Bravo! The voice rasped.

  ‘Thank you,’ Andy said aloud, before Katrina moved on to her next question.

  * * *

  Nicki had changed out of her court clothes – nothing too formal, but she’d wanted to blend in and her navy suit had done the trick. She’d watched the action on her phone from a café opposite the trial in the morning, until she’d noticed someone leaving the public gallery. Then she’d slipped in and taken the empty seat in the back row.

  A couple of people had recognised her, despite her disguise, but that didn’t bother her. There were myriad reasons for her to attend this high-profile trial, including the real reason why she couldn’t stay away.

  As she switched her TV to mute and put in her earphones, she sat back and checked her phone. There were four messages since she’d got home, eighteen since the morning, and two missed calls, but none of them from the person from whom she most wanted to hear.

  31

  ‘How are you bearing up?’ Constance sat next to Debbie in a basement holding cell early the next morning. It was a beautiful day outside, bright and warm, with a touch of a breeze. Down here, it was pleasantly cool. Debbie was wearing a turquoise suit with a pink scarf tied around her neck. She appeared pale and drawn.

  ‘They hid my foundation and lipstick before we left. Said I was beautiful enough without it.’

  Constance gulped. Why would anyone do that? She wanted to reach out and pat Debbie’s hand or tap her on the shoulder, something to make Debbie appreciate that she was sympathetic. But she held back.

  ‘One of the prison officers took pity on me when I was waiting for the transport. She let me have five minutes in the bathroom and she gave me what she had in her bag. How do I look?’

  ‘You look great.’

  ‘The lipstick’s a good colour for me, I thought. I still get shadow around my chin and I don’t want to start shaving it there in the bathroom with everyone…I need the foundation to hide it.’

  ‘I understand. You did a good job. Do you want me to say something, about the prison?’

  ‘The same officer said she’d sort me out tomorrow as well, would bring some more stuff. She said we have the same skin colour.’

  With a shaky hand, Debbie took a bottle from her back pocket and swallowed two tablets.

  ‘What are those?’ Constance asked.

  ‘Just paracetamol, for my head. I thought Judith did well yesterday. She showed Lynn Harris up for what she was. Rosie didn’t like her, either. She asked her to babysit once, only once, when we were desperate. Never again. She left Ben in a stinking nappy, because she’d already changed him. Rosie was livid.’

  ‘She gave the impression she was a close friend?’

  ‘Rosie put up with her. Said she was a lonely old woman. I thought she was a nosey old bag, keen to get what she could from Rosie.’

  ‘She said she had a key to your house?’

  ‘It’s possible, but Rosie didn’t tell me. She knew I didn’t like Lynn. And now we know she really didn’t like me either.’

  ‘It’s a shame she didn’t see you leave at 2 o’clock.’

  ‘But my mobile phone did! Who’d have thought it would be so useful when Ben suggested it?’

  ‘I need to ask you about some payments out of the joint bank account you and Rosie shared. It’s something the prosecution lawyer is interested in.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘In 2017 there was a large payment out of £25K and, in 2018, another payment of £15K. Do you have any idea what those might have been for?’

  ‘Can’t the police see where the money went?’

  ‘No.’

  Debbie opened her hands wide, exposing her fleshy palms.

  ‘I can’t think of any big expenses we had then. We had a new kitchen, but that was four or five years ago. And the house in Florida, we’ve had for much longer. Look, Rosie used to pay all the bills and control the expenses, so I really have no idea. Is it important?’

  ‘It might be. Laidlaw has flagged the payments and he’ll ask you about them. What about your money?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, most people would imagine you living a very luxurious lifestyle.’

  ‘Like I said, we have properties overseas, for holidays, but we never used them much. We both like…liked it here. And I don’t have much money left from my footballing days. I had some bad advice about investment. I wasn’t the only one.’

  ‘If you remember anything that might be connected to those payments, let me know, won’t you?’

  ‘Sure. One thing I do have at the moment is time.’

  ‘Next up this morning is Rosie’s friend, Caroline, and then Rosie’s mum.’

  ‘I can’t wait.’

  Constance gathered up her things and then put them down again.

