Nothing Ventured (Detective William Warwick 1)

‘I rushed over to him, but I didn’t need a medical degree to realize he was dead. His jaw had been broken, and there was a deep gash on the back of his skull. I was about to call the police when I heard a siren in the street outside, and moments later half a dozen policemen burst into the room to find me kneeling over the body. The next thing I knew one of them was reading me my rights.’

‘Did you say anything at the time?’ asked Sir Julian.

‘Only that they’d got the wrong man. I assumed the whole matter would quickly be cleared up. I was driven to the nearest police station, and left alone in a cell for a couple of hours. Eventually I was taken to an interview room where two detectives were waiting for me.’

‘Would that have been DI Stern and DC Clarkson?’ asked Sir Julian.

‘That’s right. I told them exactly what had happened, but it was obvious they’d already made up their minds, and nothing was going to convince them otherwise. But they did let slip during the interview that they’d had a tip-off from an anonymous caller, which explained why the police had got there so quickly.’

Grace made a note, and pushed it across the table to her father, who studied it carefully.

‘And you pointed out during your trial that this was irrefutable proof that someone else must have killed your partner.’

‘Yes, I also suggested that the man who’d come running out of the building might have been the same man who phoned them, but they weren’t interested.’

‘And then what happened?’

‘Stern asked me if I was prepared to make a statement. Of course I was, as I had nothing to hide. He wrote down my words, and I double-checked each page before signing it, not least because I could smell alcohol on his breath.’

Grace made another note.

‘You claimed during the trial that your original statement was three pages in length, whereas the version read out in court was only two. So I have to ask, Mr Rainsford, did you sign all three pages?’

‘Yes, I did. The first two with the initials AR, but I wrote my full name on the third page.’

‘Were the three pages numbered?’

‘I can’t remember.’

‘How convenient. When the police submitted your statement as evidence before the trial, there were only two pages, clearly numbered one and two, and on the bottom of the second page, two of two, was your full signature, along with those of DI Stern and DC Clarkson. How do you explain that?’

‘The only explanation I can think of,’ said Rainsford, ‘is that someone must have removed the middle page and added the numbers later.’

‘The mystery man, perhaps?’ said Sir Julian. ‘What happened next?’

‘I appeared before a magistrate the following morning and my application for bail was refused. I was placed on remand and sent to Pentonville to await trial.’

‘Which took place five months

later, while you remained in custody.’

‘Yes. But I was still confident the jury would accept that my statement had been three pages, and not two, because I was able to reproduce every word I’d written on the missing page.’

‘However, Mr Justice Melrose would not allow you to submit your missing page as evidence. At the end of the trial, did you feel the judge summed up the case fairly, without bias or prejudice?’

‘I did. His summation was fair and well balanced, which only made me more convinced that the jury would come down in my favour.’

‘But they didn’t.’

‘No, they were out for four days, and even longer nights. On the fifth day, they found me guilty of murder by a majority of ten to two. The next morning, Mr Justice Melrose sentenced me to life, with a recommendation that I should be eligible for parole after twelve years. I’ve now served two years of that sentence.’

Grace made another note and underlined the word ‘twelve’, before passing it to her father.

‘Did you at any time consider changing your plea to guilty of manslaughter?’ asked Sir Julian. ‘Struck him in the heat of the moment, never meant to kill him, will regret it for the rest of my life?’

‘But I didn’t strike him, Sir Julian. My solicitor made the same suggestion at the time, and told me he was confident if I agreed to change my plea I’d only get four years, and be out in two, but I turned him down.’

‘Why?’