the trial was going. She was quick to congratulate Everdene on his cross-examination skills but somewhat disappointed, or so it seemed, that examination of Hanlon had been cut short.
‘It’s a pity, that,’ she said. ‘I wonder what else he might have disclosed. Perhaps you’ll believe me now. Did I not always say that the phone call on the twelfth of March was a set-up?’
‘I must say, I was not expecting him to come out with that, at least not so easily,’ said Everdene. ‘But the fact that he says Grayling knew his phone was being monitored by the police puts a quite different complexion on the evidence overall. Felicity tells me it had quite an impact on the jury.’
‘It certainly did,’ confirmed Felicity Garrard. ‘Several of them looked quite taken aback. If they were minded to think you made the call, I suspect they’ll be having second thoughts after what Hanlon said.’
‘But there’s still his identification of you and Maguire. That remains a concern,’ said Everdene.
‘But if Maguire gives evidence in accordance with the statement Giles Pepper obtained from her, won’t that blow what he says out of the water?’
Everdene smiled. ‘The danger is that if the jury concludes he’s lying about that, they may dismiss his evidence altogether. And we don’t want that. We are really trying to have it both ways. We’re inviting the jury to believe him about the phone tapping and to reject his evidence about your presence in Hastings on the sixteenth. It would tactically be wiser simply to suggest he was mistaken about his identification of you and Maguire. After all, he only had her in his sight for a few seconds. And he’s already admitted he’d never seen you before and never saw you again until today. Plenty of room for error.’
Julia nodded her understanding of the position but remained obviously troubled.
‘But he saw her several times afterwards. Won’t that make a simple mistake less likely?’
‘That’s a possibility, of course. We’ll have to wait for Monday morning and see how things develop, always assuming he’s fit to attend court. I didn’t have the opportunity to investigate his later contact with her before he collapsed.’
‘He should be well enough by Monday,’ said Felicity Garrard. ‘I know it’s difficult, but as you say, things are going very well at the moment. Actually, our case could hardly have gone better. Not quite a walk in the park, but I think we’re certainly ahead on points!’
‘But what if he isn’t fit? I just couldn’t go through all this again. I really couldn’t.’
‘From what I’ve heard, he should be,’ assured Garrard.
‘You’re still keen to give evidence,’ asked Everdene, changing the subject.
‘Of course, but I’ll be advised about that when the time comes.’
Everdene turned to the question of Julia’s mother. She had been kept out of court because she was a potential witness for the defence.
‘Now that we have Maguire on board, I don’t think we’ll need to call your mother. The prosecution doesn’t seem to be disputing your movements on the fifteenth of March.’
‘That’s right,’ said Garrard. ‘Markham-Moore is drafting some further admissions which will deal with all that.’
‘So she can come into court then? She’s promised to stay until the end of the trial. She brings me a change of clothes every day but they’ve refused my request to allow her down here to see me.’
‘That’s not a surprise. They won’t allow anyone into the cell area to see you, apart from your legal team, until the prosecution case has concluded. No social visits. You won’t believe the level of security around the court and outside this building. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘What? For my benefit? They think I’m going to escape?’
‘I don’t think it’s really for you. It’s Hanlon they’ll be worried about and, to a lesser extent, Duffy. But he’s completed his evidence. He’s unlikely to be recalled.’
‘So there’s no chance of my seeing my child either?’
‘Not down here, no. Even without the security, a child of that age would not be permitted in the cells. Is your mother still looking after him?’
‘Yes, and she’s been here every day, although I haven’t been allowed to see her. She has to hand over my change of clothes to the custody officer. I telephone her when I get back to the prison. That’s the only contact I’m allowed.’
‘If she’s here every day, who’s looking after Michael?’
Julia smiled.
‘She’s employed a nanny for a couple of weeks. I’m very fond of my mother, but she’s not the maternal kind. If I’m convicted, the plan is for her to take Michael with her to Portugal. The nanny will probably go with her.’
