Part Twenty Five
When Karen arrived at court the next morning, half of her really didn't want to see Yvonne. Karen couldn't believe she'd thought of Yvonne in the way she had. She must be going more mad than she'd first supposed if lusting after one of the straightest women she knew was now one of her pastimes. She wasn't at all sure how she really felt about Yvonne, she just knew that she'd found the thought of her appealing last night. After all, a one moment fantasy didn't mean that she'd feel the same in the cold light of day, now did it. But when she walked in to the front row of the public gallery and sat down in the space next to Yvonne, all thoughts of her forgetting about the previous night's revelations went straight out the window.
"You okay?" Asked Yvonne, looking at the shadows under Karen's eyes.
"I didn't sleep particularly well," Said Karen, thinking that this was the lamest excuse she'd ever heard. Yvonne seemed to sense that Karen wasn't being entirely straight with her, and scrutinized her face.
"I hope McKenzy's managed to stay off the crack," Karen said, trying to change the subject.
"Denny said she'd managed to get rid of it, so she should be fine," Replied Yvonne.
When Al was led in to the witness box, she looked over at Snowball and gave her a death glare Yvonne herself would have been proud of. She put her hand on the bible and said,
"I swear by all mighty god to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." First time in her life, thought Yvonne. But she could see that Al was alert, bright-eyed and of all things angry. Jo moved forward.
"Miss McKenzy. Please would you tell the court about your first contact with the defendant, Snowball Merriman."
"It wasn't long after she'd arrived. I asked her where the hell she got a name like Snowball, and she said it was better than Tracy."
"And how did she behave towards you?"
"She was nice." Here, Al looked over at Snowball. "She took me for a complete tit. She thought she could sweeten me up by getting drugs sent in."
"Did she ever disclose her source to you?"
"No way. She just said she had a good supplier on the outside."
"How good an actress did she appear to you?" George stood up and approached the judge's bench.
"My Lord, my witness's skill as an actress is hardly relevant."
"My Lord," Put in Jo, "I argue that it is extremely relevant. Half the prosecution's case is built on the fact that Tracy Pilkinton is so adept at playing a role, that she was able to fit any character she needed to be in order to ascertain her goal."
"Very eloquently put Mrs. Mills. I will allow it, so please sit down, Ms Channing." Remembering her failure with Fenner of yesterday, George bit back a retort. Jo moved back to stand in front of Al.
"May I ask you again, how successful an actress did you perceive the defendant to be?"
"When she first came to Larkhall, she had this really sexy American accent. That's probably how she reeled us all in, Jim Fenner included."
"I think Denny's been doing a little coaching behind the scenes," muttered Yvonne, vowing to put some money in to Al's personal spends for this.
"But when we found out she'd only starred in porn movies," continued Al, "She gave us this sob story about how crap her childhood was, as if she was the only one that had happened too."
"Now, please could you tell the court about the incident with the radio alarm clock."
"Snowball said that Atkins' radio was disturbing her beauty sleep. She asked me to steal it for her."
"Can you remember her exact words?"
"I think she said, can you just go fetch it to me in the library."
"Did you have any idea at the time why she wanted you to bring it to her in the library?"
"I just thought it was because that's where she was at the time. Seems I was wrong."
"My Lord, I have submitted the remains of the radio alarm clock which were found at the scene of the explosion." Jo walked to the evidence bench and picked up something in a sealed evidence bag. "6A my Lord." Then Jo returned to Al. "Would you tell the court exactly what took place on the day of the explosion?"
"We'd set up all the stalls for the open day in the art room. But someone wrote some graffiti on the wall, so the officers made us move the stalls in to the library."
"What was Snowball Merriman's reaction to this?"
"It scared the shit out of her." With any other witness, John would have reminded them where they were and asked them to moderate their language, but with Alison McKenzy, he could see that this was simply the way she spoke, and no official setting would ever change that. "She told me to quit bugging her," Continued Al. "I helped her move all the books in to the corridor. She was really weird. First she insisted that they had to be in alphabetical order, but when I asked her if S came after or before T, she just told me to put them anywhere."
"My Lord," Jo announced, "I will be submitting the remains of two books that were recovered from the scene, both baring traces of plastic explosives and both funnily enough by Anthony Trollope. I would like to suggest that Snowball Merriman's negative response to anyone going near to the books beginning with t, was because she didn't want the presence of the explosives to be discovered. I have no further questions, My Lord."
George moved forward with the kind of gleam in her eye that nowadays made Jo worry.
"Miss McKenzy," George began, as if loathing the fact that she had to address a con so formally. "Are you a drug user?"
"Aye, sometimes," Said Al.
"And are you currently suffering from the effects of using drugs?"
"No."
"Please forgive me if I don't believe you," Said George scathingly.
"You can believe what you like," Said Al beginning to get riled. "I was piss tested clean this morning."
"Go girl," muttered Cassie in the public gallery. George looked slightly ill at ease with the turn of the conversation. Jo looked over at John and could see a little twinkle in his eye. George walked over to the evidence bench and picked up the bag containing the remains of the radio.
"Is this the remains of the radio you stole from Yvonne Atkins' cell?" She asked Al.
