Evidence 10
The Trial: Second witness - DS Ray Carling
Ray Carling was angry.
This in itself was not an unusual occurrence, but today of all days Ray Carling was definitely 'in a mood'.
He had paced up and down the corridors and smoked numerous cigarettes as he waited to be called into the court room.
When Ray had heard he was being called as a witness by, of all sides, the prosecution, he had been enraged.
The Guv's CID team meant everything to Ray. It was as if they were a family unit and Ray hated the very thought of having to give evidence - albeit reluctantly - against one of their own.
Ray had stormed into CID, the day the letter of summons had arrived, and protested to Gene.
He knew there was nothing the Guv could do about it, but he wanted Gene to see just how angry he was about this sudden turn of events.
Eventually, after much protesting and swearing from Ray, Gene had finally calmed his detective sergeant
His words of advice had been that Ray should simply say what he saw, because "Bollykecks has done nothing wrong".
Ray himself had thought and thought and couldn't remember witnessing anything incriminating relating to the car bombing.
His words to Gene were that it was all "a stitch up" and, with the Scarman report fresh in peoples minds, the powers that be just wanted to pin a big crime on a good copper - a PR demonstration of the police routing out so called 'corruption' within the ranks.
Ray was having none of it.
DI Drake was part of the Guv's team and therefore part of Rays close circle of friends.
Admittedly he did believe Alex's psychology to be nothing more than "twaddle" but she got results and that was all that mattered.
It would seem however that the court was well aware of Ray's reluctance to testify against his friend and colleague. He had been labelled a 'hostile witness' . This meant that he had been called by the prosecution to testify against Alex but it was very much against his will.
'I'll show you a hostile bloody witness alright' he thought to himself.
"Detective Sergeant Carling".
Ray focused his attention onto Alison, the prosecution's barrister..
He didn't like the look of her one bit. She was too business like in his opinion, cold, detached, unemotional.
'Another bloody Caroline Price', Ray thought in disdain.
"If I can cast your mind back to the investigation into the murder of Mister Martin Kennedy...", it had begun, "Is it correct that you were present in the interview room when solicitor Mister Evan White was being quizzed by DCI Hunt and DI Drake, regarding the intimate photographs of himself and Mrs Caroline Price?"
"Yeah I was there", Ray nodded, "What of it?"
"How did DI Drake seem to you Sergeant Carling?"
'Bloody overpaid bitch, making something of nothing', Ray again thought to himself as he looked at Alison.
"She was… I dunno...annoyed", Ray recalled.
"Annoyed?" Alison prompted Ray to elaborate.
"Yeah well, it's not a nice thing to do is it?" Ray shrugged. "Just because Tim Price was away, she gets it on with the next in line".
"Did DI Drake ask Mister White and I quote", Alison paused. "'Why didn't you tell me about it?' and 'Has she had other affairs?'".
"I dunno", Ray was flustered as he carefully tried not to lie but also tried not to say anything potentially incriminating, "she might have done".
"Can you be more precise please, Sergeant?" Alison urged.
"Look, I was stood at the back of the room", Ray protested, "I couldn't hear it all that clearly".
"Did you hear DI Drake ask Mister Evan White those two questions DS Carling?" Alison urged him again, slightly more forcefully this time.
Ray blew out a deep breath.
"Yes, alright, yes", he said angrily, "but I thought she was annoyed because she had a thing for that Evan, that's all. Not what anyone else is twisting it to mean!"
"Thank you DS Carling", Alison said as she finally got her answer, "I do appreciate how difficult this must be for you".
'You haven't got a bloody clue luv!' Ray thought in response.
Ray's anger was increasing by the moment as he stood in the witness box.
His fists were clenched by his side and he very much wanted to hit or kick some inanimate object right now.
He glanced momentarily over to Alex in the dock.
He hadn't seen her at all since her arrest. The only person who had seen her was Gene and the Superintendent had made his displeasure at that visit very much known.
Ray's relief was immense when Alex cast him a small reassuring smile, as if urging him to be calm and take it all in his stride.
That simple act meant a lot to Ray.
