Jo could not help smirking at George as she entered her office. The events of John's birthday party were strongly embedded in her mind and the sexual feast that all three of them had indulged in was a red letter day in Jo's life. Jo could not help thinking how absurdly prim and proper she felt in her favourite demure pin stripe suit, her skirt ending just on her knee. It showed her that appearances could be deceptive. In turn, George read her thoughts and smiled. It was appropriate that George's very office was situated in the land of temptation as it was right in the heart of Knightsbridge, the very centre of expensive shopping territory. If she had had some spare time on her hands, she could so very easily drift past the second or third shop and be swallowed up for a few hours as would be a chunk of her bank balance.
"I wonder if we can both keep a straight face in court in future if we are appearing before John."
"That depends on what sort of appearance you have in mind, darling." Drawled George. Jo's sunny mood had rubbed off on George who could see the humour of the situation. It was obvious to her that the expansions of her relationships had taught Jo to loosen up. George glanced out of the window and the weather outside looked surprisingly bright and cheerful for December. The sun shone at a low angle, through the large windows, straight into George's large, spacious room, and illuminated the soft pastel colours in a gentle glow. It reflected the way that Jo felt inside, lazy and replete and not really in the mood to hurl herself into her car to pursue her next case. She sprawled out in her chair and ,in a leisurely fashion sipped her cup of tea. George felt pretty relaxed and was sat facing the clock, which ticked away the minutes in a remorseless fashion.
"Come on, Jo, we simply have to be going or we'll be frightfully late, the way London traffic is"
"And here's you acting as the unexpected voice of conscience and duty."
George smiled broadly but briskly gathered the files and slid them in a large briefcase. Life presented such ironies. If they had ever worked together in the past as a twosome, she would have guaranteed that Jo would have been the brisk, efficient clock-watching one of the partnership. This time, Jo followed George down the staircase and got into George's car. It would help both of them to limber up for the interview with Barbara to exchange ideas as George drove.
"You've been very quiet about the interview. I thought I was supposed to be the junior partner and to be guided by you"
Jo laughed at the arch way that George delivered her smiling rebuke.
"I keep everything in my head, George. I'll be ready for Barbara when the time comes"
"But there's two of us on this case. You needn't think that you have to hold the world up on your shoulders alone. It's not my style just to sit back and watch. I like a more 'hands on' approach"
"Just what are you talking about, George? The trial"
"Of course." Came George's sweetly reasonable reply. "What else might I be talking about?……………………..Look, Jo, it's the first time that both of us are working at the same time on this case rather than me just doing the donkeywork for you. We're in for a tough trial which will be very wearing, on you especially. Remember what I told you when you first agreed for me to help. I said that you'd be likely to take this case too personally for your own good, like the Diana Hulsey case. Let's face it, as barristers, we're self willed individualists but we both need to practice fitting round each other, professionally speaking. We need to be able to get the best out of both of us when we get to court. Therefore, darling, I'll take no denial that we start our first rehearsal today. You think about it and you have to admit that I'm right"
She can wrap me round her little finger, grinned Jo to herself as she reflected on the curious way that her voice arched its way between the flirtatious and the practical. She's right, of course, both of them will have to get used to changing their approach to handling casework.
"There's one question that I'm not sure of the answer and that is whether or not we ask for a psychological assessment to be prepared for Barbara. What do you think"
"Your points being, Jo"
Jo reflected awhile to allow her thoughts to take shape while George drove at a leisurely pace through the London streets.
"On the face of it, Barbara is likely to come over in court as a sensible, stable woman. However, it is easily arguable that the situation of her husband dying put extraordinary pressures on her and not for the first time. The prosecution could argue that she decided to end Henry's life prematurely as a rational decision to save him any more suffering or alternatively that she acted while the balance of her mind was disturbed….…the matter could cut both ways. "
"While we would counter argue that , because she was imprisoned over the assisted death of her second husband, she would never dare risk placing herself in the same situation again or, alternatively, her state of her mind was too disturbed to even contemplate such an action." George capped Jo's proposition.
"……so we ought to have the assessment carried out to have a better idea as to how the cards will fall. You're right, George. We need the answers to this question before the trial even starts"
"……so therefore, we need the services of a reliable psychiatrist. Meg Richards, my first choice, is unavailable so the resident psychiatrist at Larkhall comes to mind, Dr Waugh"
"………as long as he has learnt his lesson from his performance at the Atkins trial. An intelligent man and sincere, but under prepared and over confident"
Both women briefly looked at each other for a fraction of a second. That meshing together of styles was starting to happen. After years of fighting each other tooth and nail in and out of court, they were starting to glimpse the possibilities of a style opening up. Then George slammed on the brakes as she saw a lorry suddenly stop in the queue for the next set of traffic lights that turned red on them.