"Aye," Said Al, knowing how much she'd managed to wind this woman up.
"But are you absolutely certain that it was this radio?" persisted George.
"How can I be?" Threw back Al, "It was burned to shit."
"Quite," Replied George. "So, this might not be the radio you stole for Snowball Merriman at all."
"It must be," Persisted Al, "I stole the radio for her and took it to her in the library. Then, a radio turns up as part of the bomb that she made. It stands to reason it's that radio." Yvonne briefly thought that this was the most articulate she'd ever seen the razor head.
"Are you sure you had no prior knowledge of the explosion?" asked George, trying to goad Al in to slipping up. "Are you absolutely certain that you didn't help my client in any way? She was fascinating to you, wasn't she? You couldn't do enough for her when she first arrived in Larkhall."
"How fucking thick are you?" shouted Al, really furious now. "I was nearly burned to death in that evil shit's little firework display. Do you really think I'd have helped her make the bomb, and stayed around to get blasted by it."
"My Lord," said George clearly affronted, "Are you not going to caution this witness as to her behaviour in this court?"
"Do you have any further questions, Ms Channing?" Asked Deed.
"No, My Lord. But...."
"Court is adjourned till after lunch," called Deed, rising and sweeping out of the door behind the judge's bench. Al stood, almost stunned by the fact that the judge hadn't cautioned her. She knew she'd gone a bit overboard with that barrister, but she hated barristers. They refused to talk her language, and couldn't bring themselves to treat her like an ordinary witness. She looked up to the gallery, where she could see Yvonne Atkins, Cassie Tyler and Roisin Connor. Yvonne grinned at her and gave her the thumbs up. Denny had promised her the night before that Yvonne would come good if she played her part in court. Al hoped for Denny's sake this was true.
"I think we owe it to Al to go and raise a glass to her somewhere," Said Yvonne. "Only she would say something like that to a QC and get away with it." As they moved out in to the sunshine, Karen began to feel more relaxed. Al McKenzy had done well for them this morning, and Karen thought it would be well worth a move up on to enhanced for her. When they went inside a nearby pub, Karen realised that she couldn't simply banish the feelings she clearly had for Yvonne. She might have to hide them, keeping them away from any unsuspecting eyes, but some day she would have to bring them out and examine them. Yvonne had clearly made a promise to Al, to persuade her to do them proud in court, and Yvonne wasn't one to go back on her promises. Was this what she admired? Karen wasn't sure. She thought it was a combination of her commitment to people, her compassion for those worse off than herself, and by no means least, her ability to make Karen laugh.
When Karen arrived at court the next morning, half of her really didn't want to see Yvonne. Karen couldn't believe she'd thought of Yvonne in the way she had. She must be going more mad than she'd first supposed if lusting after one of the straightest women she knew was now one of her pastimes. She wasn't at all sure how she really felt about Yvonne, she just knew that she'd found the thought of her appealing last night. After all, a one moment fantasy didn't mean that she'd feel the same in the cold light of day, now did it. But when she walked in to the front row of the public gallery and sat down in the space next to Yvonne, all thoughts of her forgetting about the previous night's revelations went straight out the window.
"You okay?" Asked Yvonne, looking at the shadows under Karen's eyes.
"I didn't sleep particularly well," Said Karen, thinking that this was the lamest excuse she'd ever heard. Yvonne seemed to sense that Karen wasn't being entirely straight with her, and scrutinized her face.
"I hope McKenzy's managed to stay off the crack," Karen said, trying to change the subject.
"Denny said she'd managed to get rid of it, so she should be fine," Replied Yvonne.
When Al was led in to the witness box, she looked over at Snowball and gave her a death glare Yvonne herself would have been proud of. She put her hand on the bible and said,
"I swear by all mighty god to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." First time in her life, thought Yvonne. But she could see that Al was alert, bright-eyed and of all things angry. Jo moved forward.
"Miss McKenzy. Please would you tell the court about your first contact with the defendant, Snowball Merriman."
"It wasn't long after she'd arrived. I asked her where the hell she got a name like Snowball, and she said it was better than Tracy."
"And how did she behave towards you?"
"She was nice." Here, Al looked over at Snowball. "She took me for a complete tit. She thought she could sweeten me up by getting drugs sent in."
"Did she ever disclose her source to you?"
"No way. She just said she had a good supplier on the outside."
"How good an actress did she appear to you?" George stood up and approached the judge's bench.
"My Lord, my witness's skill as an actress is hardly relevant."
"My Lord," Put in Jo, "I argue that it is extremely relevant. Half the prosecution's case is built on the fact that Tracy Pilkinton is so adept at playing a role, that she was able to fit any character she needed to be in order to ascertain her goal."
"Very eloquently put Mrs. Mills. I will allow it, so please sit down, Ms Channing." Remembering her failure with Fenner of yesterday, George bit back a retort. Jo moved back to stand in front of Al.
"May I ask you again, how successful an actress did you perceive the defendant to be?"
"When she first came to Larkhall, she had this really sexy American accent. That's probably how she reeled us all in, Jim Fenner included."
