Give The Devil His Due (43 page)

       Using the court’s overhead projector, the clerk shone the image of the document on to the white screen that had been set up in the court for papers to be shown. He then placed the ring in front of the court’s video camera, which had a feed to a monitor set up adjacent to the projector screen, as he focused the lens, the ring face became clear.

       Suddenly there were gasps from the gallery. The impression of the wax seal on the document and the ring face were what I would describe as almost identical – apart from one tiny black spot visible within the seal.

       ‘Mr Grey, it would seem that the impression on the wax has been made by the ring. Do you agree?’ asked the judge.

       Grey paused. ‘My Lord, I would agree they are similar, but not identical. If I may …?’ Grey pointed. The judge nodded.

       ‘It is apparent that the impression cast on the seal does not have the definition of the ring, in addition, there is a flaw in the seal, a dark spot to the left of centre. Therefore, as I stated previously My Lord, they are not identical.’

       ‘Mmm … I am not convinced Mr Grey. I see that Doctor Stevens and Professor Hull are still present. Perhaps one, or even both of you for that matter, might be kind enough to offer the court an opinion. Gentlemen?’

       Professor Hull spoke. ‘If I could take a closer look My Lord … and if your Lordship would be so kind as to ...’

       Judge Urquhart already had the magnifying glass in his hand. He motioned to the clerk who passed it to the professor.

       ‘Thank you My Lord.’

       Professor Hull proceeded to scrutinise each object. After about a minute, he placed the magnifying glass on the table.

       Judge Urquhart looked at Professor Hull. ‘Well Professor, have you formed an opinion?’

       ‘Yes My Lord.’

       ‘Will you share it with the court?’

       ‘Yes My Lord. My opinion is this: the ring on the table is indeed
the
ring used to cast an impression upon the sealing wax that is on the document in question.’

       Grey was on his feet. ‘My Lord, I would like to strenuously object!’

       ‘Strenuously Mr Grey?’

       ‘Yes My Lord. Professor Hull's opinion is merely that, and should not be taken as conclusive. If it pleases your Lordship, may I once again draw the court’s attention to the depth of impression, and the dark area that is visible upon the wax?’

       The judge looked at Grey. ‘It pleases me Mr Grey to draw
your
attention to the fact that Professor Hull is an expert witness that has been called by the defence.’ Oh dear, the judge sounded like he was having his button pushed by Grey discrediting his own witness.

       ‘Please, Professor Hull, continue ...’

       ‘Thank you My Lord. I was about to say, that I am also of the opinion that the less-defined impression on the sealing wax is due to the excessive temperature of this courtroom.’

       Of course! The heat was making the wax soften slightly.

       ‘And the darkened area, Professor Hull. Do you have an opinion regarding that?’

       ‘My Lord, although it looks large because it is being magnified during projection, it is in fact very small, and I am in no doubt whatsoever that it is a strand of hair.’

       There was more chatter from the gallery. Peach and Coleman were conferring. De Villiers looked like he was going to throttle Grey.

       Coleman rose to his feet. ‘My Lord, as Counsel for the claimant, I would like to request an adjournment until conclusive forensic testing has been carried out on the sealing wax of the document and ring. Furthermore, the tests are to include a DNA test of the strand of hair contained within the wax.’

       ‘Anything else, Mr Coleman?’

       ‘Yes My Lord. A DNA test to be taken from the drinking glass directly in front of the defendant.’

       The chattering in the gallery had now become full-on conversations.

       ‘Order, order!’

       Charles De Villiers now looked like he wanted to kill someone. He was slowly reaching for the glass, hoping that with all the commotion no-one had noticed him doing so.

       Judge Urquhart boomed, ‘Mr Grey! Unless your client wishes to be charged with perverting the course of justice, I suggest he remove his hand from the close proximity of that evidence, NOW!’

       De Villiers put his hand back on to his lap. The clerk walked over to the table and using a piece of white paper picked up the glass, quickly removing it to the table directly in front of the judge.

       ‘I am adjourning this hearing for twenty-one days. The three items of evidence shall be logged by the clerk and will remain in the court’s charge. Collection of the items and tests that are carried out must be by a laboratory that is approved by the Home Office. A list of such laboratories is obtainable from the clerk of the court. That will be all.’

       The judge stood up, immediately mirrored by the clerk. ‘All rise.’ The judge gathered his papers and walked out. Suddenly the place was a-buzz with excitement. De Villiers and his brief were having serious words. Richard Coleman and Peach were examining a list provided to them by the clerk.

       I looked at Vaughan. ‘Any thoughts?’

       ‘Yes, I'm starving dear boy, starving!’ It was time for us to have something to eat.

       So we had three weeks to wait ...

Chapter 34

Three weeks seemed like three years. The day of the reconvening finally came; we were on eggshells.

       When De Villiers and his team arrived at court again they looked confident and very rich in their Savile Row suits. Our lot still appeared like the very poor relations. Peachy’s suit looked less Savile Row, more Jimmy Savile. And Peter looked extremely unwell; all the stress was starting to take its toll.

       As we waited in court for Judge Urquhart to take his seat, I was beginning to feel sick again. Once this thing was over, win or lose, I was going to have a holiday in some form or other.

       The judge entered and we all stood up. The formalities of going through who was who and why they were present dispensed with. We were back to where we had left things three weeks earlier – with the required tests now having been carried out.

       The judge was reading the papers in front of him. Although it had been up to each side to choose its preferred lab and pay for tests to be done, the test results themselves came to court direct. I guess this was to stop them being tampered with.

       The judge called the clerk forward. Both sides were issued with duplicates of the results. Judge Urquhart motioned to the clerk to read the results to the court.

