Page 84 of Maybe Tomorrow

‘Anthony, the case against you is very strong,’ Ronald said. ‘You have no alibi for the time of the murder. You have a history with the victim and police have a witness who puts you in the right location at the time of the murder. As this is a sexually motivated crime, all the fingers point to you as being the killer. In our corner, we have one police officer putting her career on the line saying your confession was coerced– dragged out of you. We have already had that plea thrown out. What we need is firm proof of where you were on the night Alice Patterson was killed, and you can’t give us that.’

‘I was watching the storm.’

‘With no witnesses.’

‘I didn’t do it.’

‘I don’t want to hear that,’ Ronald stated. ‘It would be in your best interest to plead guilty and get a lighter sentence.’

‘Anthony.’ Jennifer took Anthony’s hands in hers. ‘If you’re found guilty, you could spend the rest of your life in prison. If you plead guilty and show that you’re sorry for what happened, we could have the charge put down to manslaughter rather than murder and you could be out within five or six years.’

Anthony’s eyes widened. Despite Jennifer’s soft voice and reassuring smile, all he heard was spending five or six years in prison. A tear rolled down his cheek. ‘I didn’t kill her. I didn’t hurt Alice.’

Ronald sighed loudly. ‘Anthony, we go to court in a week.’ His voice was growing in volume and severity. ‘You need to decide whether you want to spend the rest of your life in prison or just the next few years. And you need to decide right now.’

Anthony swallowed his tears. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his oversized jumper.

‘I’m innocent, though.’

‘No offence, Anthony, but that’s not what’s important here. My job is to get you the least amount of time in prison.’

‘But if the jury say I’m not guilty then I’ll go home.’

‘It is highly unlikely the jury will find you not guilty. The truth of the matter is you’re going to prison. For how long is all down to you.’

‘I liked Alice. I really liked her. I would never have hurt her. I didn’t do it,’ Anthony sobbed.

‘I don’t need to hear this,’ Ronald said, standing up.

He headed for the door. Jennifer ran after him.

‘Ron, wait.’

He turned to her and lowered his voice. ‘There is no way in the world I’m putting Anthony in the witness box. He’s a loose cannon.’

‘Look, I know he didn’t do it, but I know the evidence says otherwise. However, it is all circumstantial. The witnesses the prosecution are putting forward are all women whose reputations can be called into question. You can tear their statements apart, I know you can. Once that falls, they have nothing. There is no physical evidence to put Anthony in the woods at the same time as Alice Patterson. Let him plead not guilty. We can win this.’

Ronald and Jennifer held eye contact for a long time before Ronald turned on his heel and left the room. His famous poker face gave nothing away. Jennifer didn’t know if he was still planning to fight for them or if he’d walked out and she was in need of a new barrister with less than a week to go to trial.

She turned back and looked at Anthony. He stared at her with big, hopeful eyes. He was putting all his faith, his future, in Jennifer’s hands. She had never been more scared in her life than she was right now.

ChapterThirty-Four

Monday 14th May 1984

Sheffield Crown Court

It was a warm and sunny day in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. Pauline and Leo had arrived the day before and checked into a hotel. They’d been told the trial could last up to two weeks. Pauline had never been to Sheffield before. Her expectations weren’t high, but she’d been informed it was a good shopping city. They had a large Debenhams and a big C&A. It would give her something to do when court wasn’t in session.

On the morning of the first day of the trial, Pauline nibbled at a breakfast of toast and jam in the hotel’s restaurant. She didn’t taste a single bite and it laid heavy in her stomach. She had already lost count of the number of times she’d been to the toilet. She hadn’t seen Anthony for five days and the next time she’d see him was when he was walked into a court room, flanked by police officers. She’d bought him a new suit for the occasion, but as he’d lost a lot of weight, she could only guess his size and hoped the one she’d bought him fitted and he would look smart to the jury.

‘There were times I thought this day wouldn’t come,’ Pauline said as she sipped a heavily sugared mug of tea. ‘Sometimes I think it’s come around so quickly. Sometimes I think it’s been a lifetime.’

Leo, sitting opposite, was eating a large bowl of cornflakes. He chewed noisily, then swallowed.

‘He’s going to be fine. According to Jennifer, this Ronald Montgomery has a brilliant track record. He hasn’t lost a case in four years. I bet there aren’t many barristers who can say that.’

Pauline smiled nervously. ‘I’m glad they’re not putting him in the witness box. He wouldn’t have coped with that. I thought Jane Wilkinson would have been a character witness. I can’t believe she’s turned her back on Anthony like that.’