said Beth. "Danny was holding my brother in his arms."
"So if it was Mr. Craig who stabbed your brother, he must also have been covered in blood."
"How could I know? He'd disappeared by then."
"Into thin air?" said Pearson. "So how do you explain that when the police arrived a few minutes later, Mr. Craig was sitting at the bar, waiting for the detective, and there was not a sign of blood anywhere." This time Beth didn't have a reply. "And may I remind you," continued Pearson, "who it was that called for the police in the first place? Not you, Miss Wilson, but Mr. Craig. A strange thing to do moments after you've stabbed someone, and your clothes are covered in blood." He paused to allow the image to settle in the jury's mind, and waited for some time before he asked his next question.
"Miss Wilson, was this the first time your fiance had been involved in a knife fight and you had come to his rescue?"
"What are you getting at?" said Beth.
Redmayne stared at Beth, wondering if there was something she hadn't told him.
"Perhaps the time has come to test your remarkable memory once again," said Pearson.
The judge, the jury and Redmayne were now all staring at Pearson, who didn't seem to be in any hurry to reveal his trump card.
"Miss Wilson, do you by any chance recall what took place in the playground of the Clement Attlee Comprehensive School on February twelfth 1986?"
"But that's nearly fifteen years ago," protested Beth.
"Indeed it is, but I think it's unlikely that you would forget a day when the man you always knew you were going to marry ended up on the front page of your local paper." Pearson leaned back and his junior passed him a photocopy of the Bethnal Green and Bow Gazette, dated February 13, 1986. He asked the usher to hand a copy to the witness.
"Do you also have copies for the jury?" asked Mr. Justice Sackville, as he peered over his half-moon spectacles at Pearson.
"I do indeed, m'lord," Pearson replied as his junior passed across a large bundle to the court usher, who in turn handed one up to the judge before distributing a dozen copies to the jury and giving the final one to Danny, who shook his head. Pearson looked surprised, and even wondered if Cartwright couldn't read. Something he'd follow up once he had him in the witness box.
"As you see, Miss Wilson, this is a copy of the Bethnal Green and Bow Gazette, in which there is a report of a knife fight that took place in the playground of Clement Attlee Comprehensive on February twelfth 1986, after which Daniel Cartwright was questioned by the police."
"He was only trying to help," said Beth.
"Getting to be a bit of a habit, isn't it?" suggested Pearson.
"What do you mean?" demanded Beth.
"Mr. Cartwright being involved in a knife fight, and then you saying he was 'only trying to help.' "
"But the other boy ended up in Borstal."
"And no doubt you hope that in this case it will be the other man who ends up in prison, rather than the person you are hoping to marry?"
"Yes, I do."
"I'm glad we have at least established that," said Pearson. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to read out to the court the third paragraph on the front page of the newspaper, the one that begins, 'Beth Wilson later told the police... '"
Beth looked down at the paper. "Beth Wilson later told the police that Danny Cartwright had not been involved in the fight, but came to the aid of a classmate and probably saved his life."
"Would you agree that that also sounds a little familiar, Miss Wilson?"
"But Danny wasn't involved in the fight."
"Then why was he expelled from the school?"
"He wasn't. He was sent home while an inquiry was carried out."
"In the course of which you gave a statement which cleared his name, and resulted in another boy being sent to Borstal." Beth once again lowered her head. "Let's return to the latest knife fight, when once again you were so conveniently on hand to come to your would-be boyfriend's rescue. Is it true," said Pearson, before Beth could respond, "that Cartwright was hoping to become the manager of Wilson 's garage when your father retired?"
"Yes, my dad had already told Danny that he was being lined up for the job."
"But didn't you later discover that your father had changed his mind and told Cartwright that he intended to