Broken Girls: A totally gripping and unputdownable crime thriller (Detective Jack Kent Book 2) by Nicky Downes

Author:Nicky Downes [Downes, Nicky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

Nadia swallowed hard. You can do this. Deep breaths, remember. Sara looked terrified. Even from ten metres away, Nadia could see her trembling. And Mary Stenner QC just smiled at Sara like a snake mesmerising its victim before striking.

‘Sara. Can I call you that?’ were her opening words.

Sara nodded. Nadia sat on her hands, willing Sara to get through this. Marcus had warmed her up with carefully chosen questions that Sara knew were coming. This would be different.

‘You’ve said in your police statement and in your answers this morning that you didn’t know my client, Steven Jacobs, well, but this isn’t quite true, is it?’ Mary bit on the arm of her reading glasses. ‘You had coffee with him before, a few days earlier.’

Where was this coming from? Nadia felt the muscles in her back and neck tighten, forcing her to lean forward. Sara looked confused, her eyebrows knotted together, and for a moment the courtroom fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Then, in a quiet voice, Sara said, ‘I’ve no idea what you are talking about.’

The judge leant over to her. ‘If you could speak up a little. The jury and the court reporter may not have heard that.’

Sara took a deep breath. ‘I’ve no idea what you are talking about. I hadn’t even spoken to Steven before that night.’

‘But you were studying in the same faculty for a term, were you not?’ Mary continued.

‘Along with a few thousand others. I was studying Fashion Design and he said he was studying Art History, so very different courses.’

Sara seemed more assured now. But what did the defence know? Surely this wasn’t a fishing expedition?

‘You met with Steven Jacobs at the Costa in the High Street on Thursday 17th April at approximately two p.m. We have a witness that we will be calling who will corroborate that. What did you talk about at that meeting?’

‘I… I’ve never met with him. Why would I?’ Sara turned towards the jury.

That’s it. Look at the jury, not at him. Never look at him. Taking Nadia first had meant that she could tell Sara where to look and even how she could appear to be looking directly at the defence counsel without meeting Jacob’s eye. Nadia knew what Jacobs was doing, and so did the judge and jury, as he smirked and nodded his head when Mary asked questions. Sara couldn’t see him and so wouldn’t be distracted by his stares and dirty looks.

‘Mr Jacobs did not wish to out you in court, but you’ve left him with no choice. You met him to discuss a consent agreement for a play session.’

‘A what? I’m not a child.’ Sara clearly had no clue what she was talking about, but the squirming on the jury bench made it clear which jurors did know.

‘A BDSM play session.’ Mary Stenner turned to the jury. ‘Participants in BDSM, that is those that partake in dominance and submission sometimes called kink, refer to those sessions as play sessions.’ Then, she turned back to Sara.

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