"I'm sorry, Jo, but I simply have to drive a little faster as we're be running late"
George was right again. They were cutting it fine for their appointment with Barbara.
Screeching to a halt on the loose gravel, George triumphantly switched off the engine and beamed triumphantly at Jo.
"I told you we would get here on time, darling. I'm never late for a client"
Jo didn't answer for a bit. She felt a little queasy and her left ankle ached a bit from pressing an imaginary brake pedal while George had cut a glorious swathe through the London traffic. She ruefully reflected that she might abstractly admire the skill of a champion rally driver but she would prefer to watch it on TV. She certainly wouldn't want to be a passenger in that car. She kept shutting her eyes at George's cornering technique and her ability to overtake through the most perilous of gaps.
"Well, I did say we were running late, darling"
"I should congratulate you on your attention to duty, George."Jo answered a little stiffly.
"Let's have a cigarette before we go in." George kindly suggested as she saw that Jo was looking a little pale.
A gentle winter wind very lightly ruffled their hair as they looked far away into the gentle rays of the sun as they smoked their cigarettes at their leisure. For those very few minutes, the relentless call of their internal clocks was quietly switched off. They let the peace and tranquility run through their hands for those precious minutes before Jo took the initiative and stubbed her cigarette out.
"Come on, George, I'm ready"
Assuming their businesslike air, they passed through the security cordon, both human and physical and Gina walked with them to the brief's room. They strode confidently onwards as by now, they were used to the intricate pattern of corridors.
"You'll find Babs in fine spirits. We've been looking after her. Give us a shout when you're done," came Gina's parting words and a smile on her face.
Barbara smiled and stood up as Jo and George entered the small poky room.
"There must be a reason why both of you are here." She observed, looking sharply at them over her spectacles though she was obviously pleased to see them both.
"There is indeed, Barbara. For a start, we have a date set for the trial and that is Monday February 6th, Barbara." Jo advised her gently."We needed to see you to run through with you the witnesses that we would like to call to give evidence in your support"
"Good heavens. That's only two months time. I hadn't thought that far ahead"
Both women could sense that Barbara had deliberately floated along in limbo, not thinking of the impending trial which could decide her freedom or otherwise and, least of all, of the tragic events that led up to her arrest. It was probably for the best that she had not racked her brains as to what she might say at her trial and what might be said to her and about her. That attitude of mind had served its purpose but could not last forever.
"We've come here together also as the two of us have to get used to working together as a team on the same side. As you know, if barristers have a fault, we tend to be prima donnas with overpowering dramatic compulsions to upstage the other partner"
Barbara smiled slightly at George's humour and her delicate reference to the rehearsals for "The Creation" without making that comparison too explicit.
"Perhaps we ought to get down to business." Suggested Barbara mildly.
"The trial is going to depend to a great degree on medical evidence as to what could and could not have happened to Henry. The two obvious witnesses as to what would have happened are Tom Campbell-Gore and Zubin Khan covering the medical and the anaesthetist aspects. Between them, they will cover the medical fields that we need to testify what could and could not have happened on the night in question"
"Very good"
"You will remember Dr.Kay Scarpetta visiting you a couple of months ago. Her specialist knowledge is essential to the trial as only she has the knowledge to directly reason backwards as to what actually did happen on the afternoon in question"
"I remember her vividly," Barbara reminisced. "She is a charming woman with a bewildering wide array of knowledge in her field and I have every confidence in her"
"We were talking after we took you to see her."George replied, deftly inserting herself into the conversation just as Jo opened her mouth. "There was something she said which impressed me deeply, that , and I quote 'I'm in court to give the victims of crime a voice, because I am the only way that the dead can speak to a jury. They need me to interpret whatever has happened to them, something which can't always be put into words"
Barbara smiled brightly at those words. She had faith that her dear Henry had the will to speak up in court to defend her and that this very educated and highly talented American woman had the means to translate that will into words.
"That gives me immense comfort. I have sometimes felt that my dear Henry is watching over me. Your words tell me that I have more tangible reason for this hope"
"We are going to ask Nikki Wade to give evidence as a character witness for you. I don't think that there is anyone more capable than her and she can give evidence in an official capacity if you see what I mean."
Barbara nodded. Nikki was naturally one of the most steadfast women she had ever known. She had noticed at a distance that her role as wing governor had only amplified and refined those qualities and never in a million years had she used her official persona as a substitute for natural authority.
"Of course, I had plenty of opportunity to chat to Nikki to our heart's content during the Atkins trial while you were busy ensconced with your evidence and lawbooks,"added George irrepressibly to Jo's semi-audible sigh under her breath of 'typical.
