by Millie Gray
Felix Martin coughed and looked up at the judge. The judge reacted by saying to Bill Gracie, ‘Counsel, could you have your witness come back to your original question?’ Bill nodded.
‘Now, Mrs Stewart, we accept that the young man who came back from the war was very different . . .’
‘Yes,’ Nessie quickly interrupted, ‘he was. You see he was treated like an animal and the things he saw and were done to him, honestly . . .’
The judge banged his gavel. He looked at the jury and said, ‘The testimony of Mrs Stewart concerning her son’s treatment in the war has no bearing on this case and you should disregard it.’
Bill smiled inwardly. The jury had now been given an instruction but no way could they forget Nessie’s heartfelt testimony.
Nessie’s ordeal, however, was not over because she then had to face Felix Martin again.
Pulling on the lapels of his black robe Felix Martin made a play of consulting his notes. ‘Now, Mrs Stewart,’ he began slowly and distinctly, ‘can I take you back to Friday the 22nd June 1945?’ She nodded her assent.
Laura exhaled long and huskily. Take her back, she thought, no need to take her back – that is where she lives now. Oh yes, ever since that day, she has lived and relived it, always asking for reassurance that there was nothing she could have done differently that would have changed what happened.
Felix Martin continued. ‘Now you have stated that on that day you were of the opinion that your son, the accused Eric Stewart, had advised you that he intended to meet up with his estranged wife, Edna Stewart, at her mother, Judy Fox’s, house in Primrose Street. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss reconciliation?’ Nessie nodded. ‘Earlier in the month your son had returned home from the war and found out that his wife had had a child that he believed that he had not fathered . . .’
‘Well, since he was away for five years and the bairn is just a toddler what else could he think?’
‘So would you say that he was rather put out . . . ?’
‘Well, I’m not in the same class as you but even in your class I would suggest that you would hardly be jumping for joy when you arrived home and the threesome family you thought you were had become four.’
Felix Martin made no comment on Nessie’s observations. ‘Now is it true that without consultation with his wife he asked you to remove his son William Stewart from her care and that you have been caring for him ever since?’ Nessie nodded again. ‘Was the little boy not . . . let’s say . . . bewildered that a stranger, which is what his father would appear to him to be, had removed him and denied him the comfort that his loving mother lavished on him?’
‘It’s true that the wee laddie has been affected by all this. But it was the granny, Judy Fox, that was really caring for him and his wee half-sister . . .’ Nessie hesitated. ‘God please forgive me because it is bad to speak ill of the dead but Edna was wild when Eric got in tow with her but when the American soldiers arrived she just lost the place completely.’ Nessie stopped and swallowed hard before adding, ‘Mind you, Edna never ever really had the place. She, God rest her soul, didnae come from a family where she would have been told what was a sin and what was not.’
‘I would put it to you that this is in your staunch Protestant opinion.’
Nessie’s gaze now strayed over to the dock where her son was seated. She so wished to help him and she was going to say more about Edna but Eric had loved her, still did, and she decided not to add further to what she thought was wrong with Edna and her mother.
However, Felix Martin sensed Nessie’s reluctance and very forcefully he said, ‘Thank you for your vivid opinion on your daughter-in-law and her upbringing.’ He rubbed his chin and pondered before adding, ‘And you are asking this court to believe that when your son left your home on Friday the 22nd June 1945 to visit his wife, in what you consider a house of perhaps ill repute, that he had no reckless desire to avenge the embarrassing wrong that he thought his wife had done him?’
Laura could see that Nessie now realised she had made a mistake and had given Felix Martin some ammunition to use against Eric. She was just about to shout down that she wished Felix Martin to leave her mother alone when she was restrained by someone placing a hand over her arm.
‘Kitty,’ she whispered as tears surfaced. Kitty waved her hand to indicate that nothing should be said right now. All the comfort Kitty could give Laura was to link her arm through hers.
