The scribblers in the gallery had noticed. As had the jury.
‘Please continue, Mr Cairns,’ Jones prompted.
‘Well, as I drew nearer, I saw the boy’s trainers and again … my first thought was that they were discarded shoes and trousers that had possibly been thrown over the fence. You get that kind of thing … But as I drew near …’
‘We have photographs of the body as it was when you discovered it. If the jury could refer to page three in their bundle.’
Daniel watched as the jury viewed the photograph, hands over their mouths in distaste, although there was worse to come. Sebastian watched their faces. At the same time he was drawing in biro – a picture of trees.
‘Mr Cairns, I am sorry to press you on this, I know it must be disturbing for you to recall, but if you could continue telling us what you saw.’
‘Well, as I drew near, I saw that it wasn’t a pile of clothes, but rather a small boy, underneath the wooden house.’
‘Immediately you could see that it was a boy?’
‘No, I could see his legs sticking out. His face was well hidden, under the house, but I realised it was a child.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I crawled under the trees and then down on my belly to pull him out from under the wooden house, but as I drew near I realized …’
‘Yes, Mr Cairns?’
‘Well, I realised that he was dead and so I daren’t touch him. I went inside immediately and called the police.’
‘Were you aware that a little boy had gone missing?’
‘Well, I don’t live in the area, but when I came to work in the morning I saw the pictures and I saw the incident van. I hadn’t watched the news. I didn’t know what it was all about …’
‘You just described to us how you accessed the body …’ Jones placed his glasses over his nose and held his notes at arm’s length to read, ‘“crawling … on your belly”.’ He removed his glasses and leaned forward on his lectern. ‘So would it be correct to say that the area where the body was found was difficult for an adult to access?’
‘Very much so, it’s totally overgrown. I think that’s why the body wasn’t spotted. I’m only glad it was me and not one of the kids that found him.’
‘Indeed. When the little boy was identified, did you recognise him?’
‘No. He wasn’t a regular at the playground.’
‘Thank you, Mr Cairns.’
There was the usual hush as Gordon Jones turned towards Irene Clarke. Daniel bit his lip as he waited for her question. He watched her consulting her notes, noticing the tendon defining her long neck.
Jones looked pleased with himself. By trying to show that the murder site was inaccessible to an adult, he had pre-empted the defence’s assertion that the injuries inflicted on Ben required strength difficult to attribute to a child.
Irene leaned on the lectern with both hands and smiled at Mr Cairns with closed lips. Daniel admired her poise.
‘Mr Cairns, you describe the structure under which the victim was found as a wooden house. Could you tell us a little more about it, please?’
‘Well, it’s a small hut or house, raised off the ground on stilts … I suppose you might call it a tree house, but … it’s only a couple of feet off the ground. It’s still surrounded by trees so it gives the kids that kind of feeling. I suppose that’s the idea.’
‘Is this a popular part of the playground for children to play?’
‘Well, sometimes they do play there, but I wouldn’t say it’s popular, no. Because it’s so overgrown, it’s a bit too wild for some of the kids. Quite often there are insects and nettles and such …’
‘My goodness, it sounds to me like a difficult area to reach, even if you were a child?’
‘To some extent. You have to push branches out of the way, maybe get yourself a bit dirty. Most kids don’t mind that though.’
‘So would you say it took you, what … ten minutes to reach the tree house and the victim’s body?’
‘No, less than a minute.’
‘Less than a minute? For a grown man to push through all this greenery?’
‘Yes, I would say so.’
‘So it is not the case that this area of the park is accessible only to children?’
‘No, we couldn’t have that. We supervise all the play and so we need to be able to get into all the corners, in case kids are in trouble.’
‘Might it even be the case that some children would have difficulty reaching the house, possibly if they lacked the strength to hold the branches back?’
‘Well, yes, that might be the case, but most of the children just crawl in under the trees. An adult would have to push the trees back.’
‘Thank you, Mr Cairns, nothing further.’
After the break, Daniel noted Kenneth Croll sitting far back in his chair, glaring at Sebastian. The boy turned away from his father, looking down at the table, as if shamed. Daniel had found a word-search in one of the newspapers that had been left in the common room. He placed it in front of Sebastian, turning to glance and nod at Croll.
Sebastian dipped his head and took the lid off his pen and began to circle the words, intent. Daniel observed the boy’s fragile neck: the nape with its tapering baby hairs. He had watched grown men weep at their trials and wondered what strength allowed Sebastian to maintain such concentration and composure.
The video screens were being checked. Madeline Stokes was in tears. Her face was white and twisted, and Daniel had to look away. He had seen their family liaison officer explaining something to them during the break. Mr Stokes had been nodding, his face dark. Daniel could guess what they were being told. The pathologist, police witnesses and forensic scientists were next to be called. The solicitor would have explained that the photographs of the body were all necessary and that they needed to be projected in order to highlight details, but that the parents did not have to remain in court. Possibly Mr Stokes had identified his son’s body: confirming a birthmark on the shoulder, or the shape of Ben’s feet.
Now he did not turn to comfort his wife as she cried, or pass her a handkerchief when she opened her handbag in search of a tissue. Only his eyes belied his pain; they searched the courtroom, every corner, every face, as if silently asking why.
‘Are they going to show a movie?’ asked Sebastian.
‘No, they’ll be showing some pictures of …’ Daniel stopped himself from saying the body, remembering Sebastian’s fascination. ‘The other side’s lawyers will have some experts to explain what they think happened to the victim. I expect they’ll want to point things out on the screen …’
Sebastian smiled and nodded, put the lid on his pen and clasped his hands. It was as if a show was about to begin.
The afternoon began with police evidence: photographs of the child’s body, found flat on his back, arms at his sides. Sergeant Turner, who had interviewed Sebastian, went into the witness box. Footage was shown of Sebastian being questioned – refusing to admit that he had hurt Ben in any way. Jones took the rest of the afternoon to question Sergeant Turner, while playing footage of Sebastian talking about the blood on his clothes, and breaking down in tears. Jones also lingered over Sebastian’s bravado in the face of questioning and his logical explanations for the forensic evidence being on his person. The jury seemed to be left with the impression that Sebastian was clever and manipulative beyond his years.