MURDER BRIEF (14 page)

"They have not been
recovered?"

"No. We don’t know where they
are."

"You’ve interviewed my client
twice?"

"Yes."

"Did he ever refuse to give an
interview?"

"No."

"He always co-operated with the
police?"

"Umm, yes."

"And when you searched the
beach-house, did you discover anything relevant to your
investigation?"

"No."

"You mean, nothing
incriminating?"

"That’s correct."

"So you didn’t find the murder
weapon there?"

"No."

"In fact, you still haven’t
found it?"

"That’s right."

"Thank you."

The next witness was Dr Rowena
Butt, the police pathologist who performed the autopsy on Alice
Markham. She was a small, whey-faced woman whom Brian had
cross-examined many times before and found competent and honest,
with an unusual devotion to the facts.

Mahoney asked her to explain the
cause of death. She said Alice Markham died from three stab wounds
in the chest. The time of death was about 9pm on the Saturday
night.

The pathologist also explained
that, on the victim’s dress, she found hair fibres with Rex
Markham’s DNA.

Brian cross-examined on that.
"Doctor, you’d expect, wouldn’t you, that a woman’s dress would
contain some of her husband’s hair fibres?"

"Yes, it’s quite possible."

"And those fibres could find
their way onto the dress during normal domestic interaction?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"You found other hair fibres on
her dress, didn’t you?"

"Yes, three other
templates."

"One was the victim’s?"

"Yes."

"But you couldn’t identify the
other two people?"

"Correct."

"And either of them could have
been the murderer?"

She shrugged. "Not for me to
say."

Next, the prosecutor called
several friends of Alice Markham to give evidence about the poor
state of the Markhams’ marriage.

There had already been an
interlocutory hearing - before Brian and Robyn were briefed in the
matter - during which Rex’s former counsel had objected to this
evidence. However, the judge decided that the state of the
Markhams’ relationship was relevant and the evidence could be
adduced at the trial.

Now the friends told the court
how Alice often described having bitter arguments with her husband
and confided that they planned to divorce. They were obviously
telling the truth, so Brian didn’t cross-examine them. Better to
submit that their evidence had little or no probative value.

Next, the prosecutor called the
two patrol officers who attended the Markhams’ terrace six weeks
before Alice Markham was murdered. They described finding Alice in
a distressed state with a large head wound. She claimed that her
husband hit her, but refused to press charges.

Once again, Brian saw no point
cross-examining these witnesses and inflaming the issue.

The prosecutor rested his case
on the third day, just after the morning tea adjournment. Justice
Dobell then turned to Brian and asked if he wanted to make an
opening address.

Brian rose and told the jury in
a calm, conversational manner that the prosecution’s case was
entirely circumstantial and went nowhere near establishing guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt. "Rex Markham does not have to prove
anything and isn’t going to try. We’ll probably never know exactly
what happened on the night Alice Markham was murdered. Maybe a
burglar snuck into the terrace and, when confronted, stabbed her to
death and fled with some items of jewellery. Or maybe someone else
killed her. We’ll never know. And it is precisely because of that
uncertainty that you must acquit Rex Markham."

Brian said it was obvious that
the Markhams had an unhappy marriage. "But so what? People don’t
murder because they’re unhappily married. If they did, this city
would be littered with bodies." A few jurors tittered. "I am
surprised that is the best motive the prosecution can come up
with."

Brian admitted that his client
lied to the police when he said he was at the beach-house when his
wife was murdered. "He shouldn’t have done that. But he’d just lost
his wife and was being interrogated. He did what many people do
when they are afraid and confused: he fibbed. That makes him a
liar, not a murderer…"

Brian then explained that Rex
Markham had an alibi for the night of the murder. "He dined with a
well-known literary agent, Mr Hugh Grimble, who will give evidence
to support that fact."

