The Queen v. Karl Mullen (35 page)

Martin Bull said, “With all respect to your admirable closing, sir, weren’t you surprised at the speed of the jury’s verdict?”

Roger had come to collect back the mountains of papers, countless copies of every document, important and unimportant, that Counsel seemed to delight in. For him the sun was shining. He had been offered and had gratefully accepted a partnership in Bantings. He said, “As a matter of fact, I can tell you something about that.”

“Gossip from the jury room?”

“Not gossip, Martin. First-hand evidence. That lady who was co-opted onto the jury, Mrs. Gordon-Watson—”

“Don’t tell me. She was your aunt.”

“No. No relation. But a family friend. Godmother of one of my sister’s children.”

“Excellent,” said de Morgan. “Proceed.”

“Well, what she said was that she’d never conceived that a jury could be as intelligent as this one. She’d always imagined that they contained an element of riff-raff. Not so in this case. Sensible, solid, intelligent folk. When Dr. Rajami put it to them, they saw his point at once.
They didn’t have to choose between the two theories.
All they had to decide was whether both of them were equally possible. If that was their conclusion they
couldn’t
convict. It didn’t take them long to make up their minds.”

“It’s a pity the general public weren’t as quick on the uptake,” said Martin.

“The public mind,” said de Morgan, “moves in a mysterious way. In some inexplicable way Dorothy Katanga’s suicide has led them to believe in Mullen’s innocence.”

“Actually—” said Roger.

“That belief seems to have taken the heat out of any personal hostility to myself – and others on our side, of course.”

“In fact—” said Roger.

“The only loser has been my wife. She much regrets the removal of two agreeable young policemen who were a great help with the washing-up.”

“Actually,” said Roger, “the verdict at the inquest wasn’t suicide. It was death resulting from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.”

“And a very proper verdict too. Nobody believed it.”

“They’d have believed it even less,” said Martin, “if the jury had been told that Dorothy was a trained nurse and well capable of judging the correct dose.”

“Never tell a coroner’s jury more than you have to,” said de Morgan. “But you still look unhappy, Mr. Sherman. Is something worrying you?”

“I must confess that I was disappointed. I was under the impression that one of the objects of a trial was to arrive at the truth.”

Both barristers laughed tolerantly at this naive idea. “A criminal trial,” said de Morgan – his pipe was performing so happily that he spoke, like the oracle of old, out of a cloud—”has only one objective. To demonstrate whether convincing proof can be adduced of the guilt of the man charged. Mind you, I’m not saying that a case which is properly argued in Court may not have
results.
Quite apart from the death of Mrs. Katanga, this one, when you think of it, has been singularly productive of results.”

He held up his right hand and ticked them off on his thumb and fingers.

“First, I understand that Mullen is in disgrace. He has been publicly stripped of all his posts. Oddly enough this doesn’t seem to be due to the two charges against him – of both of which, incidentally, he was cleared. No. It was the publication in every newspaper here and abroad of the photograph of him crawling out of the hole with coal dust all over his face. Autocracies can weather any amount of criticism. The one thing they cannot stand is being laughed at. A second, and connected, result is that the helpful editor – what was his name—?”

“Gilbert Glaister.”

“Right. I gather that he has made a considerable killing by selling world rights in that photograph and has retired and handed over the paper to young Tamplin. A third person—” he held up his middle finger—”who has come less happily out of it, is Mr. Luck. The Director has still not decided whether to charge him with perjury. It now seems that he may offer him a way out. On condition that he co-operates with the authorities and reveals where the bribe, which had clearly been paid to him, came from. If he does so it may cause a lot of trouble to a solicitor known to me who practises in Basinghall Street. Yes. That would be a definite plus.

“Fourthly, the attention of the authorities has been drawn to the activities of that gang in Mornington Square. Some of the young men, who are now faced with stiff sentences for criminal damage and obstructing the administration of justice, may feel inclined to lay the blame on the central organisation, thus making them accessories to the offence. Excellent.

“Fifthly—” Here he held up his little finger, which carried a thick gold signet ring. It reflected the bleak January light over the Temple Church which Roger had visited four months before. Was Marshall Fitzhugh looking down kindly on what they had done?

“Fifthly and lastly, a poke in the eye like this could be effective to swing the next election against the Government. It’s bound to be close.”

“If it did,” said Martin, “you might find yourself back in Sir Humphrey Belling’s shoes.”

De Morgan laughed so heartily at the idea that Roger could not decide whether it amused him or not.

All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels

Inspector Hazlerigg

1. Close Quarters 
   (1947)
   
2. They Never Looked Inside 
   (alt: He Didn’t Mind Danger) (1948)
   
3. The Doors Open 
   (1949)
   
4. Smallbone Deceased 
   (1950)
   
5. Death has Deep Roots 
   (1951)
   
6. Fear To Tread 
   (in part) (1953)
   
7. The Young Petrella 
   (included) (short stories) (1988)
   
8. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories) (1997)
   

Patrick Petrella

1. Blood and Judgement 
   (1959)
   
2. Amateur in Violence
   (included) (short stories) (1973)
   
3. Petrella at Q 
   (short stories) (1977)
   
4. The Young Petrella 
   (short stories) (1988)
   
5. Roller Coaster 
   (1993)
   
6. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories) (1997)
   

Luke Pagan

1. Ring of Terror 
   (1995)
   
2. Into Battle 
   (1997)
   
3. Over and Out 
   (1998)
   

Calder & Behrens

1. Game Without Rules 
   (short stories) (1967)
   
2. Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens 
   (short stories) (1982)
   

Non-Series

1. Death in Captivity 
   (alt: The Danger Within) (1952)
   
2. Sky High 
   (alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955)
   
3. Be Shot for Sixpence 
   (1956)
   
4. After the Fine Weather 
   (1963)
   
5. The Crack in the Teacup 
   (1966)
   
6. The Dust and the Heat 
   (alt: Overdrive) (1967)
   
7. The Etruscan Net 
   (alt: The Family Tomb) (1969)
   
8. Stay of Execution and Other Stories
   (short stories) (1971)
   
9. The Body of a Girl 
   (1972)
   
10. The Ninety-Second Tiger 
    (1973)
    
11. Flash Point 
    (1974)
    
12. The Night of the Twelfth 
    (1976)
    
13. The Empty House 
    (1979)
    
14. The Killing of Katie Steelstock 
    (alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980)
    
15. The Final Throw 
    (alt: End Game) (1982)
    
16. The Black Seraphim 
    (1984)
    
17. The Long Journey Home 
    (1985)
    
18. Trouble 
    (1987)
    
19. Paint, Gold, and Blood 
    (1989)
    
20. Anything for a Quiet Life 
    (short stories) (1990)
    
21. The Queen against Karl Mullen 
    (1992)
    

Published by House of Stratus

After The Fine Weather When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy.

Anything For A Quiet Life Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint.

Be Shot For Sixpence A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don’t hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People’s Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened …

The Black Seraphim James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the cathedral town’s quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet’s nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes.