City of Spades - By Colin MacInnes Page 0,84

Lord. But your Lordship will appreciate, I’m sure, how vital it is for me, in a case of this description – that is, a case where the defendant is a citizen of one of the colonies of our Commonwealth – to establish clearly his social standing and reputation. The members of the jury’ (Mr Vial inclined himself courteously towards them) ‘may not be as familiar as we have grown to be, my Lord, with what very different sorts of African citizen are now to be found here in England among us: some, no doubt, with a background of a kind that might render an accusation of this nature unfortunately all too credible, but others – as I hope to show you is the case at present – in whom such conduct would be as totally improbable as it would were I, my Lord, or Mr Gillespie here, to be said to indulge in it.’

There was a hush, while everyone digested this. ‘Yes. Well, do proceed, please, Mr Vial,’ said the judge.

The defending counsel turned once more to the Crown witness.

‘You have, in fact, Inspector – apart, of course, from the present case – nothing to say against the defendant?’

‘No, sir. He’s got no police record.’

‘Exactly. He’s got no police record. And has he, at any time, made any statement in writing, or any verbal statement concerning the charge, by which he admits his guilt in any particular whatever?’

‘No, sir.’

‘So we’re left with what you and your officers have seen, Inspector.’

The Inspector didn’t answer. Mr Vial looked up, and barked at him, ‘I say, we’re left with what you tell us that you’ve seen. Will you please answer me, Inspector?’

‘I didn’t know you were asking me a question, sir.’

‘You didn’t know I was asking you a question. Very well. Now, I want you to tell us about these happenings in Hyde Park. You saw this woman accost various men at various times on various evenings, take money from them, and disappear with them into the …’ (Mr Vial looked at his notes) ‘… yes, into the undergrowth, I think it was. Now let us take the first evening: the evening you tell us that the defendant later received twenty-eight pounds from this woman. How many men accosted her?’

‘Five or six, sir.’

‘Five – or six? Which was it? You may consult your notebook if you wish.’

‘Six, sir.’

‘So each man would have paid an average of four pounds thirteen shillings and four pence for this woman’s services?’

‘Not necessarily, sir. She could have had some money in her bag before she went inside the park.’

‘In her what, Inspector?’

‘She could have had some money in her bag before she went there.’

‘What bag?’

‘The bag she put the money in, sir.’

‘Oh.’ Mr Vial picked up a document. ‘But in the magistrates’ court, I see you told his Worship that this woman put the money in her raincoat pocket.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Sometimes she put it in her raincoat pocket, and sometimes she put it in her bag, is that it?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I see. And then she went with these people into the undergrowth. How dark was this undergrowth?’

‘Quite light enough to keep her under observation, sir.’

‘Come now, Inspector. Are you telling the court a woman of this description would take a man, in a public locality like Hyde Park, into a place that was dark enough for her purposes, but light enough to be observed by two police officers – standing at a certain distance from her, I suppose?’

‘We were quite near enough, sir, to see whatever happened.’

‘You were quite near enough. And she never saw you?’

‘No, sir.’

‘On no occasion? Not once on all these evenings when you and your colleague stood peering at her while she went into the undergrowth with all these dozens of men?’

‘She gave no sign of being seen, sir.’

‘Not even when you followed her home?’

‘No, sir.’

‘What did she travel home on? A bus? A tube?’

‘She usually took a bus to Victoria station, and then a tube, sir.’

‘She usually did. Aren’t prostitutes in the habit of taking taxis? Isn’t that notorious?’

‘Not all of them, sir. Not always.’ The officer consulted his notebook. ‘She took a taxi one night, but it’s not been referred to in my evidence.’

‘So you followed her by bus, or tube, or taxi to the Immigration Road – and then what?’

‘We saw her go into the house, sir.’

‘Saw her how? Did you follow her inside?’

‘No, sir. We kept observation from the street.’

‘So you must have seen her through the window. Is that it?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘This