CRUEL SECRETS Page 24

  “I call Rudy Jameson to the stand.”

  Kelly trembled. It would be the first time in months she had seen Rudy. As much as they begged to visit her, she felt it was wrong, as she had to stay focused. As he appeared in the dock, Kelly’s eyes began to water. He glanced over at her and gave her a compassionate smile; even his eyes looked glassy. She had never seen him dressed so smartly, with a pinstriped light grey suit and a white shirt with a subtle pink tie. His dreads were neatly tied in a band. His usual bouncy, animated self was absent, and he looked somewhat nervous and lost among the proceedings.

  “Mr Jameson, please tell the members of the jury how, where, and when you first met Miss Raven.”

  Rudy inclined his head and warmly smiled at Kelly, and it was clear to an onlooker that the jury were noting the affection.

  “It was the 10th September 2011, at two in the morning. I was in a café, a short walk from my home, when I first saw Kelly. She was alone in a school uniform and looking out of place.”

  Sophie interjected, “Explain what you mean by ‘out of place’?”

  “It was late, and the streets of Peckham are not safe for a fifteen-year-old to be on her own in a school uniform. She was not streetwise and looked lost, vulnerable, I suppose. The kids where I live are cocky, they dress different, some even look intimidating. Kelly looked scared to death. I remember it was really cold that night and her lickle face was blue. She was shivering.”

  The jury could see he was reliving that moment, when his eyes glazed over and his expression turned to sorrow.

  “So, Mr Jameson, what did you do?”

  He looked around the courtroom at Lippy and then at Ditto. “Well, she was being propositioned at the time by a man in the café, and before I knew it, she was running away. I was afraid for her. I mean, she shouldn’t have been out there alone in the dark like that. Anyway, I chased after her and offered to help. She was afraid of me. I could see the fear in her eyes. So, I took her to another café. A woman runs it, so I knew she would be safe there. She was quiet at first, but once she trusted me, I said she could stay at my house, just for the night, until she sorted herself out.”

  “Thank you, Mr Jameson, and when you found her how did she look – physically, I mean?”

  “She looked like a kid who had been through something traumatic. Her hair was a mess, her hands and face were dirty, and her bare legs were blue from the cold.”

  “But you allowed her to stay at your house for longer than the one night. Why?”

  Rudy moved from one leg to the other, visibly uncomfortable. “I couldn’t read nor write, ya see. We had a deal. She could have the spare room, if she helped me learn to read.” He lowered his gaze in embarrassment. Then he looked over at Ditto and Reggie. They were not laughing but smiling, encouraging him to go on. Keffa held his head high, proud that Rudy was man enough to admit he had been illiterate for Kelly’s sake.

  “But, Mr Jameson, she stayed in your home for over two years. Surely, you had learnt to read and write by then? So why did she stay?”

  “We love Kelly. She is a good kid, and somehow, she just fitted in. I had the spare room, she had no place to go, and that was it really.” He gave Kelly a gentle grin. There was silence as the jury watched the unspoken interaction.

  It was then Weirs’s turn to cross-examine.

  He stood up, holding his lapels. “So, I just want to establish the facts. Firstly, you found a child roaming the streets, clearly of school age, lost and frightened, and you didn’t think to call the police. Secondly, you took a minor to your home and used her to teach you to read and write, when she should have been attending school herself. Why was that, Mr Jameson?”

  Rudy had been primed by Sophie and was ready. He was to give Weirs a lesson in the ways of the streets. “Where I come from, we see street kids. They have reasons why the streets are better than their own home. I know of kids that have run away from foster care. I also know women that have turned to prostitution to survive because they cannot go back home. These kids are running away from something. I didn’t want to see Kelly on the street, but what I saw in her eyes that night was fear. Yeah, I could have called the police, but let’s be honest, the police were driving around all night. I was watching them from the café, and they didn’t pick her up. A kid out alone, they didn’t even stop to see if she was okay. Anyway, she had her reasons to run, and I was just doing the decent thing.”