"Now if I can move along DS Carling, to the day of October 9th 1981", Alison's questions began again, "I understand that you were present when the defendant is alleged to have received a telephone call from an informant warning of the impending car bomb that killed Mister and Mrs Price?".
"I was and she did. The call came in and DI Drake got straight to work on investigating it", Ray explained.
"And do you know the identity of this informant DS Carling?" Alison enquired.
"She said it was private", Ray continued with a shrug, "nothing wrong with that. Could have been anonymous even, not everybody wants to give their details to us coppers y'know!".
"And on the subject of telephone calls Detective Sergeant", Alison carried on, "is it correct that you took a telephone call in CID on October 10th from a person whom you identified as another informant, or possibly even the same one, asking to speak to the defendant?".
"I did yeah", Ray nodded.
"And who was this caller, exactly. DS Carling?" Alison sounded confident in her questioning.
Ray's anger was rising within him again. He knew this woman was trying to establish possible links where there were none.
"DS Carling, who was the caller?" Alison asked the question again.
"Arthur Layton", Ray finally huffed.
"The caller asking for the defendant, on the day of the car bombing, was the drug lord, Arthur Layton who had, some weeks earlier, been arrested by the defendant", Alison explained to the court,. "However, on October 10th, he was released from prison on bail and seems to have decided to call the officer who arrested him".
Ray was biting his lip hard. There were several names he wanted to call Alison right now but he dare not in a court of law.
"DS Carling, did the defendant make any visits to a prisoner in Wormwood Scrubs, in the days prior to the car bombing?" Alison continued.
Ray wished she would just shut up.
"Yes she did", he answered.
"And whom did she visit DS Carling?"
Ray sighed loudly, letting his annoyance show.
"Arthur Layton", he simply stated. There was no point trying to deny knowledge of the visit as the prison records would clearly show her as visiting Layton.
"She visited Arthur Layton", Alison said more to the court than to Ray, "and tell me DS Carling, did she visit him alone?"
"I think so, I dunno. I wasn't there I only saw her leave CID alone", Ray protested. "The second time she went with the Guv, not alone!"
Another pause followed. Alison seemed to enjoy adding these pauses before moving on, as if giving the jury, witness and defendant time to think over what had been said.
"You were present, were you not, at the arrest of both Mister and Mrs Price for possession of narcotics?"
"I was", Ray agreed. That much he couldn't deny.
"May I ask how yourself and the defendant gained access to the Prices house?"
Ray bit his lip momentarily. He hated hesitating, it was something he rarely did but he knew how bad what he was about to say could sound.
"We let ourselves in with the spare key", Ray finally answered, truthfully.
"With the spare key", Alison repeated, "and of both yourself and the defendant, which of you knew where the key was?"
Ray hesitated yet again. This really was becoming the stitch up job he had feared all along.
"DS Carling?" Alison said, urging her witness to speak the answer she sought.
"DI Drake", Ray said with immense reluctance in his voice, "she found it under a garden ornament".
Ray looked down. He felt ashamed at what he had just said yet he knew he had, unfortunately, had no choice in the matter.
"And how did she know it was there DS Carling?" Alison again continued.
"I don't know!" Ray was now actually sounding angry. "All sorts of people hide a spare key outside! She's a psychologist, psychiatrist, or whatever it's called, she probably figured it out with that!"
Ray breathed out hard after his louder than intended answer. Again he looked to Alex as if to apologise for the inevitable trouble his words would cause.
She looked back at him without a hint of anger in her demeanour and Ray felt that, somehow, she understood his predicament and knew he was not to blame for anything that may result from his words.
Ray had been taken by surprise at just how well he had bonded with Alex.
Upon her arrival he had been horrified at the mere thought of a female DI but as time had passed Ray had to admit that, aside from a couple of clashes, they had indeed become firm friends and there was a mutual respect between them.
In fact he had warmed to Alex Drake far quicker than he had to her predecessor, Sam Tyler.That had been a rocky road indeed!
Ray had wished deeply that he could have simply declined the court summons but he knew that was not possible. It was a no win situation in his eyes.
"Thank you DS Carling", Alison finally spoke again, "No more questions".
