Court Out - By Elle Wynne Page 0,98
authoritative as I can. I think it’s worked as the confusion in her face has cleared and her smile has returned.
“Ah, I see. And are you one of the lawyers in the case?”
Damn. I have no choice but to tell the truth. I take a deep breath and look her directly in the eyes. “Yes, and I’m also the Defendant.”
I have to say, I’m amazed at the speed DC Connelly appears. From the moment the desk officer makes a hushed phone call, it seems like mere seconds before he appears at our side.
“Miss Chase? I have to say this is very unusual,” he says, by way of greeting. He’s in a charcoal suit and sky blue shirt but appears slightly more stressed than last time.
“Trust me officer, I wouldn’t be here unless I absolutely had to be,” I reply. His expression changes and half a smile forms on his lips.
“So you’ve come to confess then! Finally seen sense?”
He’s serious. I give a humourless laugh.
“Not exactly. Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
I’m escorted to a small, musty interview room just off the entrance reception. There are no windows and the door barely opens into the room before hitting one of the two chairs positioned around a wooden table. I think they are bolted to the floor. The door shuts behind me and I feel strangely alone without Sebastian by my side.
It’s crazy, before all of this happened I considered myself to be fiercely independent, totally self-assured and ready, willing and able to take on whatever life threw at me. How wrong I was.
I take a seat, placing my large handbag on the floor beside me. DC Connelly does not sit down. He is looking at me with a mixture of anticipation and confusion before speaking.
“As this meeting is rather unorthodox, I’m going to conduct it as an interview.” He leans across to a small shelf in the corner of the room and starts fiddling with some tapes and a machine. I remain silent and wait for him to start the recording. It hadn’t occurred to me that he would do this and I feel my stomach tie itself in knots at the formality of what is happening. It makes perfect sense that he is doing this, I mean, what if I actually had come to confess?
My thoughts are interrupted by his voice announcing the introductions to the interview, stating the circumstances for the benefit of the tape. He reads me the formal police caution, pauses, then takes a seat opposite me. He is much closer to me than last time and I try to remain focused.
“So Miss Chase, you have decided to pay me a visit in connection with the matter you are on police bail for?”
“Yes,” I say. There is an awkward silence. I clear my throat and continue. “Having had some time to consider the matter, I can now say who set me up.”
Clearly, he wasn’t expecting this. His expression starts with shock then switches to amusement. He is trying to suppress a smile and his voice changes to a sing-song intonation.
“Really? Ok, I’ll bite. Who set you up?” He leans back in his chair, making it plain to me that he considers this a massive waste of his time. I take long breath of air then decide to say my piece before I change my mind.
“Well, I believe there were five people in total. Ryan Hobbs, Stephen Walker, Peter Quinn, Andrew Rivers and Serena Taylor. In order to ensure Hobbs walked free, they had to stop the trial and ensure that he wasn’t tried again. The evidence against him was overwhelming, it was the only way to guarantee his acquittal.”
To my horror, DC Connelly gives a whoop of laughter.
“That’s good, really, very good Miss Chase. If you weren’t already a lawyer I’d suggest that you’d been watching too many crime dramas. Naming a high profile silk? Genius”
I wait for him to finish chuckling and leave a good five seconds before speaking.
“Exactly Officer. I’m a lawyer. I wouldn’t just come here to throw around wild conspiracy theories. I can prove it.”
I start at the very beginning and tell him all about how Serena and I met, how she was always slightly behind me in terms of work and how she was upset about how my career had progressed above hers. I explain to him how the Hobbs trial went, about the site visit, about the wine and how Serena and Rivers had become close. I talk for what