Seth Whittle was up next. His testimony wasbrief. He left the mill office at twelve-thirty in the company ofBurton Thurgood, and the two men went directly to the weir, severalhundred yards above the mill itself. He saw or heard nothingunusual. He saw no-one about him except his employee, and neitherman left the weir until four o’clock that afternoon. He knewnothing of any incident in the barn until Jake Bloom went to thepolice two months later.
Marc declined to cross-examine thewitness.
Burton Thurgood got up and told much the samestory, except that he had slipped into the bushes to “do hisbusiness” about two o’clock. Cambridge’s purpose in calling thesemen was apparently to have the jury place them well away from thebarn at the time of the crime and to stress the fact that nostranger had been seen lurking about the grounds.
Marc looked into the familiar bulldog face ofBetsy’s father, and said, “Mr. Thurgood, to your knowledge, did themill-hands in that office last August the third know about Betsy’slove of horses?”
“They must have because she talked about itall summer, before and after she went to work at Spadina. But Iwarned her never to go to that barn – ever.” He looked imploringlyat the jury.
“Were any of the men there attracted to yourdaughter?”
Thurgood’s lip curled. “’Course not! She wasa child. She only got her monthlies last spring!”
“So you were not aware that anyone might wishto court your daughter or that she was possibly in love withsomeone herself?”
“I wasn’t.” It was a grunt and littleelse.
“Were you planning to buy a pony, sir?”
“What if I was?”
“Did Betsy know of this plan?”
“I told yer, yeah. It was gonna be fer her. Iwas gonna have a dollar a month taken outta my pay.”
The jurors nodded their approval.
“Did she offer to have a friend,knowledgeable in horse-trading, examine the pony?”
Thurgood looked surprised, and wary. “No, shedidn’t.”
“I am asking, sir, because in one of thepolice reports Mr. Baldwin says he came to the mill to – ”
“Milord! This is outrageous! Counsel isalluding to a document not in evidence. And the statement he wasabout to read into the record was a self-serving deception by theaccused. That is precisely why we do not allow the accused totestify.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cambridge, for explaining thelaw to me,” the judge said acidly. “But you are quite right. Mr.Edwards, this is your last warning on this score. Understood?”
Marc looked suitably chastened. “Myapologies, Milord. It won’t happen again.” And it looked more andmore as if Marc would have to call Cobb as a witness for thedefense.
Justice Powell banged his gavel on the bench.“Court is in recess until two o’clock.”
***
While Marc could still taste part of his breakfastat the back of his throat, as a defense attorney he could not helpbeing pleased with the morning’s effort. Neville Cambridge hadattempted to lay a damning context for this afternoon’s starwitness, Jake Broom. But Marc had demonstrated the critical factthat Joe Mullins and Sol Clift each had the opportunity (time toget to the deserted barn where they might expect to find Betsy),the motive (the seduction or rape of a young woman they had gown tofancy from her visits to the mill-office), and the means (theirsuperior physical strength as mill-hands). Since Broom’sdescription of the culprit was the keystone of the prosecution’scase, it didn’t hurt the jury to have at least two viablealternatives to think about. Finally Marc had one or two ideasabout how to impeach Broom’s apparently unassailable testimony.
Robert, however, was not as pleased as hispupil. He and Marc sat alone in Robert’s chamber over theirluncheon, discussing the morning’s proceedings. Neither had donemore than poke his food about his plate.
“So I’m ready for Jake Broom,” Marc wassaying, “and whatever Neville Cambridge can toss at me. I’m feelingcautiously optimistic. We’re unravelling Cobb’s meticulouslyknitted skein of events, stitch by stitch.”
“You were nothing short of brilliant, Marc.Bob and I have taught you well. Perhaps too well.”
Marc was taken aback. “How so?”
“I don’t quite know how to say it tactfully,so I’ll just say it straight out. It is no victory for any of us ifit is won in the manner you’ve chosen to do it in. I say thatknowing full well you have no other option.”
“I don’t understand.”
Robert reached for a macaroon, found the bowlempty, and said solemnly, “Marc, you and I have been through thewars literally and figuratively. What we have been fighting for isa government responsible to those who elected them freely andhonestly.”
“So we have.” Marc was used to Robert’soccasional lapses into melancholy or high seriousness, in which theweight of the world seemed to press down upon his sturdy frame, buthe was not a little alarmed at the demeanour of his good friend asthey sat here in quiet conversation. That he himself was beingcriticized seemed almost beside the point. “And we’re going to winin the end,” he said.
“Yes, but not at any cost. You must realizethat the people we are fighting for – on whose behalf we arecrusading – are the Joe Mullins and Sol Clifts and Burton Thurgoodsof this world. It is those without a voice for whom we seek avoice, and for whom we set ourselves up as models of what ourshared future may be about. How we go about winning is asimportant as what we win. And in that courtroom today, wehave represented a cross-section of our current society. They arewatching and judging all.”
“You feel I went too far in suggestingMullins and Clift were possible rapists?”
“My God, Marc, you don’t really believe thateither of them did it, do you? Mullins has the freckled face of ayoungster, one that melted the jury’s heart instantly.”
“What I think in that regard is irrelevant,is it not?” Marc replied. “You have indeed taught me well. My taskis to defend your innocent uncle against this ghastlycharge. Surely I am free to use all the instruments allowed me bythe court and our legal tradition? To do less would be to break myoath as a barrister.”
“That’s true, I know. But step back a momentand look at the situation. If you get an acquittal by haranguingand insinuating malfeasance against ordinary citizens just doingtheir civic duty, what good will it do us? We’ll be seen in thesame light as the Family Compact, who manipulate and manoeuvre thelaw for their own benefit, not society’s. It will be a Phyrrhicvictory.”
“But your uncle’s life is at stake, Robert.You saw him in the dock today. He couldn’t stand without the aid ofa bailiff. How long would he last in prison? A week? We’re dealinghere with a question of life and death.”
“I know. And it is near to destroying me, oldfriend. But I can’t forget what my father taught me. None of us isabove the law, and the law itself must be preserved, whatever thehuman cost.”
But how am I to do that, Marc sighed,and save Uncle Seamus?
TWELVE
Marc left chambers without resolving the matterbetween him and Robert, and returned to the Court House, determinedto do his duty. In the courtroom, the Crown’s eye-witness was, atlast, ready to testify. With several hundred eyes upon him,expectant and judging, Jake Broom began to sweat, even as he wasbeing sworn in. While stocky and heavy-jawed, Broom resembled anovergrown kid more than he did a twenty-year-old. His large roundeyes gazed at the world with unflinching innocence, matching hisbeardless chin and wispy brown hair.
Neville Cambridge began gently. “Just tell usin your own words what happened on August the third, starting fromthe moment you left the office at twelve-fifty or thereabouts.”
Broom had a strong, deep voice, but appearedto be holding it in check, as if it might overwhelm him or thecourtroom. “Yes, sir. A few minutes after Mr. Whittle and Burtonleft to repair the sluice and Joe went out fer a smoke, I finishedmy lunch. I looked up at the clock. It said ten minutes to one. Itold Sol I thought I ought to go and take a look at Ginger, ourhorse that had the heaves. He said, ‘Take yer time.’ I went backthrough the mill, through the flour room where we’d been baggin’flour after cleanin’ up the mornin’ spill, and out through the backdoor. There’s a direct path to the barn from there. I went into thebarn through the door on the southwest corner and walked along thestalls till I came to Ginger.”