  Weirs smirked and gave a fake laugh. “Well, that’s for the jury to decide, and we have to be honest in this matter. You do not have a track record for doing the right thing, with a previous record of imprisonment yourself.”

  “Objection, Your Honour, the witness is not on trial!” But Rudy wasn’t put off by the question, and before the judge could intervene, he gave Weirs short shrift.

  “You’re right, I do have a record, and like I said before, I have seen kids go down the wrong road, left on the streets, like I was at her age. So, I wanted to help.”

  Sophie smiled. She had underestimated Rudy. He may be many things, but he spoke from the heart, and she knew the jury would like that little nugget. Weirs was desperately trying to establish his lack of credibility as a witness, but his efforts, so far, had backfired – spectacularly.

  “Mr Jameson, did you ever question Miss Raven as to why she was on the streets or what she was running from?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I gave her space and time, a roof over her head, and food on the table. She was safe in my home, and if she wanted to talk, then I was all ears. But she never did.”

  Kelly had her eyes tilted down, shamefaced.

  “Mr Jameson, one last question. On the night of the 3rd of October 2011, where was Miss Raven?” asked Weirs.

  “She was at home with me, Reginald, Demetrious, Tulip, Solomon, and Phoenix.”

  Kelly was baffled: she hadn’t heard two of those names before. Then it dawned on her: he was referring to Ditto and Solly.

  “How can you be so sure of that? It was a while ago. In fact, it was over two years ago,” stated Weirs. Sophie, of course, already knew the answer.

  “It was my birthday, and every year on that day Tulip cooks her best curry and no one misses that.”

  “Can you be certain that Miss Raven was in the house with you all night?”

  He nodded. “Yes, we were up celebrating until two in the morning. Ya see, I can’t sleep well, so I never go to bed before two.”

  Weirs scratched his chin. “It amazes me, and I am somewhat miffed. You say these other people were in the house with you and Miss Raven, yet only you gave a statement. Why is that? Surely, when you discovered that the accused was arrested for murder, you would have been straight down to the police station? Considering you paint such a warm, homely picture of where you live, surely the other residents would be falling over themselves to give evidence?”

  Maddox was sweating; he had been careless. He knew he’d needed to get a statement from Rudy, or the case would have looked neglectful. His mind went back to that period. His new bird was up in arms that they’d delayed the holiday and he had cut corners, leaving the statement until after they’d returned home from Dubai. Rudy was Kelly’s alibi, but Maddox assumed, with his track record, the prosecution would wipe the floor with him, deeming him not a credible witness. He’d forgotten to mention in his report the others in the house – it was almost certainly a stupid mistake.

  Rudy looked at the gallery and smiled. “I told them at the station, when I was pulled in, a few weeks later, following Kelly’s arrest, that the others were at home, but that man there, Detective Maddox …” he pointed to Maddox, “he said my statement was all they needed.”

  As Weirs flared his nostrils, Sophie watched Maddox squirm.

  The court adjourned to reconvene after lunch. Kelly was ushered back to the holding room and allowed to have the handcuffs removed. Sophie followed her, her face alive. “Well, so far, it’s looking good, but, Kelly, don’t get too confident and let your guard
down. You will be on the witness stand and Weirs will do his damndest to make you lose your temper and have you fumbling for words.”

  Kelly nodded. “I am okay, Sophie, honestly. All I have to do is to tell the truth.”

  Sophie shot her a sideways glance, uncomfortable with the smirk that spread across Kelly’s face. She looked so different; she was not the sweet child she was before the trial.

  As soon as the court was back in session, Weirs didn’t put Kelly on the stand but instead called a psychiatrist. It was not Molly though, as she had been taken off the case for mishandling procedures the first time around. By the time Kelly was examined, she had already been coached by Sophie and was saying all the right things. Dr Nigel Stamford, a world-renowned doctor, was called. Weirs managed to extract from him that there were concerns over her mental state.

  “In your professional opinion, would you describe to us the frame of mind of Miss Raven, under your examination?”

