changing the law, churches all over the world, getting kids off the street and out of crime. How many would turn up to hear Father Starr on a Sunday morning?'
'You think he's jealous?'
'My husband's a Catholic, or was,' Alison said. 'They might pretend to be tolerant, but believe me, there's only one road to heaven as far as they're concerned, and it goes through Rome.'
The ranks of journalists had swelled and the air was stuffy with the smell of too many bodies crammed tightly together. The Turnbulls and Lennox Strong had yet to return to their seats. Jenny assumed they were still outside in their vehicle, being tutored by members of their legal team. The faces of the lawyers in the courtroom had hardened. All three advocates seemed to have united to form a single opposing front. Sullivan wore a permanent threatening scowl. Behind him Ed Prince brooded like a wounded bear. Attempts to secure an emergency injunction had clearly failed. Jenny had outmanoeuvred them and embarrassed their clients. Human nature alone dictated that they would be seeking revenge.
Ruth Markham half-rose from her chair. 'Ma'am, might it be appropriate for Mr Kenneth Donaldson to give evidence first?'
'Very well,' Jenny replied.
Donaldson marched to the front with the cold determination of a battle-scarred general about to testify before a committee of cowardly politicians. He completed the opening formalities with no hint of emotion.
The jury listened respectfully as Donaldson gave a brief, but moving history of his daughter's early life. She was an only child, he explained, and had been particularly close to her mother, a successful fashion model turned photographer, whose own life was cut short by cancer when Eva was only fourteen. It was a loss from which she would never fully recover. She spent most of her teens at boarding school, where initially she did well, but as she grew older increasingly found herself in mild bouts of trouble for all the usual teenage reasons - drink and boyfriends, though fortunately never any mention of drugs. Despite several near misses, she clung on and gained a place at Bristol School of Art. It was then that rebellion tipped over into outright rejection and defiance. Despite his best efforts to share in his daughter's life, Eva drew further away, refusing to visit home even in college vacations. He was hurt and confused at her behaviour, but listened to the advice of friends who told him to trust that in time she would mature and reconnect.
'I'd send her money, but she'd post the cheques back or never cash them,' Donaldson said. 'She was very determined to be independent. She kept saying she didn't want to be reliant on me. I did what any father would do: I told her I would always be there whenever she needed me.'
'And she continued to go her own way?' Jenny asked.
'Yes. She would phone occasionally but never tell me very much. For example, I didn't know she had abandoned her college course until six months after the event. It was a schoolfriend of hers who told me that she had left to become involved with films. I tried to persuade her out of it, but she was twenty years old and hell-bent on doing as she pleased. She was clearly making plenty of money, so I didn't exactly have much leverage.'
'Did you have any contact with your daughter during her career in the film business?'
'Very little. There'd be the odd birthday card. She came to visit one Christmas, but she was very remote. I hardly saw her in four years - until she had the accident, in fact.'
'What happened then?'
'We spoke more often. I wouldn't say it was a normal relationship, but things certainly started to thaw. Once she became involved with the Decency campaign we spoke quite regularly.' Eva's father hesitated, showing the first hint of emotion since entering the witness box. 'We started to meet. She would come round every few weeks. We had dinner once a month, perhaps. Eva talked about her work, her life at the Mission Church. I was very pleased for her. Her life had a purpose.'
Jenny said, 'Did she seem to be having any particular problems in the months before her death?'
'She wasn't earning what she was used to, but she seemed determined to manage somehow. She certainly never asked me for support.'
'And emotionally?'
'She was always tired; she had a tough schedule of commitments. That apart, I would say she was the happiest I had seen her in years.'