The Stolen Legacy by John Creasey

Author:John Creasey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Stratus

Chapter Fourteen

Remand

“… and in accordance with the indications which I saw at the apartment on the top floor of 28, Green Street, Chelsea, I came to the conclusion that the accused had been the only person in a position to carry out the assault upon the then injured man who has since died,” deposed Ingleby. “Subsequently I took the accused into custody on a less serious charge and later was advised of the death of the man assaulted. I thereupon charged the accused with the wilful murder of Stanley James Farmer, and he replied that he was not guilty. It is the request of the police that the accused be remanded in custody while full inquiries can be made.”

Ingleby stopped.

Mannering stood in the dock above the crowded court, trying not to meet Lorna’s eyes too often. Even across the court he could see that they were red-rimmed, and had dark patches under them; she hadn’t had much sleep. Tom was with her. Chittering was in the reporters’ benches, which were so crowded that it was almost impossible for them to make notes. The rest of the court was jammed tight with people. The only space was on the bench itself, where the magistrate sat in solitary state, and immediately below him, where his clerk was busy writing the evidence of arrest.

The magistrate, Mr. McKenzie-James, was a middle-aged benevolent-looking, balding individual who wore pince-nez.

“Is the accused represented?” he inquired.

No one answered, and the clerk looked up, testily.

“Is the accused represented?”

“Yes, sir,” said Lloyd, a stocky man from Pleydell’s office. Mannering had talked to him for an hour this morning, and at least felt certain that he knew what he was about. “I represent Mr. Mannering, and I would like to assure the court that he has a complete answer to this and in fact to any other charges which have been most unfairly hinted at by the police, and pleads not guilty.”

“I see,” said McKenzie-James.

“And with your permission, your Honour, I would like to apply for bail in this case. The accused is a highly respected and wholly reputable citizen. He has afforded the police a great deal of assistance in the past and in fact has been responsible for bringing many criminals to justice. Given the opportunity of personally conducting the investigation into this murder it is likely that he will once again be able to find the truth ahead of the authorities. My client is of course fully prepared to offer the highest recognisances and seven persons of the highest reputation are prepared to act as surety for him. He—”

“Your Honour,” Ingleby said, when Lloyd had finished, “this is the gravest charge which can be made and the police are not satisfied that the accused would stay in the country if allowed to carry out any kind of investigation which might obstruct the police. We consider a remand in custody is the only safe course.”

The magistrate said: “Mr. Lloyd?”

It was a foregone conclusion, Mannering thought grimly. No one could alter the course of events.

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.