A Private and Convenient Place Read online

  ‘I don’t know about that. I would have thought he’s safe and secure where he is. And there are still a few IRA men in there. Home from home for him. But I can approach his solicitors again if you think it worthwhile?’

  Morrison nodded.

  ‘I think it’s worth a shot. And I wouldn’t place too much importance on his being at Whitemoor, I really wouldn’t. I seem to remember a few inmates escaped from there back in ninety-four. So it’s hardly the Cambridgeshire equivalent of Alcatraz!’

  Hood was not so sure.

  ‘Yes. I remember that little escapade. Someone smuggled a gun in and they used it to intimidate one of the guards. But they were all re-captured pretty quickly as I recall. Didn’t think it through properly. It’s one thing to get out of a place like that but you need a decent bit of long term planning if you’re going to avoid recapture. That’s where they went wrong. And I don’t want Hanlon following their example. He is a planner and he has a lot of resources he could call on. On balance, I think I prefer him where he is.’

  Fiona Morrison smiled but she had clearly done some research on the subject.

  ‘I understand your concerns, Harry, but he might be more easily managed somewhere smaller. There’s a new high security prison that’s just about to open in north Nottinghamshire – not far from Mansfield. It’s small – only about two hundred and fifty inmates - with a lot of facilities including a full size sports’ pitch and a special unit for highly dangerous offenders. It would suit Hanlon down to the ground. And if I were facing a thirty-nine-year stretch, I’d want to do my time somewhere more comfortable - and safer - than Whitemoor.’

  Hood laughed. ‘Well, we haven’t got anywhere yet in our inquiries about Hamilton’s transport to and from Thrussington or how she got to Hastings. So, if you really think it’s worthwhile, I’ll speak to his solicitors again, but I wouldn’t put my pension on him co-operating. He has his reputation to consider. It’s very important to these hard men. And Hanlon’s amongst the worst of them – a real evil bastard! They don’t think like you and me.’

  ‘You may well be right, but the new Attorney-General is very keen to convict Julia Hamilton. He wants to be seen as the great defender of the judges – which makes a change for a politician. He’s ambitious and quite determined to put her away for a long time. And what we have at the moment may well not be enough.’

  She looked down then smiled as she continued, ‘I’ve even heard a rumour that he’s thinking of prosecuting the case himself, which I don’t think is a good idea. Better to leave it to Harold Cronshaw in my opinion.’

  Hood looked concerned.

  ‘A rumour? Has it been confirmed?’

  ‘Not yet. I doubt if we’ll hear anything definite before the New Year. Let’s hope it comes to nothing.’

  ‘Can he do that? Just take over the case?’

  ‘He certainly can –and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him, if he’s so inclined. He outranks the DPP when it comes to prosecutions.’

  ‘Will that mean Cronshaw is out of the case?’

  ‘No, thank God. These political silks are usually seeking the limelight – but don’t quote me on that. He’ll still want Cronshaw there to do the donkey work - and to carry the can if it all falls apart.’

  Hood let out a deep sigh as Morrison continued.

  ‘I think the best thing to do is to fix a consultation, in the absence of the Attorney, and see what Cronshaw says about it. I’ll ask him to advise in writing in advance of the meeting about the intercept. If anyone can think of a way of getting this evidence in, he’s the man.’

  ‘Can we fix that up immediately after Christmas? There’s another matter that concerns me that I would like to discuss with him.’

  ‘What’s that?

  ‘I don’t know how you feel about it but it seems to me that the tape implies that was Hamilton’s first contact with Grayling…’

  ‘That could well be the case. Does it matter?’

  ‘But Duffy’s daughter was in the judge’s house on the twenty-fourth of February, nearly three weeks before Hamilton made the call. It was on the market and she was pretending to be an interested purchaser. She eventually admitted she was casing the joint on her boyfriend’s instructions so the kidnappers would understand the layout.’

