"No blood on the decks?"
"Well, blood could have been washed off."
"Did you find any evidence that blood had been washed off anything?"
"No."
"Then what made you conclude that a murder had taken place at all?"
"Oh, the diary," the captain replied. "I found the diary very incriminating."
"Have you read the diaries of any other men besides Manning?"
"One or two."
"Were they written in the third person?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Mr.Manning's diary was written to say, 'He did or she did,' not 'I did,' is that not so?"
"That is so."
"So it was written in the third person?"
"Ah, yes, I see. Yes, the third person."
"Were any of the other diaries you read written in third person? Or were they written in the first person, were the diarist describes himself as "I'?"
"They were written in the first person."
"In your experience as a police officer, would you say diaries' are generally written in the first person?"
"Generally, I suppose."
"Are you aware of how Mr.Manning earned his living?"
"Yes, he was a writer."
"Do you know what his specialty was as a writer?"
"No."
"We have heard evidence that he was a writer of mystery stories. Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't."
"Have you ever before seen the notes a writer takes before he begins writing a book?"
"No."
"Can you understand how a writer might write notes and scenes that he might later incorporate into a book?"
"Yes, I suppose."
"Has it occurred to you that this so-called diary might not be a diary at all, but a collection of notes for Mr.Manning's next book?"
"Ah, no."
"Now that you have been enlightened as to a writer's working habits, don't you think it possible that the book might be Mr.Manning's preliminary notes?"
"I suppose it could be," the captain admitted.
"Is it not likely that the book is his notes?"
Sir Winston was up. "Objection; calls for a conclusion."
"Your Lordship," Stone said, "the captain has already reached a quite different conclusion, with the help of Sir Winston, based on no real evidence at all; why can he now not change his mind and possibly reach another conclusion?"
"Overruled," the judge said. "Answer the question, Captain."
The officer looked very uncomfortable. "I suppose it might be likely that the book is Mr. Manning's notes."
"Thank you, Captain," Stone said. "No further questions."
Sir Winston stood up. "Captain Beane, how long have you been a police officer?"
"For twenty-one years," the officer said, looking grateful to be back on familiar ground.
"Is it, after thorough investigation, your professional opinion that the spear gun might have been used as a murder weapon?"
"Yes, it is," the captain said, smiling broadly.
"No further questions," Sir Winston said, sitting down. "The prosecution rests."
Stone was flooded with elation. He turned to Sir Hewitt and whispered, "Is that it?"
"It appears to be," Hewitt whispered back.
"Good," Stone said, feeling relieved.
The judge produced a gold pocket watch from a fold his robe. "We will break for lunch now," he said. "Court will reconvene in one hour."
CHAPTER 53
Stone stood up and waved at Allison. "Want some lunch?" But a police officer was already escorting her from the dock. "Can't she have lunch with us?" he asked Leslie Hewitt.
"I'm afraid not," Hewitt replied. "Her bail was automatically revoked when the trial began. Don't worry, they'll feed her."
They walked out of the courthouse, and Hewitt led Stone to a small restaurant across the street. "Everyone from Government House has lunch here," he said.
Stone took a seat with the barrister at a small table, then remembered that he was still clad in robe and wig. He removed the wig and placed it on the table next to him.
"Put it back on," Hewitt said. "Bad form to remove it as long as you are robed."
Stone put the thing back on, and as he did he saw Winston and his assistant at the other end of the near both still robed and wigged.
"What would you like?" Hewitt asked.
Stone didn't see a menu. "Whatever you're having."
"They make a very nice seafood stew here; it's the of the house."
"That will be fine."
Hewitt ordered for both of them, and the waitress them cold bottles of beer.
"Well, we have a decision to make," Stone said.
"What is that?" Hewitt asked.
"Whether to call Allison to the stand."
"Of course we must call her," Hewitt said.
"But why? Sir Winston has no case at all, as far as I can see. we should simply rest our case and move for an aquittal, and I,think we'd get it."
"We shall certainly move for an acquittal, as a matter of form," Hewitt replied, "but it is unlikely in the extreme that we would get it."
"Even when the prosecution has offered thin evidence, and that evidence has been refuted in court?"
"I can see where you might not wish to call Allison, from the American legal tradition, as you do."
"She's not required to testify, is she?"
"Not legally, no; she has a right to forgo questioning by invoking her right against self-incrimination. But unlike in America, in St.Marks the jury may consider that an indication of guilt."
"Oh."
"What's more, if we didn't call Allison, Sir Winston would reopen his case and call her himself, you see."
"I see."
"In any case, Allison is her own best witness, don't you think?"
"Yes, I do think that, but it troubles me that Sir Winston has brought this case with no more evidence than he has."
"You must understand that in our legal tradition, although the presumption of innocence is given lip service, in fact even the insinuation of guilt must be answered in order to convince a jury that the accused is innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. Even the term 'reasonable doubt' has a different meaning here, as you will learn when the judge charges the jury. It more or less means that if a juror, after hearing the evidence, thinks the prisoner is probably guilty, then he votes that way. Only if he seriously doubts guilt will he vote for acquittal. I know you think all this is very quaint, but that is the way the law has developed here in the years since the British left. Of course, it has been steered that way by the likes of Sir Winston, the prime minister, who was a barrister and a judge, and Lord Cornwall. The system is very much more comfortable if it is easier to find the accused guilty instead of innocent. And, of course, they have no written constitution or Supreme Court looking over their shoulders."
"That's just wonderful," Stone said glumly. He began to feel a real longing for the vagaries of the American system of justice.
Their food came and they ate slowly, not talking much. The seafood stew was, indeed, good, Stone thought. "What do you suppose they're giving Allison for lunch?" he asked.
"Oh, the food is better there than you might imagine since the prisoners prepare it themselves in their little kitchen. They give the warden a grocery list, he gets them whatever they want. Since they're not a paying a cook, it's cheaper letting them cook for themselves no matter what they're cooking."
"I haven't heard much about the prime minister," Stone said. "What is he like?"
"He is exactly my age, which is eighty-nine, if you wondering, and in better health than I." "How long has he been prime minister?"
"Since 1966, when the British left."
"That's rather a long time in office, isn't it?"
"The people have always liked him. He is not in the of being oppressive, and he has never been too corrupt."
"Just a little corrupt?"
"Oh, well, you know how government officials are. They are paid very little, really. Do you think Sir Winston pays for his Savile Row suits from his meager salary?"
"I thought perhaps his beautiful wife had money."
"She does, in fact; her father held Sir Winston's job more than twenty years."