Brian said a number of prominent
citizens would attest to Rex Markham’s good character. "Indeed, it
is important to remember, members of the jury, that Rex Markham is
a well-respected and successful citizen whose novels have given
pleasure to millions. He has no criminal record of any kind. Yet
the prosecution wants you to believe that he drove up to Sydney and
murdered his wife
in cold blood
. But where is the evidence
that he is a monster capable of such a crime? There is none."

In a confident tone he turned to
the judge and said: "Your Honour, the witness has been advised of
his rights and elects to give evidence."

The judge asked Rex Markham to
step into the witness box. Rex left the dock, strode to the witness
box and took the oath.

Brian wanted Rex to deal with
the worst evidence against him
in chief
, rather than have it
dragged from him in cross-examination. So he suggested to Rex that
his marriage was in a bad state when his wife died.

Rex spoke with a raspy voice.
"Yes, that’s true. We’d started to argue a lot. That was one of the
reasons I spent a lot of time down at the beach-house."

Brian said: "What about the
domestic disturbance, six weeks before your wife died? Tell the
Court what happened."

Rex described how, during an
argument, his wife attacked him and he pushed her away. She fell
and hit her head. Looking upset, he said: "I’m very ashamed of
that. It shouldn’t have happened."

"And after that, you agreed to
divorce your wife?"

"Yes."

"Now, when the police
interviewed you, you lied about where you were on the night of the
murder, didn’t you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"That I’d be charged with
murder."

"Why were you afraid of
that?"

"Because my wife and I had a bad
marriage. Maybe, because I’m a novelist, I’ve got an over-active
imagination. But I panicked and lied. I didn’t want the police to
know I was in Sydney on the night of the murder."

"But you were in Sydney?"

"Yes."

"Who with?"

"I had dinner with my literary
agent, Hugh Grimble."

"Where?"

"At his house, in Watson’s
Bay."

"When you drove up to Sydney,
why didn’t you drop in and see your wife?"

A strained smile. "We would have
ended up arguing. Frankly, the main reason I went down to the
beach-house was to get away from my wife. So there was no point
going to see her."

Brian looked up at the judge.
"No further questions your Honour."

The judge looked at the
prosecutor. "Mr Mahoney, any questions?"

Mahoney leapt to his feet and
went on the attack, focusing on the bitterness between the
Markhams, their violent altercation six weeks before her death and
Rex Markham’s big fib to the Homicide detectives about his
whereabouts. However, because Rex had already given
evidence-in-chief about those matters, the cross-examination was
less effective than it might have been. Rex also remained fairly
composed. When accused of lying to the police, he didn’t duck or
weave. He boldly admitted that he had, out of fear.

Brian noted that the Pope’s
Prosecutor was not a subtle cross-examiner. He rarely tried to lay
snares for witnesses or lull them into a false sense of security.
Rather, he hurled blunt accusations and greeted denials with
scowls, snorts and sneers. Brian lost count of how many times he
warned Rex that he was on oath, as if perjury was a worse crime
than murder.

Mahoney’s best moments came when
questioning Rex about his bond with Hugh Grimble. "You have a
business relationship?"

"Yes."

"And he’s a close friend?"

That was obviously true, so
Brian prayed Rex wouldn’t try to lie or equivocate.

Rex said: "Yes, he’s definitely
a close friend."

Brian loved clients with the
brains to admit unpalatable facts instead of dig deeper holes for
themselves.

Mahoney said: "And when the
police discovered you were in Sydney, you cooked up an alibi with
Hugh Grimble, didn’t you?"

"No, that’s not true."

"You turned to him because he’s
a close friend?"

"No."

"And you concocted the alibi
together?"

"No."

"In fact, you didn’t see Hugh
Grimble on the night your wife was murdered, did you?"

Rex scowled. "Yes I did. I had
dinner with him."

"No you didn’t. In fact, you
drove up to Sydney, bought some petrol, then went home and murdered
your wife, didn’t you?"

Rex looked like he’d been
slapped. He half-rose from his chair. "No, I didn’t. I did not.
That’s a lie."

Mahoney was now almost yelling.
"You murdered her out of bitterness and spite, didn’t you?"

