The jury filed out of their box and through a nearby door, which the bailiff closed behind him.
“That’s it?” Stone asked. “That’s a charge to the jury?”
“I’m afraid so,” Sir Leslie answered, glancing at his pocket watch. He beckoned the bailiff over. “May our client join us here at the table while we wait?”
The bailiff nodded stiffly, then went and brought Allison and held a chair for her.
“You were wonderful, Leslie,” she said, patting his arm.
Hewitt permitted himself a small smile.
“How do you read the jury, Leslie?” Stone asked.
Hewitt shrugged. “The foreman, my old tailor, is our best hope; the young boy will do whatever he thinks the others want him to; the views of the others will depend on their relationship, if any, to Sir Winston, and their vulnerability to his whim.”
“After all this, that’s where we are?” Stone said. “That most of the jury will act because of their vulnerability, or lack of it, to Sir Winston?”
“I’m afraid so,” Hewitt said.
“Why has no one left the courtroom?” Stone asked.
Sir Leslie looked at his watch. “Because everyone knows that in living memory, no St. Marks jury has ever been late for their dinner,” he said.
Chapter
57
Stone looked up and saw Hilary Kramer and Jim Forrester beckoning from the gallery; he walked over and shook hands with them. “I’d be interested to have your opinion of how things went.”
“I’d say you’re well on your way to an acquittal,” Kramer replied.
“Both you and Sir Leslie did a brilliant job,” Forrester chimed in. “How can you possibly lose?”
“I’m astonished,” Kramer said, “that this case could even have been brought to court with so little evidence, and I intend to say so in my coverage. This could never have come to trial in an American court.”
“Unfortunately, we’re not in an American court,” Stone said.
“Nobody’s left the courtroom,” Forrester said. “Are you expecting an early verdict?”
Stone nodded. “Leslie says St. Marks juries don’t like to be late for dinner. An early verdict would normally be in our favor, but in this case, I don’t know what to think. Leslie says that the relationship between individual jurors and Sir Winston is going to be the deciding factor.”
“Relationship?” Kramer said. “They have a relationship with him?”
“It’s a small island,” Stone said. “If one of them has something to fear from Sir Winston, he’s unlikely to vote our way.”
“That would be grounds for appeal in the States,” Forrester said.
“The appeal here is to the good nature, or perhaps the whim, of the prime minister, who’s eighty-nine,” Stone said.
“Do you think some of the pressure brought to bear on the government will have some effect on the outcome?” Kramer asked.
Stone shook his head. “I don’t know what that pressure could mean to any of the jurors. I’d hoped we wouldn’t have to go to trial.” He looked back to the defense table, where Hewitt and Allison were deep in conversation. “Leslie was wonderful, wasn’t he?”
“He sure got in his digs at Sir Winston,” Forrester agreed.
“Apparently he’s spent his life digging at the government,” Stone said. “Well, I’d better get back and reassure Allison. Will you both be staying for the verdict?”
“Sure we will,” Kramer said.