Death of an Innocent by Sally Spencer

Author:Sally Spencer [Spencer, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2012-12-14T05:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

It was early afternoon when the custody sergeant appeared at the door of Woodend’s cell with two uniformed constables.

‘We’re here to escort you to the magistrates’ court, sir,’ one of the officers said, in a flat featureless voice.

‘Both of you?’

‘Both of us.’

‘Do you really think that’s necessary?’

‘I couldn’t say, sir. We’re just obeying orders.’

‘An’ whose orders might they be? DCC Ainsworth’s?’

‘No, sir. The sergeant’s.’

But the order would have originated from Ainsworth, Woodend thought as he walked down the corridor, flanked by his escort.

The timing of his appearance before the magistrates had been another of Ainsworth’s masterstrokes, Woodend admitted grudgingly. The DCC could have used his influence to arrange a special closed session of the court if he’d wished to, but that wouldn’t have suited his purposes at all. Better – far better – to have Woodend arraigned in open court under the critical gaze of a general public whose view of humanity had already been distorted by having sat through dozens of cases of drunk and disorderliness, shoplifting and child neglect.

It wasn’t even a case of kicking a man when he was down – always an Ainsworth speciality – it was kicking him when he was down and out.

The magistrates’ court was an impressively oak-panelled room which often seemed far too grand a setting for the display of pathetic human weaknesses which were pronounced on within its walls, but for the grave matter of indicting a fallen angel, it was just right.

Woodend was not surprised to discover that he knew all three of the magistrates socially. In a town the size of Whitebridge, everyone of a certain standing knew everyone else of that same standing – and even his lack of dress sense and quirky nature were not quite enough to debar him from being at the edges of the elite.

Two of the magistrates were men already well into middle age – local head teachers who, from the vantage point of the bench, could follow the progress of the more recalcitrant pupils who had passed through their hands. They had fixed, neutral expressions on their faces as they looked at him, but their eyes were full of the censure they reserved especially for those who had held positions of responsibility and had let the side down.

The third magistrate was younger – and a woman. Polly Johnson was a rising star of the town’s social services department. The last time Woodend had seen her had been a garden party she’d thrown as a wake for the half of that garden she was about to lose under a compulsory purchase order.

‘I love those trees,’ she told Woodend, when she’d had perhaps a little too much to drink. ‘I’ve looked after them as well as if they were my children. Now they’re going to be cut down. And why? Because I don’t have the right kind of influence. If I’d been a Mason, this would never have happened.’

Now, as she looked down at Woodend in the dock, there was none of the condemnation in her eyes he had found in the eyes of her fellow magistrates.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.