Nessie flustered then stuttered out, ‘I didn’t know that he had taken the knife with him. But it is wild in that street on a Friday night so I think he took it for protection.’
‘Protection,’ Felix said with an air of reflection, ‘exactly from whom? Your son at five feet eight is four inches taller than what his wife was and his mother-in-law is, so they could hardly be described as menacing.’
‘None of them,’ Nessie shouted. ‘He took it in case she was with a man again.’
‘I accept that but that also means he intended to put an end to someone’s life.’
‘Noooooooo. What I meant to say was . . .’
Felix Martin bowed to the judge whilst saying, ‘I am finished with this witness.’
When the court proceedings finished for the day Laura turned to Kitty. ‘I thought you would not be back until next week. Tomorrow it’s Judy Fox on the stand in the morning and Eric in the afternoon. Or that is the plan but they say it is flexible. Friday or Monday should see the summing up then the jury goes out and we wait . . .’ Breathing in heavily through her nose Laura pressed her hand over her mouth before grabbing for Kitty’s arm and whispering, ‘I don’t think I am strong enough to hear the verdict . . .’
‘You are. And you will be there to help your mum no matter what the verdict is.’
Felix Martin made a big play of telling the jury how Judy Fox was a victim in this case – a grieving mother who had lost a dear and precious daughter. When he got down to the actual questioning of her, whom he had covertly coached, he said, ‘Now I know how difficult it is for you to tell us, but in your own words, and in your own time, I wish you to tell us what happened in your home when the accused, Eric Stewart, burst into your house?’
‘I remember the thudding on the outside door of my ground-floor home in Primrose Street. Then the door was kicked as Eric shouted, “I know you are in there so let me in.” The door wasnae strong and it burst open and in he came. Edna was in the bedroom and he ran in there . . . she was just no match for him . . . I saw the knife glinting before she jumped up from the bed and begged him to let him go . . . I mean, I mean, the knife go. She desperately wrestled with him and the next thing I knew there was blood, my wee lassie’s life blood spurting all over the place, so much blood I knew she was done for.’
Eric jumped up and he pointed a finger at Judy but before he could speak he was restrained by both of his prison officers so he could only sink down dejected.
After that, Felix Martin only asked Judy about the calling of the ambulance and police and the police officer, Mark Bolan, calling late on to say that Edna had been pronounced dead.
Bill Gracie also started his questioning by offering Judy his condolences on her loss. He then adopted a rather soft approach, which Laura found annoying. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘I just wish to say that it is acceptable to me that you answer my questions in your own words.’ He allowed a brief pause. ‘Your daughter, Edna Stewart, was she well on the 22nd June 1945?’ Judy nodded. ‘Not sick or tired?’ Judy shook her head. ‘Then why was she in bed so early, because in a statement that you gave to the police you said that she was a late bedder? I think you stated that she was never asleep before two o’clock in the morning.’
Judy looked over to Felix Martin, as if she was trying to get guidance from him, but his facial features remained impassive.
‘She was in the bedroom by herself, getting titivated up to go out on the town, was all she was doing.’
‘Mrs Fox, there is no easy way to put this but was your daughter working as a prostitute?’
Judy banged her hand down on the edge of the witness stand before she spat, ‘She was not a prostitute!’ Mellowing her tone she looked about the court. Kitty felt she was hoping to find someone who was sympathetic to her. ‘She was young so she liked a good time,’ she continued. ‘What was wrong with that? She wasn’t any different from anybody else her age. I mean it wasn’t her fault that Eric got himself taken prisoner. Five years he was away. She thought he was dead. And when he came back he was so changed it would have been better if he had been killed.’
Bill Gracie did not challenge Judy on her statements. However, he did give a pensive look to his papers before saying, ‘Now, Mrs Fox, who was the man lying on the bed with your daughter?’
‘There was no man. That is just a lie that Eric concocted so he would get himself off with killing my Edna.’