"No. We had an unhappy marriage.
I admit that. But I didn’t want her dead. I definitely didn’t want
that."

"You’re a novelist, right?"

Rex looked puzzled. "Yes."

"A successful novelist?"

"I’ve sold a lot of books."

"So your job is to make up
stories?"

Rex shrugged. "Yes, I suppose
so."

Mahoney jabbed a finger at him.
"And you’re good at making up stories?"

"I hope so."

Brian leaned over to Robyn.
"Christ. Now he’s a literary critic."

Robyn had to stifle a
titter.

Mahoney said: "And you’ve made
up this story about visiting Hugh Grimble, haven’t you?"

"No. It’s true."

"Even though you’re a
novelist?"

Rex looked nonplused. "Just
because I’m a novelist doesn’t make me a liar. I mean, I don’t
swear an oath before I sit down in front of my computer, do I?"

The courtroom rocked with
laughter.

Brian whispered.
"
Touché
."

Even Mahoney looked a little
embarrassed to receive such a huge back-hander. And, to make it
even worse, it came right at the end of his cross-examination,
because he turned to the judge and said he had no further
questions.

Justice Dobell looked at Brian.
"Any re-examination, Mr Davis?"

Re-examining a witness to
clarify answers was always dangerous, because the witness could
easily deepen the hole he’d dug for himself. Brian said: "No, your
Honour."

Justice Dobell turned to Rex and
told him to return to the dock.

As Rex left the witness box,
Brian reflected that his client had played a weak hand very well.
Indeed, Brian felt a glimmer of hope. For the first time, he
started to believe, truly believe, he just might pull off the
biggest win of his career - the one that made him the pre-eminent
criminal silk in Sydney, if not the country. Everything now
depended on Hugh Grimble. Pray God he didn’t get a mauling.

Robyn whispered: "I think he did
rather well."

"So do I."

Justice Dobell asked Brian to
call his next witness. Brian rose and called Hugh Grimble.

Bernie Roberts quickly slipped
out through a side door and returned with Grimble in tow. Brian
noticed the literary agent had ignored his request to ditch his
polka-dot bowtie. Arrogant bastard.

Grimble confidently strode to
the witness box and took the oath. Then Brian commenced his
examination-in-chief. "Alice Markham worked for your firm, Grimble
& Co, didn’t she?"

"Yes, for about ten years."

"And when was the last time you
saw her?"

Grimble frowned. "Actually, I’m
not too sure. I suppose it was on Friday, the day before she died.
I can’t remember exactly when."

"OK. Now, what did you do on the
night of the murder - the Saturday night?"

"I had dinner with Rex."

"How did that come about?"

Grimble explain how Rex Markham
telephoned him from his beach-house and suggested they dine on
Saturday night.

"Did he say why he wanted to
have dinner with you?"

Grimble smiled. "Yes. He said,
quote: ‘I’m bored shitless down here’."

Several titters floated out of
the jury box.

"What did you say?"

"I told him to come up and I’d
cook him a meal."

"And that’s what happened?"

"Yes. Rex arrived at about
seven-thirty and left at about eleven."

"When he left, did he say where
he was going?"

"Yes. He said he was heading
back down to the beach-house."

Brian said he had no further
questions and sat down.

Justice Dobell looked at
Mahoney: "Any questions, Mr Prosecutor?"

Mahoney rose and glared at the
witness as if he wanted to chew his leg off. "Mr Grimble, you’ve
been the accused’s literary agent for many years, haven’t you?"

"Yes. About fifteen."

"So you’re very close to
him?"

"Yes, I like to think so."

"And you say the accused arrived
at your house at about seven-thirty and left at about eleven
o’clock, don’t you?"

"Yes."

"And you’re aware, aren’t you,
that if the accused was with you during that period, he has a
perfect alibi? He couldn’t have murdered his wife?"

"Yes, so I understand."

"And you’re aware, aren’t you,
that when the accused gave his first interview to the police, he
didn’t mention being at your house?"

"So I understand."

"And you certainly didn’t
approach the police and tell them he was wrong, did you?"