The Coroner (56 page)

    Jenny
nodded to Arvel, who brought over a sheaf of pre- prepared warrants. She signed
each of them and asked him to telephone Williams with instructions to execute
them immediately. While he retreated to a side room to make the call, she
ordered Justin Bennett forward to the witness chair.

    It
took her a while to register the full change in Bennett's appearance. He still
wore a short ponytail, but the dreadlocks had vanished, as had all but one of
the earrings and studs. He was dressed in a brand-new charcoal suit with a
shirt and tie. He read the oath card in a quiet, obedient voice, giving every
impression of wanting to assist the court. Jenny felt her anxiety subside a
little.

    The
three barristers listened intently, taking verbatim notes as Justin explained
that he had dealt with and met Danny on numerous occasions before his reception
into Portshead Farm. He confirmed that he was a difficult boy from an unstable
family and it was no surprise to him that the family's social worker, Ruth
Turner, had called him a fortnight before his sentencing hearing to say he was
in a fragile mental state. Jenny asked him if he acted on Ruth Turner's phone
call in any way. He glanced guiltily over at Simone Wills and said no, apart
from mentioning in the pre-sentence report that Danny was deeply disturbed at
the prospect of custody.

    'Mr
Bennett,' Jenny said, 'with hindsight, would you have done anything
differently?'

    'I
could have tried for a psychiatric referral. But I'm not saying I would have
got one. Every young person I see could do with some help of that kind. That's
just the way it is.'

    Simone's
overweight friend - the trainee porn star - put an arm around her as she
started to sob. Looking at her, Jenny felt oddly dispassionate, thinking about
Simone on Saturday night, noisily humping her new boyfriend with five kids
downstairs.

    'After
he went into custody, did you have any further contact with Danny?'

    Justin
shook his head. 'No.'

    'But
you did hear about him?'

    'Yes
. . .' The lawyers all looked up at once. 'I was dealing with another client,
Katy Taylor, a fifteen-year-old girl who came out of Portshead Farm at the end
of her sentence on 17 April. I saw her on the 18th at my office and again on
the Friday, the 20th. That's when she spoke about Danny.'

    'What
did she say?'

    Justin
aimed his answer at the floor, his voice hardly carrying across the room. 'We'd
been talking about whether her time in custody had changed her. She told me she
thought it had, but only because she was frightened to go back ... I asked her
why that was and she wouldn't really say . . . It's the way we're trained, not
to push kids to answer, to let things come out in their own time ... It was
right near the end of our session and she was getting up to go when she asked
if I remembered Danny. I said of course, she knew I did. She kind of went quiet
for a moment - unusual for her - then said she'd been worried about him at
Portshead. She'd bumped into him a couple of times in the canteen before he
hanged himself. He'd seemed in a bad way, quiet and depressed. The last time
she saw him, the evening before he died, she went over and asked him what was
the matter, and he told her he was having trouble with one of the staff, didn't
say who. I think she said why didn't he do something about it. Danny told her
he was going to, he was going to get hold of a knife to defend himself . . .
That was it, all the conversation they had.'

    'Did
she have anything else to say about him?'

    'Only
that it seemed strange he was thinking about defending himself just before he
committed suicide.'

    'Did
she mention having any problems of her own with the staff?'

    'No,
not specifically, but—'

    'But
what, Mr Bennett?'

    'I
got a feeling from her that there might have been something, but, like I said, I
didn't push it. I was expecting to see her again in a few days.'

    Jenny
turned to the jury. 'The reason Mr Bennett didn't see Katy Taylor again was
that she went missing two days later and was found dead on the outskirts of the
city, eight days after that. You may have read about her case in the press. The
police are currently investigating.'

    She
braced herself for Hartley's objection, but none came. He'd turned to his
solicitor and was in whispered conversation. The expressions on the jurors'
faces were suddenly deadly serious, as if a dark cloud had settled over the
courtroom. Simone had stopped sobbing but looked ashen.

    Jenny
said, 'How well did Katy and Danny know each other?'

    'They
weren't exactly close,' Bennett replied, 'but they'd been on the same drugs
awareness course last December, and I think they'd been at the same primary
school.'

    'What
was your reaction to this information?'

    'I
was very worried by it. I'd known Danny a long time. I was shocked when I heard
he was dead.'

    'Did
you tell anyone what Katy had said?'

    'Yes.
I'd already had a call from the coroner, Mr Marshall, a few days before, asking
if I knew anything relevant. He left me his number, so I called him that same
evening and passed on what she had told me.'

    'What
did he say?'

    'He
thanked me very much and said he'd like to talk to her himself.

    'I
said, maybe it would be best if he left it a few days and let me speak to her first,
see if she came out with anything more. I didn't think Katy would have opened
up to a complete stranger like that. But he insisted, so I gave him her mobile
number.'

    'So,
as of the evening of Friday 20 April, Mr Marshall, the then coroner, knew that
Danny had told Katy Taylor he was having trouble with a member of staff and
that he was seeking a knife to defend himself?'

    'Yes.
He did.'

    'And
did he call Katy?'

    'I've
no idea.'

    'Thank
you, Mr Bennett. If you'd like to wait there. You may be asked some more
questions.'

