a friend in hospital, and she’d been nervous about calling him at work.
“Of course you can ring if it’s something important enough to deprive me of sleep,” said William.
“Can you come to supper tomorrow?”
“As long as something else doesn’t come up,” said William, regretting how harsh his words must have sounded the moment he put down the phone.
William was the first to arrive at the office on Monday morning. He sat down at his desk and was about to open one of his case files when the phone rang. He immediately recognized the voice on the other end of the line.
“William, you asked me to let you know as soon as Carter had been granted a license to search for the Patrice,” said Lieutenant Monti. “It was rubber stamped this morning, and posted to his home address. So he should have it by the end of the week.”
“Thank you, Toni. I’ll tell the boss immediately.”
“Tell me what?” said Lamont, who had just walked into the room.
“Carter’s been granted his exploration license, so he could be on the move within days.”
“I’ll call the Devon Constabulary and ask them to keep an eye on him. I’ll also warn Jim Travers at BA to keep an eye open, so he can let us know when a booking comes up in Carter’s name. Shouldn’t you be on your way?”
“On my way, sir?”
“You’re meant to be at Snaresbrook Crown Court this morning giving evidence. We got a call after you swanned off on Friday afternoon to say that, to everyone’s surprise, Cyril Amhurst put in a plea of not guilty, and the case would be heard this morning. You’d better get going if you don’t want to lose your first case before the judge even opens proceedings.”
William quickly retrieved the Amhurst–Churchill file from his desk drawer, and put his jacket back on.
“Make sure he goes down for twenty years,” said Lamont.
“At least,” said Jackie, who appeared just as he was heading for the door.
The long tube journey to Snaresbrook gave William a chance to reacquaint himself with the details of the case, but when he reached the last page of the file, he still couldn’t understand why Amhurst was pleading not guilty.
The train pulled into the station just after 9:45, and once William was out on the street he asked a news vendor the way to the Crown Court. He followed the man’s directions and it wasn’t long before he spotted an imposing building looming up in front of him. He sprinted up the steps and pushed his way through the door just before ten o’clock. Checking the court timetable, he saw that The Crown v. Amhurst was scheduled for 10:00 in court five. He ran up another flight of steps to the first floor, where he found a young man dressed in a long black gown and holding a wig pacing around, looking anxious.
“Are you Mr. Hayes?” asked William.
“I am, and I’m hoping you’re Detective Constable Warwick.” William nodded.
“The first thing I should tell you,” said Hayes, “is that because Amhurst’s case has come up at such short notice, I could apply for a postponement and get the trial set for a later date.”
“No, let’s get on with it,” said William. “The damn man hasn’t got a leg to stand on.”
“I agree, but your evidence may still prove crucial, so I’ll quickly take you through what I consider to be the salient points.”
“When do you think we’ll be called?” asked William as they sat down on a bench outside court five.
“There are a couple of bail applications to be heard, and a request for a liquor license to be dealt with before us, so we should be on around ten thirty.”
By the time Hayes had finished briefing William, he felt even more confident that Amhurst was whistling in the wind, although he did admit to Hayes that this would be the first time he’d given evidence in a trial.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” said Hayes. “I have to leave you now and set up my stall in the court. Just hang about until your name is called.”
William didn’t hang about. He paced up and down the corridor, becoming more nervous as each minute passed. Finally, the court usher appeared from within and announced, “Detective Constable Warwick.”
William nervously followed him into the courtroom. He passed the defendant in the dock, and without looking at him, headed straight for the witness box.
The clerk of the court handed William a Bible and he delivered the oath, relieved