‘But you let it slip that Edna begged Eric to let whoever it was with her go. He must have been a right gentleman that he ran off and left Edna to face Eric who was chasing him with a knife.’
Judy Fox had endured a hard life and she was not the brightest star in the sky so she blundered on with, ‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘No. Then how about you tell us how it was then?’
‘My Edna,’ Judy began with a voice full of emotion, ‘oh aye, she was just so gorgeous and full of life that all the boys buzzed about her like bees around honey.’ She paused. ‘And she never sold herself cheap. She . . .’ Judy realised she had now given too much away and she started to cry profusely.
Bill Gracie raised his hands to indicate that there was no point in going on with the witness. The judge nodded agreement and looking directly at a stone-faced Felix Martin he suggested it was a suitable time to adjourn for the day.
Once they were outside the court Laura turned to Kitty, and putting both her hands on Kitty’s cheeks, she asked, ‘How did you manage to get time off to come here? And more importantly how did you know I would need your support?’
Before Kitty could answer, Nessie came out of the court house and when she saw the girls she sprang over to them. ‘I think I made a mess of it yesterday but see with what Judy has just said I think Eric might have a chance. What do you think?’
Kitty and Laura exchanged anxious looks with each other. Yes it was true that Judy would have made the jury think that there was a possibility that Eric had never intended to kill Edna when he entered that house. However, he had a knife, a knife he had deliberately taken with him because he had murder in his heart.
The following day it was Eric’s turn to be grilled by Felix Martin. Nessie, Laura and Kitty, who had just three hours’ sleep after coming off night shift, sat silently in the public gallery. It was as if they couldn’t bear to say to each other what they were thinking.
After being sworn in, Eric stood upright in the witness stand. He agreed with Felix Martin that he had taken the knife from his mother’s house but he said that he had done so for his own defence because some of the men Edna associated with were villains. Felix Martin then put it to Eric that he had murdered Edna in a fit of jealousy.
Eric shook his head. ‘Who knows?’ he replied, staring ahead and seeing nothing. ‘I don’t think I did. You see I loved her, in spite of it all I loved her – still do. It was just that she had been brought up all wrong. She’d never been told that selling yourself to any man that wanted to buy was wrong . . . and in Edna’s case it was adultery.’
Felix Martin leaned forward, and looking at Eric but directing his voice to the jury he forcibly said, ‘Mister Stewart, please just answer the questions that are put to you. Now is it true that you, with wicked recklessness, did stab your wife thus severing her carotid artery which resulted in her almost immediate death?’
Biting on his bottom lip Eric took time to compose himself before saying, ‘I honestly don’t know. All I know was I went down to Primrose Street to speak to her . . . ask her to consider us getting on better. When I barged into the house, and I had to kick the door in, to get entry, all I can remember is that I heard Edna giggling. I thought she had a man with her in that bedroom and me her husband had never been in bed with her since I left for the war. Blinding rage consumed me. I wanted vengeance for all that I had suffered. Could nobody see my pain, my sense of betrayal? Everything after I opened the bedroom door and saw the man with her is a nightmare. I think I fished the knife from my pocket, I lunged for the man, then there was a scuffle . . . Judy says that I deliberately stabbed at Edna, no . . . that just couldn’t be . . . if I hurt her it was an accident . . . and who says I did it? When I realised Edna’s blood was spurting from her . . .’ Eric paused. ‘I froze. And all I can remember after that was seeing the knife lying on the floor and I heard running footsteps out on the street.’
‘So we are left with your story of what happened and Mrs Fox’s and why would she lie?’
‘Because that is all she has ever done where Edna was concerned. Oh aye, when Edna and I were first married and I would come home and find Edna wasn’t there and when I asked where she was her mother would always say, “She’s away to the washhouse in Bonnington Road”.’ Eric gave a derisive chuckle. ‘Edna away to the washhouse, well that’s a big laugh because not only did she not know what a washhouse was for she didn’t know how to wash. Believe me, it was my mother’s job to run down to Primrose Street and collect all my wee Billy’s dirty nappies and return them all freshly laundered.’