"That leaves us one matter which we wanted to bring up."Jo weighed in with slow deliberation."It was a matter that George and I only discussed on the way over…" After George had eagerly nodded agreement, Jo was very conveniently left to carry on with
broaching a delicate topic.
"We were wondering if you could consider being medically assessed so that we are forearmed against anything the prosecution can throw against us"
Barbara took her spectacles off and carefully polished them while she looked uncomprehendingly at the two women in turn.
"Nonsense. I'm as fit as a fiddle"
"We weren't exactly specifically of that but more in terms of a psychological profile in mind as well"
"Are you suggesting that I'm mad or at the least that I was mad at the time?" came Barbara's rejoinder, sharper than before.
"George and I can foresee that questions about your state of mind are very likely to arise in the course of the trial and I know that if you have the bad fortune that who is nearest and dearest is slowly and painfully dying, the emotional pressures on you have to be lived through to be believed. It can rock the foundations of the strongest and the pressure never gives up from morning to night for months on……It is never safe to assume that just because you are known to act in a particular way and not in other ways, that this will hold good while you're going through this particular form of hell……"
Jo stopped as Barbara had obviously picked up on the incredible intensity in Jo's voice. She judged that there was something going on here that there was more than met the eye.It was on the tip of her tongue to ask Jo just how did she come to know and describe human tragedy so intimately and insightfully. She held back just in time.
"But is it necessary? I assume the prosecution will seek to blacken my name as a serial murderer of loved husbands?"
"George and I have considered the variety of approaches that the prosecution might try. For a start, they will almost certainly seek to obtain their own medical experts and use them to make all sorts of suggestions about what you may have felt or what you might have felt and, generally, lay it on with a trowel. We need to have something solid to refute their arguments"
Barbara paused for reflection. She could see the force of the arguments but she felt in fine fettle right now. She was torn between dismissing this as utterly redundant and a sneaking fear of what might be brought up into the light of day that she didn't know of.
"I can see your point but I'm not very happy about the idea. I know my own mind and I don't think that some stranger will know it any better than I do"
"Good. There's nothing for you to be afraid of." George replied lightly but with perfect aplomb.
"Have you anyone in mind, if and only if I agree to this scheme"
Both Jo and George glanced sideways at each other and hesitated, knowing full well what Barbara's reaction would be. She had witnessed him giving evidence for the prosecution in the Atkins trial and was pretty scathing in her opinions of him .Finally George, after giving up on any way of sugaring the pill, opted for the direct approach.
"We were thinking of asking Dr. Thomas Waugh"
"That man? I saw him at Lauren's trial and his performance was shambolic and his morals in giving evidence for the prosecution, questionable in the very extreme. I'm surprised that you could even contemplate such a suggestion. "
"We did think very carefully about the idea and there are a number of reasons to pick him. For one, Meg Richards is simply far too busy to take on the work. Another reason was that Dr Waugh was handicapped from the start as Lauren wasn't in a mood to talk to him. Once Jo knocked him off his perch ,he's bound to do an excellent job for us. He'll learn as he has the two of us to reckon with. Together, we can scare the living daylights out of him if we chose to do and he knows it."
Barbara's severe expression gradually softened as she gauged that these two very forceful women might have a chance of keeping him up to the mark. It was tempting but one thought popped into her mind as a way of resolving the matter.
"Have you asked Nikki for her opinion of him? After all, she saw him at Lauren's trial and probably has dealt with him more than anyone else"
Both Jo and George looked as if they were illuminated from within. This was an excellent suggestion and they knew they should run with this.
"We haven't asked Nikki but we ought to. Tell you what, would you agree to him being our final witness if Nikki thinks it's a good idea and Dr Waugh's willing and able?"
George's silky persuasive tones whittled away at the last of her reservations. Barbara felt confident that Nikki's judgement could be relied upon.
"We'll go off when time's up and if we can clear up these points, then we assume that you'll agree to it and we'll ask Nikki to pass you the word."
"Yeah, Dr Waugh's the man for you," Nikki assured the very relieved George and Jo over a cup of tea in her office after visiting time had ended. "He knows what an idiot he made of himself and how wrong he was about Lauren. He's bright and articulate enough and, besides that, as SMO he's got the background knowledge on Barbara before everything blew up that he never had on Lauren. He was dropped in at the deep end in that trial and he won't do that again. I've got on with him fine since I've been wing governor and he has a lot of the same ideas on inmates that I have. It's funny," reflected Nikki in slower, more reflective tones, "I could never find it in me to despise or hate him, even when he was going out with Helen, when Helen and I had had a bust up. He did go down in my estimation at Lauren's trial but he's made good since then"
"Do you want to ask him if he'll be a witness or should we do so"
"You leave it to me. It's the least I can do to help Barbara. I owe her so much from way back and I don't forget."