The Accused (Modern Plays) (9 page)

Barrington
If it is a question my learned friend demands, then a question he will get. My Lord, could Ms Mitchell be shown exhibit twenty-three?

Judge
Yes, Usher. (
He nods the
Usher
to hold up the glove
.)

Barrington
Ms Mitchell, do you know what this is?

Mitchell
Yes, of course I do, it’s a rubber glove.

Barrington
Used for hygienic purposes when administering an injection.

Mitchell
Or for washing the dishes.

Barrington
It was found on the floor of the Sherwoods’ kitchen the night his wife died.

Mitchell
So what does that prove?

Barrington
It’s a left-handed glove, Ms Mitchell - are you, by any chance, left-handed?

Mitchell
No, I’m right-handed.

Barrington
Strange, because when you signed your signature on the Usher’s pad only a few moments ago, you
did so with your left hand. Would you care to try on the glove, Ms Mitchell?

Kersley
My Lord, this is outrageous, it’s not Ms Mitchell who is on trial here.

Judge
I agree, Mr Kersley. Sir James, your job is to defend Mr Sherwood, not to prosecute Ms Mitchell. Stick to your brief.

Barrington
As you wish, My Lord. But I do hope my learned friend will not object to me asking Ms Mitchell about the phone calls she claims Mr Sherwood made to her after she had left St George’s.

Mitchell
He did call me, again and again.

Barrington
Again and again. Then how is it that BT are unable to trace a single call to Wellingborough Cottage Hospital from either Mr Sherwood’s office, his home or his mobile?

Mitchell
He could have called me from a phone box.

Barrington
Oh, I see, so several times a day he just popped out of the operating theatre to phone boxes all over London to plead with you to keep quiet about your affair.

Mitchell
Yes, he did.

Barrington
You know, Ms Mitchell, these calls are beginning to sound like the presents, the flowers, the restaurants and the theatre, absolutely no proof of anything actually taking place - which brings me on to the statement that you made to the police following Mrs Sherwood’s death.

Mitchell
Yes, I made a voluntary statement to Chief Inspector Payne.

Barrington
You did indeed, Ms Mitchell, but what I want to know is what you mean by the word voluntary? Was it an unsolicited statement? Did you, for example, visit a police station and offer to assist them with their enquiries?

Mitchell
It wasn’t quite like that.

Barrington
It wasn’t anything like that, was it, Ms Mitchell? The only reason you volunteered a statement was because your father, Councillor Mitchell, had warned you that if you didn’t, you might well be implicated yourself. And correct me if I’m wrong, you didn’t make that statement until after Chief Inspector Payne had contacted you some weeks later?

Mitchell
I volunteered a statement immediately he contacted me.

Barrington
Yes, but why didn’t you contact the police immediately following Mrs Sherwood’s death? Why leave it until Inspector Payne had got in touch with you?

Mitchell
(
voice rising
) Because I didn’t have any proof. It would only have been my word against his.

Barrington
At last we come down to the reality of this case - you didn’t have any proof. It’s simply your word against his. The truth is, Ms Mitchell, that your word isn’t worth the Usher’s pad it’s written on because there never was any relationship between you and the defendant.

Mitchell
(
breaking down sobbing
) Yes, there was. We were lovers and he even asked me to be his wife.

Barrington
Did you accept his proposal?

Mitchell
Yes, I did.

Barrington
So you must have been in love with him at the time?

Mitchell
Yes, I was at the time.

Barrington
So how do you feel about him now, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
I loathe him.

Barrington
You loathe him?

Mitchell
(
voice rising
) Yes, I loathe him. When he needed me, nothing was too much trouble for him, but once I’d served my purpose he dumped me as if I had never existed.

Barrington
Try not to raise your voice too much, Ms Mitchell. Otherwise the jury might begin to suspect that…

Mitchell
(
still sobbing
) I don’t care what they …

Kersley
My Lord, I must object. Do these attacks on Ms Mitchell have any real purpose other than to intimidate?

Judge
Do they, Sir James?

Barrington
They most certainly do, My Lord, their purpose is to ensure that an innocent man doesn’t have to spend the rest of his life in gaol on the evidence of a jealous, vindictive woman who couldn’t get her own way. Ms Mitchell, if you are going to persist in claiming that Mr Sherwood seduced you, I must remind you, before you answer my next question, that you are still under oath. (
He pauses
.) Was Mr Sherwood the first person you had an affair with at St George’s? (
Jarvis
hands him blank sheet of paper that the audience can see is blank
.)

Mitchell
(
hesitates
) There may have been one other.

Barrington
(
stares down at blank sheet
) Only one other, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
Well, over a period of five years, perhaps two.

Barrington
(
continues to stare at sheet
) Two?

Mitchell
(
she hesitates
) Possibly three.

Barrington
(
slowly
) Or four, or five, or …

Mitchell
No - three.

Barrington
And were any or all three of these paramours also doctors or surgeons, by any chance?

Mitchell
Yes, but the first one was years ago and didn’t last that long.

Barrington
Are you certain, of that Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
Yes, I am, but then I feel sure even you can remember when you lost your virginity, Sir James.

Barrington
(
continues to stare at the blank sheet of paper
) But your second and third affairs lasted a considerably longer time, didn’t they?