       ‘As you will see before you, the evidence that was submitted has now undergone testing. Each party has chosen a different laboratory, but each result has the same validity within this court.

       ‘With regard to the sealing wax contained on the document and samples taken from the face of the defendant’s ring, it has been concluded that traces of the wax taken from the ring are an absolute match to that used on the document. It is also stated that there can be no question that the ring submitted for testing is indeed the ring that was used to seal the document tested.’

       De Villiers had a look of incredulity on his face.

       ‘With regard to the DNA test from the hair found embedded within the wax seal – Sample (A), and saliva taken from the drinking glass used by the defendant – Sample (B). The findings are these: The DNA is not an exact match.’

       De Villiers was starting to look smug again.

       The clerk continued. ‘Consistent testing has shown that the Y chromosome DNA present in both samples produced the numerical values that are shown as follows:’

       He then started reading stuff about base pairs and markers; it all seemed to be getting a bit complicated. As figure after figure was read out I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be home in time for Christmas.

       ‘In conclusion therefore, positively establishing that paternal ancestry exists between the provider of sample A and the provider of sample B …’

       ‘Yes!’ Richard Coleman had shouted his approval of the lab’s findings. Coleman quickly apologised to the Judge for his lack of self control. The clerk went on to read the second set of test results which had been done by a different lab but paid for by the defence. The wording was different, but the conclusions the same.

       De Villiers had his head in his hands. Peachy was grinning from ear to ear. Peter was smiling. The atmosphere in the room was once again highly charged.

       ‘It is therefore this court’s decision to find in favour of the claimant Mr Peter Steadman. Costs are to be awarded to the claimant.’

       I looked over at De Villiers trying to catch his eye. He saw me. I winked at him as if to say ‘Gotcha’ back. I saw the rage on his face. Without warning he picked up the glass of water in front of him and threw it at me. It missed. It hit the woman seated behind me, smashing on impact.

       ‘Bailiff, arrest that man!’

       Charles De Villiers was dragged away by two large men in suits. I could hear him telling them that the glass had been meant for me, not for her and that it was all an accident …

       They weren’t listening.

***

Peter was hopefully now on the way to becoming a very wealthy man. De Villiers could appeal but would there really be any point? The document had been proven to be genuine. And as it predated the De Villiers–Moncourt merger, it meant that the whole company would be Peter's, less our finders’ fees of course!

       I was still trying to take it all in. Peachy was still erring on the side of caution; that it wasn't over until the fat lady had sung. But it was difficult not to feel like we'd won, even though I couldn't hear any singing.

Chapter 35

It was a just over a week later when I got the call from Peach. He had some unexpected news: Charles De Villiers was dead! Whether he'd topped himself wasn't clear but he'd had a cocktail of drink and drugs that had proved fatal. I felt no sorrow for him. If Neil had died De Villiers wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. There would be no appeal. The fat lady hadn't just sung; she'd left the stage. We were home and dry.

Chapter 36

Karl dipped his head under the water; when he surfaced, the air felt cooler. The Andalusian sunshine was fierce but the swimming pool made it heaven. Refreshed, he walked to the table; there were tapas laid out ready to eat. He looked at the lady tending her stitches. It had been two months since the glass had hit her head in that courtroom and still the cut had not properly healed.

       Pamela Stokes dabbed a little more antiseptic on the weeping wound. A refreshing Margarita appeared as if by magic by the side of her. Karl looked up.

       ‘Where’s mine Dad?’

       ‘You’ll have to get it yourself. I’m not going back to the bar.’

       Karl got up, walked over to the bar and ordered a Margarita. He was only fifteen but the barman served him anyway. Karl had never opened the package his father had asked him to snatch from the woman standing on the pavement that day, but whatever was inside, the three of them now had a much better life because of it.

       The man looked at his son – walking towards him, a cold drink in his hand, a big smile on his face. Karl Lazarus loved Spain.

Epilogue

Fourteen years later
My father also told me: ‘He who laughs last – is usually thicker than everyone else.’

       The world had changed, and life had changed for everyone. Peach had bought a bigger boat and had been pootling around the wider European canals, mainly in France.

       Phil had acquired even more technology and owned a company that specialised in advanced computer security systems.

       Neil had married Denise and become the taxi-king of the town. He had a fleet three times the size of the Bryces’ and covered a huge area. Graham Philips managed the operation for him.

       Tegan and I had bought a smallholding. It was hard work but we were enjoying it. We were able to survive almost totally on what we produced, which was just as well, seeing as I’d made a few bad investments with my share of the court award and there wasn’t much of the money left.

       Gavin had moved to LA. He had his own radio show and was also Celebrity Plumber to the Stars.

       Vaughan had turned ninety and he'd also turned Newton Manor into a residential care home. He was its most important and demanding resident.

       And Martin Sedgely – well he had become a full-time campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis. It wasn’t a paid position and I have absolutely no idea how he supported himself!

***

December was freezing. Neil helped Vaughan out of the taxi and into his wheelchair. Neil straightened Vaughan’s tie. Phil was putting gloves on as a man approached us. Peach walked over to him and shook his hand.

       Sean Coleman was Richard Coleman's son – a partner in Coleman & Samuel. He was executor of the Steadmans’ estate. Although at the time of the hearing we didn't know it, Peter was extremely ill. I knew he'd been visiting doctors. Winning the case had meant he'd had the best treatment that money could buy. It also meant he probably managed to prolong his life many years more than someone without such means, but no-one lives forever.

       Louise and Peter had been on their way to see a specialist. She had been driving when the car swerved across the road and crashed into one of the concrete pillars supporting a bridge. The coroner’s report stated that they were both killed instantly. There were no other vehicles involved. I wondered if it was a joint-suicide, but I guess it was one of those mysteries that will forever remain unsolved.