"I think Denny's been doing a little coaching behind the scenes," muttered Yvonne, vowing to put some money in to Al's personal spends for this.
"But when we found out she'd only starred in porn movies," continued Al, "She gave us this sob story about how crap her childhood was, as if she was the only one that had happened too."
"Now, please could you tell the court about the incident with the radio alarm clock."
"Snowball said that Atkins' radio was disturbing her beauty sleep. She asked me to steal it for her."
"Can you remember her exact words?"
"I think she said, can you just go fetch it to me in the library."
"Did you have any idea at the time why she wanted you to bring it to her in the library?"
"I just thought it was because that's where she was at the time. Seems I was wrong."
"My Lord, I have submitted the remains of the radio alarm clock which were found at the scene of the explosion." Jo walked to the evidence bench and picked up something in a sealed evidence bag. "6A my Lord." Then Jo returned to Al. "Would you tell the court exactly what took place on the day of the explosion?"
"We'd set up all the stalls for the open day in the art room. But someone wrote some graffiti on the wall, so the officers made us move the stalls in to the library."
"What was Snowball Merriman's reaction to this?"
"It scared the shit out of her." With any other witness, John would have reminded them where they were and asked them to moderate their language, but with Alison McKenzy, he could see that this was simply the way she spoke, and no official setting would ever change that. "She told me to quit bugging her," Continued Al. "I helped her move all the books in to the corridor. She was really weird. First she insisted that they had to be in alphabetical order, but when I asked her if S came after or before T, she just told me to put them anywhere."
"My Lord," Jo announced, "I will be submitting the remains of two books that were recovered from the scene, both baring traces of plastic explosives and both funnily enough by Anthony Trollope. I would like to suggest that Snowball Merriman's negative response to anyone going near to the books beginning with t, was because she didn't want the presence of the explosives to be discovered. I have no further questions, My Lord."
George moved forward with the kind of gleam in her eye that nowadays made Jo worry.
"Miss McKenzy," George began, as if loathing the fact that she had to address a con so formally. "Are you a drug user?"
"Aye, sometimes," Said Al.
"And are you currently suffering from the effects of using drugs?"
"No."
"Please forgive me if I don't believe you," Said George scathingly.
"You can believe what you like," Said Al beginning to get riled. "I was piss tested clean this morning."
"Go girl," muttered Cassie in the public gallery. George looked slightly ill at ease with the turn of the conversation. Jo looked over at John and could see a little twinkle in his eye. George walked over to the evidence bench and picked up the bag containing the remains of the radio.
"Is this the remains of the radio you stole from Yvonne Atkins' cell?" She asked Al.
"Aye," Said Al, knowing how much she'd managed to wind this woman up.
"But are you absolutely certain that it was this radio?" persisted George.
"How can I be?" Threw back Al, "It was burned to shit."
"Quite," Replied George. "So, this might not be the radio you stole for Snowball Merriman at all."
"It must be," Persisted Al, "I stole the radio for her and took it to her in the library. Then, a radio turns up as part of the bomb that she made. It stands to reason it's that radio." Yvonne briefly thought that this was the most articulate she'd ever seen the razor head.
"Are you sure you had no prior knowledge of the explosion?" asked George, trying to goad Al in to slipping up. "Are you absolutely certain that you didn't help my client in any way? She was fascinating to you, wasn't she? You couldn't do enough for her when she first arrived in Larkhall."
"How fucking thick are you?" shouted Al, really furious now. "I was nearly burned to death in that evil shit's little firework display. Do you really think I'd have helped her make the bomb, and stayed around to get blasted by it."
"My Lord," said George clearly affronted, "Are you not going to caution this witness as to her behaviour in this court?"
"Do you have any further questions, Ms Channing?" Asked Deed.
"No, My Lord. But...."
"Court is adjourned till after lunch," called Deed, rising and sweeping out of the door behind the judge's bench. Al stood, almost stunned by the fact that the judge hadn't cautioned her. She knew she'd gone a bit overboard with that barrister, but she hated barristers. They refused to talk her language, and couldn't bring themselves to treat her like an ordinary witness. She looked up to the gallery, where she could see Yvonne Atkins, Cassie Tyler and Roisin Connor. Yvonne grinned at her and gave her the thumbs up. Denny had promised her the night before that Yvonne would come good if she played her part in court. Al hoped for Denny's sake this was true.
"I think we owe it to Al to go and raise a glass to her somewhere," Said Yvonne. "Only she would say something like that to a QC and get away with it." As they moved out in to the sunshine, Karen began to feel more relaxed. Al McKenzy had done well for them this morning, and Karen thought it would be well worth a move up on to enhanced for her. When they went inside a nearby pub, Karen realised that she couldn't simply banish the feelings she clearly had for Yvonne. She might have to hide them, keeping them away from any unsuspecting eyes, but some day she would have to bring them out and examine them. Yvonne had clearly made a promise to Al, to persuade her to do them proud in court, and Yvonne wasn't one to go back on her promises. Was this what she admired? Karen wasn't sure. She thought it was a combination of her commitment to people, her compassion for those worse off than herself, and by no means least, her ability to make Karen laugh.