‘Let’s have no talk of being convicted. As things stand, we seem to be winning with the jury, although it’s always difficult to read what they’re actually thinking.’
Julia could not shake off a degree of nervousness.
‘At least the judge seems very fair. I liked it when he mentioned the case he tried in Sheffield. Cronshaw seemed very unhappy about that.’
‘Let’s try and keep him unhappy shall we?’ smiled Everdene. ‘But we mustn’t get complacent. If I know Harold Cronshaw he’ll be working all week-end trying to retrieve the situation. We mustn’t assume anything. There’s no saying what Hanlon may come out with on Monday.’
* * * *
Oliver Digby had said nothing during the consultation in the cells. As the party of three climbed the stairs out of the cell area and emerged into the public part of the building, Everdene asked his opinion of the day’s events. Digby could not see well enough to express any view on the jury’s reactions, but he had listened carefully to everything that had occurred. He had developed a sixth sense over the years. His assessment of a case was as good as anyone’s, probably better.
‘One thing troubles me,’ he said, as Everdene guided him onto the staircase that led to the robing room. ‘I don’t quite understand why Hanlon was so quick to reveal that Grayling knew his phone was being tapped. You hadn’t even suggested it to him. The prosecution must have asked him in some detail about that phone call and he’d obviously said nothing about it. He’s far too intelligent not to have appreciated its importance. But his witness statement is entirely silent about it. I simply can’t believe that a detective of Hood’s experience would not have raised it with him. Which means he has deliberately suppressed it and kept it from them. And it goes further than that. His real reason for giving evidence at all was to try and get a reduction in his sentence. And yet he comes out with something that completely undermines his prospects of achieving his objective. It simply doesn’t add up.’
‘I must confess I was not expecting him to give it up quite so easily. But it’s done now and will not do us any harm.’
Digby smiled.
‘This is going to be a very difficult week-end. Monday will seem a very long way off! I wasn’t going to be here next week, but wild horses wouldn’t keep me away now.’
Chapter Thirty-One
Joseph Hanlon arrived at Mansfield Shirebrook without incident. If anyone had been tailing his convoy, the escorting team of armed police officers had not observed anything even remotely suspicious. The police helicopter had followed them for most of the journey and had circled over the prison for nearly 15 minutes before departing. Inspector Bullock had organised flypasts every hour until 8.00pm when the inmates were locked in their individual cells for the night. After he had gone through the booking-in procedures, Hanlon was taken immediately to the medical unit where he was thoroughly examined. He was told he would spend his first night on the adjacent medical ward. There were no other inmates present to disturb him. The doc
tor, a young man who visited the prison three days a week, or when called on in the event of an emergency, informed him he would be moved to his cell the following morning. He would be given individual doses of insulin for him to inject himself morning and evening. Those injections were to be supervised either by one of the medical staff or a prison officer. Hanlon nodded his agreement but said nothing.
It was quickly apparent from the moment he arrived that everyone was aware who Hanlon was. He had only caught a glimpse of a few other prisoners as he had passed through the wing, but they appeared wary of him. No-one attempted to speak to him. He would not, he was told, be required to do anything over the week-end and would be allowed one hour each day in the exercise area. He was informed he would be interviewed by the assistant governor after he returned from court the following Monday. Until he had completed his evidence, in accordance with the judge’s directions, he would be permitted no contact with any other prisoner or anyone representing the prosecution. His meals would be brought to him and his exercise periods would take place away from other prisoners. For security reasons, he would not be told when such periods would occur, but he was reassured they would not be overlooked. The doctor appreciated the importance of exercise given his condition. Hanlon remained sulkily silent. He was taking in as much of the layout of the prison as he could. He had noted the exercise area and the sports field next to it. He had also observed that the security netting had not been completed. There was an open space over the far side of the Astroturf area, just as he had been informed when still at Whitemoor. After the doctor departed, he settled down on his bed with his hands behind his head and relaxed. As he pondered his immediate future, he smiled and looked at the clock on the wall. The next 48 hours were going to be crucial.
A Private and Convenient Place Page 26