The third passer-by calmly picked up the bag he had been carrying, brushed himself down with his hand, then carried on walking away down the road. Although the description of him was clear and unambiguous, and several townspeople confirmed that they had noticed this oddly dressed man on other occasions, no one was able to identify him and he was never traced. He was not known in the town. He did not come forward in answer to the appeal for witnesses. Finally, it was presumed that he must have been a visitor to the town or a tourist, that he had no connection with Omhuuv and after the street incident had continued on his travels.
The salient point was that this man never came to court to give evidence, so neither prosecution nor defence was able to make much of the fight in the street as a preliminary circumstance for the alleged perpetrator.
However, with hindsight and access to the chronology of events, we can see that this fight happened only a few minutes before the main incident. The young men drove away from the scene of the fight, but then turned around and returned to the theatre. They made their way inside. As a performance was about to start, members of staff instructed them to leave. The four of them said something insolent and walked down through the auditorium, where most of the audience was already seated, waiting for the show. They were highly noticeable and intrusive for a few moments. They then made their way backstage. Having worked in the theatre for a couple of days, they knew their way around.
They were not seen again until immediately after the glass crashed down on to the stage, when most people in the audience saw them running away.
It seems to me that the fight in the street had a direct impact on the behaviour of these four young men. The prosecution said that it inflamed Kerith Sington into a homicidal rage, but they were depending on the unsafe confession to assume that Sington was one of the four. There is absolutely no evidence that he was. Even if he was one of them, now that Sington’s background, mental state and general level of intelligence are known, it is just as likely the scrap had instilled terror in him. Whatever the reliability of those conclusions, his presence in the theatre on the day has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The fact that the four young men ran away afterwards was emphasized as a way of incriminating all of them in general, and Sington in particular, but it’s just as possible that they were running away because of the frightful event that had just taken place. It’s worth noting that many ordinary members of the audience also ran away from the theatre in the immediate aftermath
So, taking all of these matters into account, the inevitable conclusion I draw is that Kerith Sington might or might not have had a part in the attack on Mr Commissah, but there was no evidence to incriminate him, and much of the evidence that was produced against him was flawed and unsafe. A jury in possession of all the evidence, and properly directed, would certainly have acquitted him.
When first arrested Sington claimed as an alibi that on the day of Commis’s murder he was on the island of Muriseay being interviewed by the Policier Seignioral about the sinking of the Galaton. He maintained he was nowhere near Goorn or Omhuuv at the time. He later abandoned this alibi for an unknown reason, but it now appears to be closer to the truth than anything else that was said about him.
I therefore find and pronounce that Mr Kerith Sington was the inadvertent victim of the most serious kind of miscarriage of justice, and I shall pass the file to the Seignior’s Department on Cheoner with the recommendation he be given an immediate posthumous pardon.
Collago
SILENT RAIN
An island of medium size, in the temperate zone of the southern Midway Sea. Formerly known for its dairy produce, COLLAGO is a place of low rain-washed hills, warm summers, windy winters. It has a rocky coastline with several landing coves or bays, and is blessed with attractive scenery which consists mostly of broadleaf tree coverage and an abundance of summertime wild flowers. There are few beaches and those that are suitable for swimmers are covered in shingle. The sea is unusually cold in this part of the Archipelago, because Collago lies in the path of the Southern Oscillating Stream.
There is only one large town: Collago Harbour, which as its name implies is the main port of the island. There is no airport. Outside the town there are few roads and motor vehicles are seen only rarely. There is a bus service, which circuits the island and crosses its width three times a day. It is not a remote island, but it is surrounded by many islands similar in appearance. Navigation channels are hazardous, and pilots must be used.
Collago is therefore an island of quiet pleasures, not an obvious choice for visitors seeking a hot climate or the excitement of nightlife. Few would think it might become a place where people’s lives are changed forever.
Collago’s fate was determined by a medical breakthrough in a research clinic in the distant city of Jethra, the capital of the country of Faiandland.
Developments in gene-swapping and stem-cell modification, in the search for new or more effective treatments for intractable terminal diseases, led fortuitously to a process that would make any man or woman of normal good health into a physical immortal (or ‘athanasian’).
One hundred and fifty-two individual mutations in the human genome were identified, each capable of being personalized and therefore given a genetic signature. Suitably manipulated, these personal genomics would halt the rate of body ageing at the point the patient received the treatment. Thereafter, normal cellular decay or change would be replaced by rejuvenating cell growth, a process that would in theory continue for ever.
Practice has followed theory. The first human trials took place more than a century ago, and since then not a single recipient has appeared to age, has suffered any debilitating or degenerative disease, has fallen foul of any viral disease, or has died of any expectable or natural causes. Regular medical check-ups on a large sample of past recipients confirm their state of health.
However, not all of them are still alive: some have died in accidents, and several more have been murdered by non-recipients, for reasons of jealous anger, or for some other base motive we can imagine only too well. There are many advantages to being an athanasian, but the condition also has its drawbacks.
Hailed at first as a miracle of modern medicine, it quickly became apparent that the ability to create a group of immortal humans was attended by a host of moral, ethical, social and practical problems.
In the first place the treatment involved a lengthy medical process, with large nursing and psychological teams in support, as well as the need for uniquely complex scanning and monitoring equipment. This meant that each operation was expensive, clearly beyond the means of all but the super-wealthy.
The moral and ethical arguments for and against the process are now well known and often rehearsed.
If the majority of people know that there is a favoured minority who will survive them, resentments are inevitable. Many controversies have come to light over the years, and most of these have involved rich or celebrated or influential people who have tried to gain an unfair advantage. There have been cases of bribery, blackmail, threats, physical assaults. Rumours about this sort of activity are always current, always routinely denied.
There have also been several cases which were marked by circumstantial evidence: apparently miraculous cures for fatal illnesses, people who disappeared then were found to be living under new names and identities, film stars or other celebrities who managed to retain their beauty far longer than anyone might expect. No abuse has ever been conclusively proved.