Mitchell
Yes, but they were over long before Patrick began courting me.

Barrington
(
voice rising
) But isn’t it the truth, Ms Mitchell, that having failed to snare one doctor, you were willing to go to any lengths to catch another?

Mitchell
No, that is not the truth. The truth is that Patrick told me that he loved me and asked me to be his wife, and I can prove it.

Barrington
Like you can prove he gave you prescriptions only on a Friday evening, like you can prove that he showered you with presents that no longer exist, like you can prove which restaurants he took you to, but you can’t remember their names, like you can prove which theatres you attended, but can’t recall the titles of the plays, like you can prove he telephoned you again and again, but there’s no trace of any calls, like you can prove …

Mitchell
That he made me pregnant. (
Barrington
is stopped in his tracks
.) And when I told him I was going to have his baby, he begged me to have an abortion. (
She looks defiantly at
Sherwood.)
And I only agreed to his demands because I wasn’t willing to give birth to the bastard of a murderer.

CURTAIN

The following day
.

The
Jury Bailiff
walks through the door and addresses the audience. Clock shows 9.45
.

Jury Bailiff
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury. Today it is the turn of Sir James Barrington to take up the cudgels on behalf of the Defence. I am unable to give you any guidance as to the witnesses he intends to call (
He glances at his clipboard.
) as no names appear on the list. This, of course, may be a ruse by Sir James to keep the Prosecution guessing. Or it may simply be that following Ms Mitchell’s evidence yesterday, Sir James has not yet decided whether to put Mr Sherwood, in the witness box, where he would have to face cross-examination by Mr Kersley. It is, of course, not compulsory under English law for a defendant to take the stand. However, if he does not, inferences of guilt may be drawn. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, if you are ready, we will return to Court Number One.

He steps through the door; when the lights come up, we are back in Court Number One
,
Everyone is in place awaiting the
Judge
and jury
.

Ashton
Do you think he’ll put Sherwood in the box?

Kersley
I wouldn’t. Always quit while you’re ahead.

Ashton
You think he’s ahead, after all you achieved yesterday?

Kersley
Yes, I do. A trial can be going your way and then suddenly one piece of evidence will derail you. Did you see the faces of the jury when they discovered that Ms Mitchell was left-handed. Doubt must have crept into their minds. No, we must hope that he puts Sherwood in the witness box. And if he does, I’ll need those two theatre programmes.

Ashton
Ms Mitchell dropped them off in chambers this morning. They’re both in the envelope.

Kersley
Good.

Barrington
Have you had a chance to speak to our client this morning?

Jarvis
He was consuming gallons of black coffee, wondering if you had come to a decision about putting him in the witness box.

Barrington
I haven’t been left with a lot of choice after Mitchell’s revelation yesterday. It was a bad mistake on my part, Andrew. What did you learn from it?

Jarvis
Not to ask one question too many.

Barrington
A barrister’s worst nightmare. If I had stopped the moment she admitted to having affairs with three other doctors, the jury would not have been quite so sure about the rest of her evidence. Why in heaven’s name didn’t Sherwood tell us about the abortion in the first place?

Jarvis
Perhaps he didn’t know himself and I have a feeling that Kersley was as surprised as we were.

Barrington
Don’t you believe it. Kersley rehearsed her down to the last syllable.

Jarvis
All the same, I thought he was impressive yesterday …

Barrington
(
He looks across at
Kersley
who is talking to
Ashton)
Yes he was, damn the man - but that was yesterday. We still have one piece of evidence that Kersley doesn’t know about. If he did, Mitchell would have revealed it, and that would have ended any chance of us winning this case.

Three knocks to announce the arrival of the
Judge
.

Usher
Be upstanding in the court. All persons having anything to do before my Lords, the Queen’s Justices, draw near and give your attendance. God save the Queen.

The
Judge
enters and takes his place. All bow to the
Judge
who returns the bow
.

Usher
Bring up the prisoner.

Judge
Sir James, are you ready to open the Defence case?

Barrington
Yes, My Lord, I am. May it please your Lordship, Members of the Jury, I rose this morning with a heavy heart, only too aware of the responsibility that rests upon my shoulders. For it has been left for me to convince the Jury that Mr Sherwood, far from being consumed with murderous intent as Ms Mitchell would have us all believe, is in fact a simple decent man who has devoted his life to the service of others.

But Members of the Jury, for you to be convinced that this man is capable of murder, you have to ask yourself what was the motive, because all crimes must, in the end, have a motive. And, perhaps even more important, where is the evidence to convict Mr Sherwood? Because the evidence in this case has been at best circumstantial, and at worst, prejudicial.

Members of the Jury, English law does not demand that a defendant should appear in the witness box and it is right that it does not do so, but so determined is Mr Sherwood to clear his good name, that he is willing to face cross-examination and be judged by his peers.

My Lord, I call Mr Patrick Sherwood.

Usher
Mr Sherwood

Kersley
smiles as
Sherwood
leaves the dock, walks across the courtroom and enters the witness box
.

Usher
Please take the testament in your right hand and read from the card.

Sherwood
I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Barrington
Your name is Patrick Hugh Sherwood and you reside at twenty-two Cadogan Villas in the county of London?