Felix then indicated with a nod to the judge that he was finished cross-examining Eric. Immediately, Bill Gracie got to his feet. However, before he could start questioning Eric the judge lifted his gavel and after banging it three times he asked both counsels to meet with him in his chambers. The macer then appeared and the mace was removed from the wall thus signalling that the judge was not in court.
Laura grabbed her mother’s arm. ‘Mum, what does this mean?’ She then turned to Kitty. ‘Do you know why they have gone away to have a discussion?’
‘No. But what I do know is that there is something wrong . . . very wrong. I’ve been watching the judge. Don’t be fooled by the way he seemed to be unaware of all that was going on and a bit disinterested. Now yesterday when Judy gave her testimony, he became quite animated. What I am trying to say is that there was something about Judy’s testimony that caused a change in him. And today from the start of the proceedings I noticed that he seemed to be completely engrossed with what Eric had to say.’ Kitty paused. She did not wish to upset Laura and Nessie but she had to prepare them for any change in the proceedings. ‘I’m afraid we have to prepare ourselves. Whatever the judge says when he comes back into court please, please, do not overreact.’
‘But what exactly has changed, Kitty?’
‘I really don’t know, Laura. But what I think is that the judge isn’t at ease with what he has learned over the last two days.’
‘Are you saying that he might abandon this trial and set a date for a new one with a different jury?’
Kitty did not reply but she pursed her lips in an effort to control her panic. She just had to keep calm because she did have some knowledge of the law and of court proceedings. To be truthful, she sincerely wished she had not become aware that a problem had arisen. But what was it? All she knew for sure was that the judge was not happy about something. She bent her head as she tried to remember everything that Judy and Eric had said. All she could conclude from going over their testimonies was that if she had been completely unbiased she would not have had a clear picture of what exactly had taken place the night Edna was killed.
An agonising forty-five minutes passed so slowly that it seemed to Kitty and Laura that it was more like three hours. At one time Nessie, Laura and Kitty would be huddled together to support each other then they would individually lean forward, willing the door to open again and the judge and advocates to return. At one point Nessie tried to catch Eric’s eye. But since he was escorted back to the dock he sank down on his allotted chair and, holding his head in his hands, he rocked backwards and
forwards in utter despair. Giving his testimony had brought all of the horror of that fateful night back. He tried ever so hard to push everything about Edna, and the way that she had been killed, deep down into his subconscious. It had also brought back the resentment of the way she had made such a fool of him, humiliated him, just like when he had been taken prisoner and all his rights as a human being were stripped from him.
When the two learned counsels re-entered the chamber followed by the judge and the macer, who rehung the mace on the wall, Kitty tried to gauge by their faces if they were pleased or put out. Bill Gracie, she thought, had a spring in his step. But when she looked at Felix Martin she couldn’t fathom how he was feeling because neither his facial features nor his positive bearing gave any indication as to how his case had been affected by what had gone on in the judge’s chambers.
Once the judge was reseated he banged his gavel three times. Kitty wondered why because as soon as he came back in to preside over the trial a hush had descended on the court – a silence that was quite eerie. All of them wanted to know what was amiss and yet some, like Kitty and Lorna, were terrified that they were going to have their worst fears confirmed.
The judge then took his time to start to address the jury. Slowly and deliberately he began with, ‘After careful and deliberate consideration of the testimonies I have heard in this case I am of the opinion that the defendant’s charge of murder should be reduced to that of manslaughter. I came to this decision after giving full and thorough examination of the facts.’
Loud cheering erupted around the chamber. Men who had been in the war and who had known what it was like to witness man’s inhumanity to man and who would for the rest of their lives be changed by that, had dutifully attended the trial every day, and were relieved by the judge’s decision.