  At the time, Kelly hadn’t liked his pretentious attitude at all; standing there in his suit and his nose in the air, he irritated her even more.

  “Yes, I established Miss Raven to be very mature for her years, and what I found disconcerting was her answers were almost premeditated, unusual for a person of her years. When I broached the question of her relationship with her mother, she barely said much at all, and she certainly showed no emotion. I also found her reluctant to talk about any of her relationships. In my opinion, she’d detached herself from her family with no feelings whatsoever. This can be viewed as disturbing and may manifest into a mental condition in the future, if it hasn’t already.”

  Weirs jumped on his words. “Disturbing you say? Do you think Miss Raven capable of committing murder?”

  “Yes, possibly. I cannot say for sure because in my opinion she wasn’t being honest with her emotions and who she really was.”

  A confused expression crossed Weirs’s face. “Is a child capable of faking her character?”

  Stamford, in his hoity-toity voice replied, “It’s unusual, and as I said, they would need to premeditate very cleverly their actions, but yes, it’s possible.”

  Sophie was fuming. The doctor’s presumptions and throwing in the word ‘premeditated’ could make it difficult for her client, if the jury were taken in by him. For Kelly’s sake, she would have to turn that around quickly.

  It was her turn to cross-examine the witness. “You say, Dr Stamford, that it’s unusual for a child to show no emotion when being questioned about the murder of a loved one. Yet, when we look at the effects of shock, and I have no need to tell you the list is endless, does it not include separation from the incident itself? I mean, many children who have witnessed violent crimes, or who have lost a parent, will temporarily block out that emotion.”

  She didn’t wait for an answer and launched into him again.

  “Rather than use the word ‘premeditated’, which members of the jury may associate with murder, it would perhaps have been better to use the term ‘thoughtful’ instead. For, as you said, you believe Miss Raven to be mature, and so that being the case, perhaps she was trying to answer your questions in a more adult fashion, by giving thought to the question, instead of blurting out any answer just to satisfy you.”

  She hoped she had done enough to establish seeds of doubt about the doctor’s opinion, as there was no evidence forthcoming from him.

  Sophie looked at him slightly nervously, and she glanced towards Judge Radcliff, feeling lucky he hadn’t pulled her up for not actually letting the witness respond to what she’d said. She’d deliberately put her points across without asking him a specific question at the end of her cross-examination. She placed her notes down and smiled. “That’s all, Your Honour.”

  But Dr Stamford didn’t appear at all happy. He looked at the judge, hoping for a chance to refute the defence barrister’s line of questioning, only to be told he may leave the witness stand. His sneer in Sophie’s direction was observed by the jury. He was angry: the barrister had marginalised him, using a clever defence tactic, and he’d been shown up, in his opinion, by a less intelligent person. Not only was he a well-known and respected psychiatrist, but he had junior doctors hanging on to his every word.

  Kelly remained with her head tilted down; she didn’t want to look around anymore. Her nerves were getting the better of her.

  Finally, she was called to the stand. The court officer took her hand and led her into the dock. She was sworn in and smiled sweetly to the judge. Sophie was pleased that he turned his chair sideways to face her.

  “Miss Raven, you know what you have been accused of, don’t you?”

  Kelly nodded and shied away.

  “You will have to give an audible answer from now on. Do you understand?”

  Her face upturned, she replied, “Yes.”

  “Please, Miss Raven, tell us and members of the jury about the events on 9th of September 2011, but beginning when you first met Patrick Mahoney,” asked Sophie, in a firm voice.

  Kelly took a deep breath and in a calm and controlled way she went over meeting Patrick on that first occasion and the incident itself. As soon as she had to recall bludgeoning him, she began to stutter and shake. Tears filled her eyes, and she appeared visibly traumatised.

  Sophie stopped her. “Okay, Miss Raven, it’s fine. Do you need a break?”