The judge looked over to the defence.
"Are there any questions from the defence for this witness?" he asked.
"Yes, My Lord", Jarvis got to his feet.
Jarvis looked to Ray, clearly recognising that he didn't want to be taking part in these proceedings.
Ray being labelled a 'hostile witness' could, in Jarvis' opinion, be to the defence's advantage.
Unwilling as he had been to speak against his colleague, Jarvis surmised that DS Carling would have no trouble speaking out for her if asked the right questions.
"DS Carling, I believe you were present when a Mister David Bonds was discovered to be behind a hate campaign against the developer Danny Moore. If it helps jog your memory, this was the day of the Royal Wedding", Jarvis explained. "Your statement indicates that both Caroline Price and the defendant were present in CID at this time. Could you please describe the atmosphere between them?"
Ray had to suppress a grin, as he recalled the day in question, and the row Alex had with Caroline.
"They were rowing big time", Ray answered, "No love lost between them two. DI Drake told Caroline Price in no uncertain terms exactly what she thought of her leaving her daughter at school on Royal wedding day, when everyone else goes home to watch it. And something about Caroline trying to score cheap points off coppers".
"Hardly the actions of an obsessed person", Jarvis remarked.
"DS Carling", Jarvis began again, "You worked alongside the defendant for quite some time. Can you tell the court if she ever said or did anything, which gave you reason to believe that she wished the Price family any harm?"
"No, it's all rubbish", Ray was firm in his response, "Sure the Prices wound us all up but nobody, DI Drake included, would have wished them any harm!"
"And were you ever under the impression that the defendant harboured an obsession with the Price family?" Jarvis continued.
"She mentioned them a bit, but wemall did...They could be a right pain in the arse when you were trying to nail some scumbag", Ray explained. "But obsession? No. I always thought she and they were on the same wavelength really - being a bit posh and all, nothing more".
Jarvis was pleased.
This 'hostile' witness certainly was proving useful to the defence and Jarvis was convinced Alison would be cursing him under her breath.
Jarvis had hoped Ray would offer in depth answers, which were sympathetic to the defence, and he certainly was.
"DS Carling, when the initial telephone call came into CID informing the defendant of the impending car bomb", Jarvis began another one, "did you feel the defendant was doing all she could to prevent this bombing?"
"Yeah definitely!" Ray confirmed. "This was a biggie and with Scarman visiting the station soon, I thought she wanted to make this one look good - solving a crime before it happens. She had all the information on this white board and got on the case right away. I mean, I know the Prices were a pain, but no one wanted that to happen, not with their kid and all. We're coppers, we stop that kind of thing, not cause it!"
"Thank you DS Carling", Jarvis nodded, "No more questions, My Lord".
Alex shot Ray a small smile as he looked at her one last time.
He was leaving the witness box and she had been well aware of the look of concern on his face throughout the entire proceedings.
Several times Alex had tried to give Ray subtle looks of reassurance as he had spoken, just so he could be sure there were no hard feelings from her.
The law was the law and Ray had to obey the summons to give evidence just like anybody else.
Once again the defence had spun Ray's answers to sound potentially incriminating, just as they had done with Evan.
But Jarvis had impressed Alex. He had known exactly which buttons to press in the way he had quizzed Ray.
Ray's protectiveness of the CID team had played against the prosecution but only time would tell if it had been beneficial to the defence.
It all came down to what the jury believed and how they saw the evidence and testimonies.
Alex sighed.
Day one of the trial was almost at an end.
Evan and Ray had played their part and Alex knew she would soon be sent back to prison for the night to face the inevitable questioning from Jill about what had gone on.
Alex didn't know what she would tell her.
Did she try and stay positive or did she admit that, at the moment, it was looking bad?
End Chapter 10...
As usual big thanks to Heidi for beta-ing and Skywise for being a legal brain! :)
(As with previous chapters I sometimes have problems with formatting when I upload fics to this website. Sometimes this site loses gaps, bunches stuff all together and generally messes with the layout, despite having been beta'd. If this happens with this chapter, please take that into account as I don't yet know what causes this website to do this during the upload)