[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The report that came back three weeks later rather shocked him, not for what it revealed about Price, but for the extraordinary detail it provided on what he’d always believed to be confidential matters, such as Price’s army and medical records and his two youthful convictions for joyriding.But if Hugh felt uneasy about how such information might have been obtained Desmond seemed unconcerned, or at least discreet enough not to comment, and devoured the report with interest.So far as Hugh could make out, Desmond’s plan was to suggest that Price was a loner incapable of making close friendships, a bit of a fantasist who, craving centre stage, had not only exaggerated his friendship with Tom but was using this opportunity to settle an old score, maybe over the girl Tom talked about, maybe over some other grievance that neither would admit to.Why else, Desmond had posed rhetorically, would Price choose to give evidence against his former comrade? Why else would he break the bond of trust wrought in the fires of war?While Hugh had no doubt this was the right approach, its success would depend on how strongly Price performed in the witness box.If he had learnt anything during this hearing, it was how very differently people reacted under pressure.Perhaps it was the deceptively benign atmosphere of the civil court, with its air of courtesy and consideration, the absence of a jury or any obvious drama, and the leisurely pace dictated by the judge’s need to take notes, but for some reason the intricate traps laid in cross-examination seemed to take many witnesses by surprise.Of the ten character witnesses who’d given evidence for Tom four had faltered under pressure, two quite badly.In Price’s case, of course, the hope was that he would not simply falter but thoroughly discredit himself.A refreshment trolley came by but the girl had sold out of bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, so Hugh settled for a ham baguette which proceeded to shed shards of iceberg lettuce over the next bundle of documents he managed to wrest from his briefcase and balance on the minute table.This bundle contained the large amount of background information that Desmond might want to call on at short notice, though in practice he rarely did so.Facts, figures, statements, correspondence, notes of meetings and conversations: the detritus of four years’ preparation, the thousand and one ways of gobbling up huge amounts of time and fees in trying to cover every possible angle: the law in all its obsessive, bloated detail.It was only as the train neared London that Hugh remembered the envelope Annaliese had dropped off yesterday which he’d scooped up from the hall table and stuffed into his briefcase as he rushed out of the house early that morning.Opening it, he drew out two letters concerning another case and read them diligently but with fleeting interest.Only as he slid them back into the envelope did he realise there was another, unopened letter at the bottom.The envelope was small and flimsy, the sort sold in corner shops to fit the cheapest writing paper.It was addressed to Hugh in a mixture of scrappy letters and random capitals, his name spelt Gwinn without the y or e.The firm’s name was also misspelt and the address lacked a postcode.Above his name was written Confidential underlined three times.The thin sheet inside was folded into quarters.It began Dear Mr Gwinn.His eye flew to the end but there was no signature, just as there was no address at the top.Returning to the body of the letter he skimmed the lines rapidly.Realisation came fitfully, in small darts of disbelief.His first instinct was to reject the whole poisonous thing, to deny the idea in any shape or form.It was just someone with a grudge, trying to stir things up for Tom.Yet even as he began to read it again, a quiet dread spread through his stomach.To let you know that Tom Deacon went to the family court and got the psyciatrist to say he’s OK to get custody of his kids, as per being recovered from the traumatic stress disorder and being sober.Court case was 2 weeks ago – Exeter.Next hearing January.Linda doesn’t want to give up the kids but its all going badly for her, she’s pregnant and the new man gives her a hard time.But its not right that she gets to lose the boys, not when Tom Deacons lying about the drink and thretening her if she doesn’t keep quiet about it.She thinks she’ll get the kids back later, but she wont.What she needs is some of this money he’s getting from the court.People forget it was her daughter that got killed too.If he’s going to get rich then its only right that Linda gets her share.She doesn’t know I’m writing this but somebody had to, it’s not right the way things are.As fresh bursts of understanding came over Hugh, his throat seized, he saw the speeding countryside through a sudden mist, he whispered savagely, You stupid bloody fool! You stupid fucking idiot! He had an urge to grab Tom by the collar and shake him furiously, demanding to know what the hell he thought he was doing by screwing everything up.The mist subsided as suddenly as it had come, he drew a steadying breath and began the reckoning, trying to calculate what if anything might be salvaged from the wreckage.He looked at the envelope again, then the letter, but there were no clues as to who had written it.The postmark was illegible, the writing semi-literate.The author hardly mattered though, because he had little doubt that the contents of this nasty little note were accurate; they chimed too well with Tom’s view of what was due to him and the sudden confidence he had shown in getting custody of his children.Hugh wished he could ignore the letter, but it was too late for that.There was no way to un-read these words, no way to un-learn their message.To know them was to know them for ever.In a plunge of despair he saw the case unravelling beyond repair.Desmond would have to be told, and he in turn would be duty-bound to go to the judge and admit that Tom had been playing a double game.The other side wouldn’t be able to believe their luck.Tom would be recalled to the witness box for a mauling cross-examination, the judge would decide that the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress was less convincing than he’d been led to believe, and Tom’s damages would be slashed
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]