  Kelly shook her head. The judge watched as the officer handed Kelly a tissue. She blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

  When it was Weirs’s turn to question her, he was like a rat up a drainpipe. He didn’t play the sensitive questioner; on the contrary, he was hard and harsh, speaking with sarcasm in his tone, as he attempted to influence the jury by making her look like she was putting on an act.

  “It seems to me that you were jealous of Patrick, having a home to yourself, then suddenly this man arrives, and you felt betrayed. Your mother wasn’t nice to you, and yet she was entertaining a man, drinking and laughing with him. And who would blame you, Miss Raven, with your years of abuse and then to see him showered with affection. I am sure that must have stirred some emotion: rejection, anger, hate, even jealousy. Did it?”

  Weirs had thrown down the gauntlet and he stood back, waiting for the fury, but he was met instead with an angelic tear-stained face.

  “You must have felt something, Miss Raven, surely?” he asserted, his voice getting louder.

  Kelly shook her head and calmly she replied, “No, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t know him. I had no reason to hate him.”

  “Oh, come on now, Miss Raven, you would feel something? Your mother, years of abuse at her hands, and then to see her showing affection to him, while you were shoved aside, a mere irritant.”

  “I never said my mother abused me. I never said she shoved me aside.”

  Weirs stood there looking flummoxed. He had clear evidence she had been abused and now she was denying it.

  “You were abused, Miss Raven. We have the social services’ report, the doctor’s report.”

  Kelly shook her head. “I was never abused by my mother.”

  Weirs was knocked sideways by this remark; it was obvious she was implying she was abused by someone else. He bit his lip and then scratched his chin. The jury sensed the pause was longer than it need be.

  Even Sophie froze. She wasn’t supposed to say that; she was to say she was too young to remember.

  Weirs cleared his throat. “Miss Raven, I have heard the reports of your abuse, and noted the scars on your back, and you want me to believe that was not abuse?”

  Kelly lowered her gaze, appearing shy and deflated. “No, I didn’t say I wasn’t abused. I said I wasn’t abused by my mother …”

  “No further questions, Your Honour.”

  The jury were on a cliff-hanger, the gallery was whispering, and the judge wanted further answers.

  “Miss Raven, please inform the Court who you believe abused you.”

  Kelly raised her head and faced the jury. She swallowed hard, as if it gr
ieved her to say, “My father abused me, not my mother.”

  Weirs dropped his papers on the desk; his case for murder was over.

  Kelly slowly turned to face the gallery, catching her father’s eye. She couldn’t smile or sneer, as the jury were watching; she gave no hint whatsoever to her thoughts. She felt him cringe though; she watched his cocky face crumble. The jury guessed right away who the smart, handsome man in the gallery was. The olive skin and distinctive eyes were identical to the young woman in the dock. His reaction was noted too.

  Sophie was gripping her seat. Her client had just turned the case upside down, in the blink of an eye. She bit her lip and then looked into Kelly’s eyes. What she saw was someone else – it was not a lost child but an astute woman.

  The judge was fair in his summing up and the case against her for the murder of her mother was unfounded. The charge for the attack on Patrick was reduced to manslaughter and the judge then passed sentence.

  Kelly stood in the dock – awaiting her fate. She gazed at the people sitting in the gallery and smiled. She so wanted to put on a brave face, to show she was all right. Lippy and Betty were still seated together, gripping each other’s hands and tearful. Rudy was in the gallery with the boys and Keffa; they were putting their thumbs up and making heart shapes with their hands. She felt a great comfort in them being there, and Eddie could see it. She never smiled his way. He admired her strength and her tenacity. He even thought she was clever, using him as her get-out clause. Did she use him for that purpose or was she having a dig? Either way, she had secured a not-guilty-of-murder verdict because she had no motive. Yet, he was now concerned that the unsolved murder of Maureen would land on his shoulders.

  Weirs’s summing up had been short and sloppy; Kelly had swung a real curve ball that left him looking an idiot, and in the eyes of the jury, she was innocent. Sophie was like a queen on her pedestal, finding fault in all the evidence regarding her client’s supposed mental state and perceived motives to kill her mother.