Things get a bit nasty temporarily as the evidence in the court case is presented, feel free to skip this chapter, it's not graphic but if you don't want it in your head that's fine with me.
At this point the court usher circulated a collection of evidence photographs, to the members of the jury. Harry remembered each one, each mark, the cracked rib, burn and bruises. Andrew Moorcroft might be an excellent actor, but before he was a barrister he'd worked as a police officer for a couple of years in the late Eighties. Time enough to learn how to cause maximum pain, without leaving too much evidence. That's why that camera had been so expensive; it had to be able to take the UV pictures to capture the bruising that was there, but not visible to the eye. He had wondered about borrowing the one from the Lyell but he couldn't keep disappearing with University property. Not without making Leo suspicious anyway. He had taken some of the pictures at his flat, on the occasions she had actively sought his help. That had stopped though unsurprisingly after Moorcroft found out she had been at Harry's flat and cracked her rib for her betrayal.
Harry looked at the faces of the members of the jury as they perused the pictures. Some looked as if they were turning the pages of the Daily Mail, some were clearly appalled, others tried hard not to look at all. He hoped they understood. He hoped they saw beyond the bruising to the emotional damage he had done to her, undermining all her self confidence. At first he too had been outraged by Moorcroft's mistreatment of Nikki, but it was the psychological abuse that actually Harry became more frightened of.
"Can you explain any changes you noticed in the relationship about this time, Dr Cunningham?" Giles continued.
The jury gratefully looked away from the evidence folders in front of them and back to the faces in the courtroom.
"It was at this time, that I noticed Dr Alexander begin to withdraw from other social activities she used to participate in," Harry began.
"But wouldn't that be normal at this stage in a relationship? To start to devote more time to your significant other?"
"It would, but not the way she did it. Dr Alexander didn't just gradually fade away from the works drinks nights etc. She just stopped. Stopped everything. She didn't leave her house unless Andrew was with her or she was going to work. If she had to work late, Andrew would often come to the office and sit and catch up on his work there. If she were working at a scene she would send him a text every hour or so to explain what she was doing and where she was," Harry explained.
"What did your colleagues think of this behaviour?" Giles asked.
"Some of them thought it was sweet how they wanted to spend so much time together,"
"And you?" asked Giles
"I thought it was controlling and suffocating, but every time I tried to speak to Nikki about it she would tell me that everything was fine, that she was happier than she had ever been."
"But you didn't believe her?"
"No; I did not."
"And why was that?"
"As I have stated before," Harry began. "I pride myself on being able to tell how Dr Alexander is feeling and I was sure that she was afraid. I also know that the time he cracked her rib was because he found out she had spent time at my flat without telling him." Harry wondered how bad it would have been if he ever found out what she was doing whilst she was there.
"Can you explain to the court the hospital admissions sheet please Dr Cunningham," Giles requested.
It was the final page in the gruesome handout the jury had been given.
"Err, yes it is an admissions form for Dr Alexander who was taken in to Bart's Hospital in the early hours of April 14th. Her symptoms included nausea, pain, periods of unconsciousness and haemorrhaging." Harry read from the paper Giles had handed him.
"And how exactly do you have a copy of this hospital form?"
"Because I was the one that took her to the hospital," Harry added.
"Did the hospital know what had caused Dr Alexander's injuries?"
"They did, it was blunt force trauma to the abdomen resulting in a miscarriage." Harry said without even trying to disguise his loathing of the defendant.
"And it is your testimony here that all these injuries that Dr Alexander experienced in the last six months were as a result of her being regularly assaulted by Andrew Moorcroft."
"Yes it is," Harry concluded.
He really wished he could sit down.
"We will take a short break," Judge Evans announced.
Harry didn't relish the prospect of his filing cupboard again, but it was better than being left here and it did have a chair even if it was bolted to the ground. He needed to prepare himself before Ravi Singh sank his teeth into him during the cross examination from the defence.