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Hester relaxed and found herself smiling widely.
Her relief did not last long. Immediately after the luncheon adjournment, Pryor called his next witness—William Monk of the Thames River Police.
Hester watched as Monk walked across the open space of the court and climbed the steps to the witness stand. He was sworn in, and faced Pryor. It was immediately obvious to everyone that there was considerable hostility between them.
Pryor was punctiliously polite.
“Commander Monk, you were on the river in a small boat on the night of the sinking of the Princess Mary. In fact I believe you saw the whole tragedy, right from the explosion to rescuing the last of the survivors from the water. Is that correct?”
“Yes, it is. And I returned the next—”
“Thank you,” Pryor cut him off. “I did not ask that. We will please take events in the order in which they occurred.”
Anger flushed up Monk’s face, but he did not respond.
“You saw the explosion, which tore the ship apart and sank it within four minutes?” Pryor continued.
“I saw it, yes,” Monk agreed between his teeth. “I cannot swear as to the time she took to sink.”
“It was approximately four minutes,” Pryor assured him.
Brancaster rose to his feet.
“Yes, yes,” Antrobus agreed. “If the time is important, Mr. Pryor, then you had better establish it other than through Mr. Monk.”
Pryor was annoyed. “It was extremely fast, was it not?” he said to Monk.
“Yes,” Monk accepted.
“And yet you had time to notice a man leaping from the deck into the water, and being rescued by someone on a boat with a distinctive emblem on the stern?” His tone was heavily laced with disbelief. “You were not momentarily blinded by the flash? You were not frozen in horror at the devastation? You did not leap to the oars to begin the rescue of the drowning men and women in the water around you?” There was not only incredulity now but also disgust in his voice.
“It was a pleasure boat,” Monk said quietly, staring at Pryor as if there were no one else in the room. “All the lights were on. They were having a party. The man leaped off the deck into the water before the explosion, not after it. To jump afterward wouldn’t have done much good. That was the point. It was in the flash of the explosion moments later that I saw him picked up by the boat with the seahorse on the stern.”
“Which you conveniently remembered several days later, even weeks,” Pryor said sarcastically.
“Inconveniently,” Monk corrected him. “The thing nearly killed me when it rammed the ferry I was in. Which I believe you know from the poor ferryman who was injured in the event. But are you not ahead of yourself? You told me to keep it in the order in which things occurred!”
Pryor’s face reddened with anger. He glanced up at Antrobus, and saw the amusement flash in his eyes, before he leaned forward and addressed Monk.
“Your observation is out of order, Commander, even if it is correct. You had best allow Mr. Pryor to proceed in whatever order he wishes, or we shall be here for even longer than is necessary.”
“Yes, my lord,” Monk said meekly.
Pryor’s face was tight with arrogance.
“The case was given back to you after you so fortuitously discovered the witness, the eyewitness, whose testimony made you question the conviction of Habib Beshara, is that right?” he asked.
Monk hesitated, and decided not to argue.
“Yes.”
“The case was restored to you?” Pryor emphasized.
“The police deal with whatever cases arise,” Monk answered him. “We do not own them.”
“You are very sensitive about it, Mr. Monk,” Pryor challenged him.
Monk glared at him. “Nearly two hundred people drowned, sir. It is not something about which I can be indifferent!”