  ‘Well that’s easily explained isn’t it? Hamilton must have made contact with Duffy or someone else first, possibly Maguire’s boyfriend. She could even have represented him at some stage.’

  ‘But Duffy doesn’t mention any earlier contact in his witness statement and Adam Leckie said nothing about her at all.’

  Morrison laughed. ‘Come on Harry, I’ve never approached this case on the basis that Duffy was telling the whole truth. He’s bound to have left a few damaging things out. He wanted to push as much of the blame as possible on to Grayling, remember? I thought you understood that too.’

  ‘I do. But it’s another possible crack in the lining of our case that will give the defence something to go at. They’ll exploit it for all they’re worth. Perhaps I should speak to Duffy again, now that we have the tape. He might be more forthcoming.’

  Morrison shook her head. ‘I don’t think that would be wise – not without speaking with counsel first. But I think it’s a good idea to have a word with Hanlon before we see Cronshaw, always assuming he’s willing.’

  Hood stood up and walked to the window. He gazed out over the car park and the Nottingham skyline beyond. The clock on the Council House struck four. He had always known this was going to be a troublesome trial but things were really beginning to get just a little out of control. He turned and faced Morrison.

  ‘What’s this I hear about changing the indictment?’

  ‘That’s Cronshaw’s idea. You see, Harry, a criminal trial is a dynamic process. We don’t want to set our case in stone – not at the outset. Cronshaw doesn’t want to be confined to the revenge theory in case something emerges that we haven’t foreseen.’

  ‘But is it really necessary to change the indictment at this late stage?’

  Morrison nodded

  ‘Cronshaw believes it will help. And I think I understand where he’s coming from. You see, on the present indictment, Hamilton has to be party to the same conspiracy as Duffy and Grayling. If they were at cross purposes or Grayling never intended the conspiracy to bear fruit, it might lead to legal problems. What they actually agreed may well become the major issue in the trial. And she’s got a first-rate team defending her. They’re already on to it. Her QC has mentioned it to Cronshaw. He’s prepared a skeleton argument insisting that we set out the precise basis of the conspiracy alleged.’

  ‘But the others all pleaded to both conspiracies – to kidnap and to blackmail.’

  ‘Yes, but they actually carried out the kidnapping and issued the threat to Judge Campion. So the conspiracies they pleaded to were actually put into effect and they all carried out acts in furtherance of it. Hamilton was abroad at the time. Our case is that she effectively triggered the whole thing, so her absence when they acted is neither here nor there. But the fact remains she did not directly participate after she put the thing in action. The question is, what was the nature of the agreement she entered into? That’s where things might start to unravel if we stick with the conspiracy count. She could say anything, and probably will, whatever suits her case. Cronshaw doesn’t want any legal complications. He’s proposing a single count of attempting to pervert the course of public justice to cover all possibilities. It wouldn’t matter then what the actual scope of any conspiracy was. And we could still rely on the convictions of the others.’

  Hood said nothing. He appeared deep in thought. He could see the sense of simplifying matters. But he was concerned about changing horses so late in the day. And Duffy’s daughter casing the judge’s house back in February - before the call from Hamilton to Grayling - still rankled. Quite fr
ankly, he would have preferred to keep the charges as they were. If the conspiracy were already in existence, he knew enough law to appreciate that the call to Grayling from Hamilton could be evidence of her joining an existing plot. He determined to raise the matter with leading counsel when he saw him.

  ‘How will the defence react?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t know, but I suspect they may well prefer to keep things as they are. More room for manoeuvring on the law and in front of the jury with the present charges. And, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that the trial judge may refuse the application to amend. The trial is only ten weeks away.’

  Hood continued to look perturbed. ‘If we were to get a conviction, would this amendment affect sentence?’

  ‘Cronshaw thinks not. It’s a common law offence, so sentence is at large. Whatever the truth may be, if the jury believes that Hamilton instigated the whole thing she’d get a substantial period inside.’

  Hood smiled. ‘Well let’s get a conviction. Then we’ll worry about sentence.’

  Chapter Four

  ‘Good news, sir.’

  Hood looked up from his desk.

  ‘What is it Wendy? We could certainly do with some.’

  He indicated for Detective Sergeant Knight to sit down.

  ‘The door-to-door in Thrussington has borne fruit. Raymond Craddock spent three days in the village and made a lot of progress. Andrew was there for a couple of days too. Between the two of them they must have spoken to almost everyone who lives there. And the landlady at the Blue Lion confirms that Hamilton’s mother was actually in the village during the week-end we are concerned with. She and Hamilton were in the pub on the Saturday lunchtime. And the next-door neighbour has confirmed they were both at the house on the Sunday. She flew out to Portugal the next day. I’ve checked with the airline. She left from East Midlands on Monday afternoon - on the two-thirty flight to Lisbon.’

  ‘And that helps us? If she flew out on the fifteenth, she can’t have driven Hamilton to Hastings on the sixteenth.’

  ‘No sir. But I’ve done some digging about the case Hamilton was covering on the twelfth. The barrister instructed by Trevor Parker was Bill Savage. She was sitting behind him in court. And we know how those two were involved with each other last year!’

  ‘So he may have given her a lift to Thrussington?’

  ‘Yes sir. He could well have done. Remember, they were very close. I’ve tried to get in touch with him but he’s doing a case in Norwich at the moment. I left a message with his clerk. I gave him your mobile number.’

  ‘You think Savage might have driven her to Hastings as well?’

  ‘It’s a possibility. His clerk confirmed he was out of court that day.’

  Hood sat back in his chair. ‘She’d be taking a bit of a risk involving Savage, wouldn’t she? We know now she was leading him on.’

  ‘He was very keen on her at the time though, sir, if you remember?’

  ‘Yes, until he realised what she was really about. He gave me some useful information about their trip to Brussels, but I don’t think he’d be very happy about giving evidence against her. We managed to keep him out of the earlier proceedings.’

  ‘Yes, sir. But if he did give her a lift…?’

  ‘I’ll check it out with him. Did his clerk say when he might ring?’

  ‘I stressed it was urgent. Hopefully he’ll get in touch tonight.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Andrew’s been chatting to the stylist at the hairdressers.’

  ‘About the case, I hope?’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure that was his initial object. She’s very attractive, apparently. But she remembered that Hamilton did have a mobile phone with her. She tried to use it –but couldn’t get a signal.’

  ‘Now that is interesting. Is there a reason why?’

  ‘Yes, sir. The village is in a dip. It’s very difficult to get a signal unless you go up the Seagrave Road.’

  ‘So, if she wanted to make a call – and there’s no landline at her mother’s house – she’d have to use the phone box by the village green?’

  ‘Yes, sir. She’d have no choice in the matter and I wouldn’t mind betting that she had to make this call about the time she did if she wanted to be sure of getting hold of Grayling. She was probably told when to ring in order to be sure of making contact.’

  Hood nodded his head in appreciation. ‘You may well be right, Wendy. That could be very helpful. Did Andrew take a statement from her?’

  ‘It’s being typed as we speak.’

  * * * *

  ‘Thank you for calling Mr Savage. How are you?’

  There was a long pause before Savage replied.

  ‘I take it this is not going to be a social call, Mr. Hood? I must say I was hoping my limited involvement with Julia Hamilton was now carefully assigned to a closed file marked “ancient history”.’

  Hood gathered his thoughts before he replied. ‘Not quite, sir. It’s just that something has come up. It concerns an occasion when she was instructing you in a case at Nottingham on the twelfth of March last year. One of Trevor Parker’s.’

  Savage sighed. ‘She sat behind me in a number of cases early last year. I’d have to look at my diary, unless you can jog my memory. Do you know which case it was?’

  ‘Not the name of the client, no. But It was an occasion when you might have given her a lift – after the case was over.’

  ‘I gave her several lifts. She doesn’t like driving you know – and I don’t believe she owned a car. Was this to anywhere in particular?’

  Hood decided to take it in stages. ‘Thrussington. She had an appointment at the hairdressers.’

  ‘Thrussington? Now that does ring a bell. Oh, yes. I remember. The twelfth of March must have been the night of the Law Society Dinner in Leicester. That’s right, I dropped her off near the salon. Her mother has a house in the village. She was getting her hair done for the dinner. I was the guest speaker, you know, and she came with me as my guest for the evening. It’s all coming back. I picked her up at about six-thirty and after the dinner we took a taxi back to her mother’s house. I’d had a few drinks you understand, so I couldn’t risk driving. Yes, it would have been just after midnight when we got there. Oh, and before you ask, I was not invited to stay. She used the presence of her mother as an excuse. I think she said she was spending the rest of the week-end with her. If my memory serves me, her mother was going off to Portugal the following week.’ Savage paused. ‘Is there something significant about that week-end?’

  Hood’s initial optimism was fading fast. He decided to get to the point.

  ‘Did you by any chance drive her to Hastings the following week?’

  ‘Hastings? What 1066 and all that?’

  ‘Yes. On the sixteenth. It was a Tuesday.’

  Hood could hear the relief in Savage’s voice as he replied.

  ‘Mr. Hood. I can assure you, I have never been to Hastings in my life. My diary should indicate where I was that day.’

  ‘You were not in court, apparently – not according to your clerk.’

  ‘Was I not? I don’t recall where I was without checking, but I was certainly not in Hastings. I can assure you of that.’

  ‘Can you remember if you saw Julia Hamilton that day?’

  ‘I might have done, but if I did, it would have been in the evening. I was very busy last March. Leading up to the silks’ announcement, you understand? I had to be seen to be busy and I was. If I were not in court, I would have been working in chambers or at my flat in Twickenham. I have no recollection of being in the Midlands the week after the dinner. Come to think of it, I did see Julia in London around that time but I can’t remember if it was on the sixteenth. Let me check and I’ll get back to you.’

  ‘I’d be very grateful if you would.’

  Hoo
d switched off his mobile phone. He prayed that Savage was not going to provide Julia Hamilton with an unlooked-for alibi for the 16 March.

  Chapter Five

  Savage was as good as his word. He telephoned the chief inspector the following day. Hood anticipated from the tone of his voice it was not going to be good news.

  ‘I did see Julia on the sixteenth, but as I thought, not until the evening. We had dinner in an Italian restaurant, just off Bedford Row - Ranieri’s. It’s very good, I can recommend it. She’s very keen on Italian food. Not that she’ll be getting much of that where she is at the moment.’

  Hood could not disguise his disappointment.

  ‘What time did you meet?’ he asked.

  ‘It was quite late as I recall. I arranged to see her just before eight o’clock. We met at the restaurant. I’d been working in chambers. She was already there when I walked in.’

  ‘Do you happen to know where she’d been earlier in the day?’

  ‘No idea, Mr Hood. It didn’t come up in conversation – not directly, but I believe she did mention she’d come up to town on the train from Leicester. I certainly ran her back to St. Pancras at the end of the evening. She was heading for the last train. I tried to persuade her to stay over but she’d have none of it.’

  ‘Was this a special occasion?’

  ‘I wouldn’t put it that way. I’d asked to see her again after the Law Society Dinner the previous Friday. I told her I was going to be in London the following week and she suggested dinner. I took her up on it straight away. You will remember, Mr. Hood, I was pretty keen on her at the time. I had no idea she was pregnant with Michael Doyle’s child, of course.’

  Hood remembered alright. Savage had spent six days with her in Brussels over Easter, providing her with a water-tight alibi for the period when the kidnapping occurred.

  ‘Who suggested Tuesday the sixteenth, as opposed to any other evening?’