    Hartley
had a hurried word with his two fellow counsel and rose to represent all of
them. 'Mr Bennett, Miss Taylor gave you no information about the circumstances
of Danny Wills's death, did she?'

    'No.'

    'She had
a lengthy criminal record and was a frequent drug user, was she not?'

    'Yes.'

    'And
despite her tender years she was also suspected of prostitution.'

    'Yes
. . .' A note of annoyance entered Justin's voice. 'But there was a lot more to
her than that.'

    'I'm
sure there was, and I'm sure we're all extremely sorry for her tragic death.'
He paused in a moment of unconvincing sympathy. 'Now, if you could please tell
me whether Danny Wills had previous convictions for crimes of violence?'

    'He did.
Several.'

    'Then
would it be fair to say that if he was having trouble with a member of staff,
whatever that might mean, he was the kind of young man who might well have
thought in terms of a violent response?'

    Jenny
watched Justin, his gaze fixed on his feet, blink several times as if
suppressing an uncharacteristic violent urge of his own and then round on his
questioner. 'He was the kind of kid we try to help but usually fail. I don't
know what happened to him any more than you do, but I do know that if he hadn't
been sent away he wouldn't be dead. Custody doesn't work - if it did, I'd be
out of a job and so would you.'

    'Your
passion is admirable, Mr Bennett. I don't think anyone in this room feels
anything other than deeply sad that a young life was lost. And in my long
experience it's always so much more perplexing when it happens for no apparent
reason.'

    Jenny
was about to call an adjournment when there was a disturbance at the back of
the hall. Journalists who'd finally got a clear view of the action were forced
to shuffle aside as two uniformed police officers arrived with Grantham and
Peterson. Grantham was puce with rage; Peterson had the grey pallor of a man
facing the gallows. DS Williams stepped in behind them with a look of profound
satisfaction. Bennett's evidence had taken less than forty minutes, which meant
his officers must have been already waiting for the two men, ready to pounce.

    Williams
nodded to Arvel, who got to his feet. 'Witnesses Mr Frank Grantham and Dr Nicholas
Peterson are now present, ma'am.'

    A
murmur of anticipation spread through the gallery. Jenny called for quiet and
asked Grantham to come forward. She felt an unhealthy burst of adrenalin, and
while a constable followed him all the way to the witness chair, she picked a
mint out of the packet on her desk and sucked out the half-pill.

    She
then thanked the police officer and released him, affording Grantham the
dignity of being able to face the court without looking like a criminal. But he
nevertheless glared at her with a degree of venom she had only experienced in
the bitterest of marital rows. She fought the tightness in her throat and
offered a brief, silent prayer. She was in charge and had to act as if she
meant it.

    Affecting
the look of only partial interest that Pamela Sharpe had used so effectively to
intimidate her, she glanced down at her notes at her notes. 'Are you Mr Frank
Grantham of 18 Belvedere Park, Bristol?'

    'Yes.'
His answer was terse, given with no attempt to disguise his anger.

    'You
failed to answer your summons this morning, why was that?'

    'I
should imagine my counsel made that perfectly clear.'

    Pamela
Sharpe rose to her feet. 'Ma'am, if I might—'

    'Not
at the moment, Miss Sharpe. I'll deal with the issues of contempt later.' She
turned to Arvel. 'We'll have the witness sworn, please.'

    Grantham
looked to Pamela Sharpe, but all she could offer was a slight shrug, as if to
say that if he didn't know anything, he'd have nothing to fear.

    Looking
at his swollen, indignant face as he boomed out the oath, Jenny was surprised
at how much loathing she felt for him. She checked herself. In the quiet of her
hotel room she had planned this moment, and it was to be sober and low- key.
She wanted only one piece of information from him and she wanted it extracted
without exposing herself to even the slightest risk of criticism.

    'Mr
Grantham, you are head of the legal department of the Severn Vale Local
Authority?'

    'Yes.
I've held the position for twelve years.'

    'And
your department advises the council on a whole range of legal issues which
confront it?'

    'It
does.'

    'Without
giving away any commercially sensitive information, can you confirm that at the
time of Danny Wills's death UKAM Secure Solutions Ltd was a bidder for a multi-
million-pound contract to build and operate a new secure training centre in the
Severn Vale Local Authority's area?'

    Grantham
looked straight at the jury. 'No. I have no knowledge of that.'

    'Your
department wasn't asked to advise on any planning issues the tender may have
raised - I understand the proposed site would have been substantial, thus
raising numerous issues.'

    'No.
I have no knowledge of any such tender.'

    Jenny
made a note, more to steady herself for the next phase than to record his
answer. She continued with a change of tack: 'The former coroner, Mr Marshall,
was a close friend and colleague of yours, was he not?'

    'We'd
certainly known each other a long time.'

    'Personally
as well as professionally?'

    Grantham
cast an uneasy glance at Pamela Sharpe. 'We socialized on occasions, certainly.
I was technically his employer, however. My department pays the coroner's
salary, as you know, ma'am.'

    Reacting
to several puzzled looks in the jury box, Jenny said, 'A historical anomaly,
members of the jury: the coroner's office is paid for by the local authority,
but the coroner is in no way answerable to or a servant of local government. He
or she answers directly to the Lord Chancellor . . .' She couldn't resist
adding, 'No matter what Mr Grantham may say.'