‘I’ll take your word for it,’ said Hope.
‘Very well. Further sections may be made available on a new search warrant. I have here’ – Macdonald nodded down at her pad – ‘a recording of you moving off camera, verifiably into a cupboard in your home, then coming back into view in a… distracted condition. From the evening of the same day, a conversation with your husband, Mr Hugh Morrison, obliquely but clearly alluding to the presence of an illegal firearm, very probably a pistol, in a box or similar unsecured container in that cupboard. Mr McKinnon here has viewed the recording and can confirm its contents. Do you wish to view the recording yourself?’
‘Not at the moment,’ said Hope.
‘OK. Now, as to new developments. Mrs Morrison, your husband has been formally charged with offences under the Terrorism Act, the Children and Young Persons Protection Acts of both jurisdictions, the Firearms Act and the Firearms (Scotland) Act.’
‘What?’ Hope tried to sound disbelieving and outraged, although she’d expected something like this. ‘That’s ridiculous!’
‘I insist,’ said McKinnon, ‘that my client be told the details of the charges against her husband.’
‘I was coming to that,’ said Macdonald. ‘They are very much relevant to the charges she faces, and others that she may yet face.’ She thumbed her pad and read out:
‘You, Hugh Morrison, of 13 Victoria Road, London, et cetera, are hereby charged with the following offences, to wit, that you did have in your possession at the above premises an illegally held firearm, further that you stored it on said premises in an insecure manner contrary to the provisions of the Firearms Act and of the Children and Young Persons Protection Act, that in violation of the Firearms (Scotland) Act you transported said firearm to Scotland, concealed it likewise illegally and insecurely on the premises of The Old Manse, Uig, Eilean Siar, in further violations of the same Acts as applied to Scotland, et cetera, that you carried it illegally from said premises on this day, and that furthermore on challenge by the constabulary you failed to surrender the weapon as ordered and instead deposited it in a place of concealment and refused to disclose the location of said place of concealment, said place being within the North Atlantic Forward Defence Area, a region covered by the emergency provisions, thus violating such-and-such provisions of the Terrorism Act, as amended et cetera et cetera.’
Macdonald looked up. ‘I’ve paraphrased to skip all the sections and dates referred to, but that’s the substance. Do you wish to read it yourself?’
‘Not at this moment.’
‘Mr McKinnon, have you read the indictment?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it correctly and legally formulated, and have I given your client a correct impression of its substance?’
McKinnon hesitated. ‘On an initial reading, and without prejudice to any objections that might be or might already have been lodged by Mr Morrison’s own solicitor, I would have to agree, yes.’
Hope saw the room begin to fade to monochrome. She felt dizzy and sick. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and held it, then opened her eyes and breathed out and took a sip of water. She tried not to think about what Hugh must be going through. At least nothing had been said about a confession. She was not sure whether or not that was something to be thankful for. It might mean they hadn’t worked him over, or it might mean they were still working him over. Or had just started working him over.
Stop. She sighed again, and took a gulp of water, and looked Macdonald straight in the eye.
‘So what all this adds up to,’ she said, ‘is that the police still haven’t found this supposed firearm, and they’re using this absence of evidence as evidence that Hugh has hidden it so cleverly that they can’t find it!’
‘My client has put the matter very well,’ said McKinnon, visibly brightening. ‘I suggest you explain the relevance of these ridiculous charges to her own position.’
‘Indeed,’ said Macdonald. She leaned forward, elbows on the table, and fixed Hope with the sort of concerned, helpful gaze that Hope had come to expect from Fiona Donnelly, the health visitor.
‘Look, Hope,’ she said, interlacing her fingers and then spreading her hands, a couplet of gestures she repeated apparently at random as she went on, ‘I’m asking you, with your best interests and the best interests of your wee boy very much in mind, to reconsider your position. You’ve been denying all knowledge of the firearm in your husband’s possession. I’ve just drawn attention to evidence that you were well aware of its presence in your house, and that you failed to urge him to turn it in or to report it yourself, thus making you an accessory to his crime as well as liable to the charges under suspicion of which you’ve been arrested. If you continue to deny the obvious truth, you will be charged. And just to anticipate Mr McKinnon, that charge need not refer to the events of this particular day. It could just as well refer to the even more serious charge arising out of your knowing about the illegal gun in your own house, where a child was present – in breach of both the Firearms Act and the Child Protection Act. These charges would of course be brought by the London Metropolitan Police, quite separately from the similar charges that could be brought against you by us. Do you understand that?’
‘Yes.’
‘Now as you know, Hope, even having that charge brought against you, regardless of the outcome of the case, is quite enough for the social services, in this country as well as in England, to apply for a court order to the effect that you are unable to provide a safe environment for your child, and to have the child taken into care. Do you understand that?’
‘Yes, I do,’ said Hope, fighting down dismay with anger. ‘And it’s outrageous. Even if I’m found innocent, I’m still guilty.’
‘I’m afraid that isn’t how it works, Hope. You see, that would be a matter for the family court, and it would be quite free and indeed obliged to take into account all the relevant evidence, including evidence that might not be admissible in a criminal trial, or that might not be enough to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr McKinnon will confirm that point of law.’
McKinnon nodded, unhappily. ‘That’s true, yes.’
‘It’s in this context,’ Macdonald went on, ‘that the matter that Mr McKinnon alluded to earlier, the matter of private conscience as he put it, is not as he said irrelevant to the present case but very relevant indeed. Because the developing legal position in England and no doubt very soon in Scotland is that refusal to take pre-natal genetic medication without good cause is tantamount to child neglect, and itself grounds for declaring you an unfit mother.’
‘Oh Jesus,’ said Hope, her head in her hands. ‘I knew this was about the fix.’
‘No, Hope, it isn’t. That’s just part of it, which I’m reminding you of in your own best interests. And it’s only a small part, because now that serious charges have been laid against your husband, you – look up, Hope! Look at me! – you too are open to having serious charges laid against you.’
Hope looked up. Macdonald’s face blurred. The policewoman passed her a tissue. Hope wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
‘Go on,’ she said.
‘Hope, your husband has been charged with terrorist offences. Because of the detail of these offences, and the specific events of this morning and early afternoon, you could now be charged as an accessory to these same offences. All that I’ve said before about the charges you were arrested on suspicion of applies many times over to the much more serious charge of being an accessory or indeed an accomplice to an act of terrorism. Now, you may think this is trumped up or overblown, but believe you me, Hope, deliberately concealing a firearm in a secret location in an area covered by the emergency provisions, which given its front-line location the Isle of Lewis most definitely is, is beyond any quibble an act of terrorism in its own right, regardless of any further connections or conspiracies that may be alleged or discovered. If you continue to stonewall this investigation, there may be no alternative but to charge you as an accomplice to that terrorist act. And don’t kid yourself for a moment that your guilt or innocence of this charge depends on your husband’s guilt or innocence.’