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DEATH BY BOREDOM, Daniel thought to himself as the court resumed. Why was Hillyer stringing this out? Was he playing for time? The answer was painful and clear. Daniel was almost certain Patrick was right: Hillyer was delaying until he had enough proof of Morley Cross’s murder to introduce it, and charge Sidney with that as well.
That’s why Daniel had to listen. Hillyer could go on like this for days! Even weeks!
Daniel felt every muscle in his body tighten as the thought struck him: Was there another witness who knew something about the murder of Morley Cross? An old enemy? Rival? Sidney’s job in the embassy was hardly worth all this effort, was it? Was there something about it he didn’t know? Someone had murdered Morley Cross. That was undeniable. It would be absurd to hope it was nothing to do with Sidney and the embassy. But what? No witness Hillyer called made it any plainer.
* * *
—
DANIEL LEFT THE court at the end of the day without speaking again to Sidney. He had no idea what to ask him. He needed to speak to Kitteridge.
He found him in chambers, having just come back from a different court.
“Hell, Pitt! You look awful! What happened? And sit down, before you fall over.”
Daniel obeyed. “Most of the actual evidence was just time wasting,” he answered. “Hillyer called one character witness after another. I had to listen, in case he was burying something.”
“Was he?” Kitteridge interrupted.
“Not that I could see. But…”
“Well, what is it, for heaven’s sake?”
Daniel took a long breath. “Morley Cross, the man who handed over the financial papers? His body was found floating in the Potomac River. He’d been shot.” He saw Kitteridge’s face turn pale, his eyes widen, but he did not speak. “And it might have happened before Sidney left the States,” Daniel added.
Again, Kitteridge remained silent.
“Hillyer has said nothing,” Daniel went on. “Perhaps he doesn’t know…yet. So, witnesses are giving details. But after what we’ve learned, it’s all waffle. He’s taking up time, and boring the jury half to death.”
“Then he’s hiding something,” Kitteridge concluded. “But what? News of Morley Cross? Why?”
“Not enough information? So, he’ll move on to focus on the assault on Rebecca? Unless…” He stopped, the words choking him.
“Unless…what?”
There was no point in biting it back. “Unless one of the character witnesses is going to announce the murder.”
“And if not?”
Daniel thought for a moment. “That he assaulted some other young woman, which ties into the Rebecca story.” Then another thought occurred to him, worse than the first. For a moment, it robbed him of speech. The jeopardy to Sidney had suddenly doubled, tripled, in size and threatened everything. His mind was racing ahead.
“What is it?” Kitteridge demanded. “Pitt! I’m not a mind reader. What are you thinking? That Sidney is guilty? What if he is? I know you quite like him, or at least have a sympathy for him. But if he’s guilty, then he is. I’d far rather Hillyer proved it on his own than we had to engineer some way of introducing the whole beastly business.” He hesitated a moment.
Daniel said nothing. His mouth was as dry as sawdust.
“Pitt! Don’t look like that. We’ve had guilty clients before. And if this is a pattern, then he has to be put away. We have to bite the bullet, and admit he’s charming, and rotten!”
“That isn’t what I was thinking,” Daniel answered at last. “If Thorwood were to be called as a witness, his identification of Sidney would be very easily believable. And give him a painful motive for wanting to take Sidney down. Everyone would understand he’d want him to pay for assaulting Rebecca.” He stared at Kitteridge. “But…the murder?”
Slowly, Kitteridge turned pale. “You mean if Thorwood got it wrong, and somehow framed Sidney for the embezzlement, to get revenge?”
“Isn’t that the obvious defense? That the identification was wrong? But Thorwood believes it, perhaps because he has to, for whatever reason. Perhaps Sidney and Rebecca were having an affair? Thorwood wants to get rid of Sidney. Disgrace is the obvious answer. Ruin him. Return him to England in disgrace. Then he can’t marry Rebecca, and the Thorwood money. But what if Thorwood knows nothing about Morley Cross? The murder must be part of the whole business, but if Thorwood framed Sidney, and he’s innocent of the assault and the embezzlement, how does the murder of Morley Cross fit in with that?”
“God! You’ve got a devious mind, and you want to understand everyone!” Kitteridge said, but it was awe he expressed, not denial. “I see why you’re going all shades of pale,” he went on. “What is Patrick Flannery’s part in this? Or what would Thorwood say it was, regardless?” He took a deep breath and was about to go on, when Daniel cut across him.
“Patrick came to the court today.”
“What? Why?” Kitteridge looked startled.