  ‘When I asked you where you went, when you left Rosie’s house, you told me that you went home to change and then on to your training. Do you remember that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘The tracker on your phone says something different.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It says you went to an address in Angel and that you were there from 3.15 to 4.45 and then you went to your training. Where did you go?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’ Debbie closed her mouth and turned her head away.

  ‘I can get the exact address with a little digging around, but I have so many things to do, it would be much better if you just told me.’

  ‘It’s nothing to do with any of this, with Rosie, anything.’

  ‘So why can’t you tell me?’

  ‘If I say where I went…please leave it alone. Trust me. It’s not important.’

  Debbie’s eyes were suddenly filled with tears.

  ‘It might help your defence.’

  ‘No, it won’t.’

  ‘It might provide another person testifying to what you were wearing that day or confirming what time you arrived.’

  ‘The police have already said I might have hidden the clothes somewhere and they don’t know what time Rosie died.’

  ‘Lynn Harris says you were wearing a coat. If someone else would say you had your tracksuit on, there wouldn’t have been time for you to clean it, not with the football and the police arriving. It would be a big plus point. Would the person you visited remember what you wore that day?’

  Debbie swallowed and wiped her face.

  ‘Is it someone you weren’t supposed to be seeing?’

  ‘Just because I’m on trial, doesn’t give you or anyone else the right to dig into every aspect of my private life. I am telling you that I don’t want you to try and find out where I went and you should respect my wishes. God knows, no one else is.’

  ‘All right. I’ll leave it alone for now. But I can’t guarantee someone else won’t find out. Everyone is looking for a new way to make the headlines.’

  * * *

  The crowd outside court had swelled from the few early birds, keen to grab a pitch, to a large troop. The ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’ contingent numbered at least fifty, possibly more, and today they had a new banner; ‘Trans-parent not Trans-phobic’. The ‘Silence Hides Violence’ group was at a similar level, but was increasing at a faster rate. The football supporters were nowhere to be seen today. Two or three journalists were taking photographs and stopping to talk to the crowd, nodding animatedly.

  Constance looked out at the sea of faces, their anger simmering just below the surface. She called Judith on her mobile, her hands shaking. It wasn’t like Judith to cut things so fine; she was usually here well ahead of the start. Of course, it was always possible that Judith had gone ahead, while she was talking to Debbie downstairs. When she received no response, Constance messaged Judith make sure you come in the back way today before heading off for court.

  * * *

  Judith did a double-take when Judge Nolan faced her that morning; something unusual had happened to the judge’s eyebrows overnight. They appeared at least twice as thick as the day before and stood out, almost to the exclusion of everything else on her face. Judith’s hands went up to her own eyebrows, tracing a line with her finger along their length. Then she looked out into the public gallery, searching its rows systematically. Finally, when Constance tucked herself in, she gave her only a cursory nod, before turning back towards the judge.

  ‘I need to let you all know that, in addition to the two changes to our jury which occurred yesterday, one of our jurors,’ at this point Judge Nolan paused and stared at Laidlaw and Judith in turn, ‘has been taken ill and has been excused. We are going to continue the trial with eleven jurors. Let’s start, shall we?’

  Caroline Fleming entered the court room noisily, her heels tapping their way across the floor, her pencil skirt restricting her stride, so that she had to haul herself up into the witness box. Her blond hair was cut short and her pale blue t-shirt emphasised her tiny waist.

  ‘Miss Fleming, you were a close friend of Rosie’s.’ Laidlaw was back, bouncing around energetically at the start of the third day of the trial. Judith noticed the ring was still absent, but he had pulled his gown up short over his arms, to expose his cuff links and a brash, gold timepiece.

  ‘We’ve known each other since college. I sat next to Rosie on the first day. She was wearing red shoes and I liked her straightaway.’ Caroline tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

  ‘What college was that?’

  ‘London School for Performing Arts. Rosie was good; she couldn’t dance much, but she could sing and act.’

  ‘And do you know her…do you know the defendant?’

  ‘Rosie met Danny – he was Danny then – near the end of our first year. We went out a bit together, although it was hard because he was already quite famous.’

  ‘Did you get on with Danny?’

  ‘I didn’t talk to him that much. He was really into Rosie, that was clear. He used to send her huge boxes of flowers, that kind of thing.’

  ‘How close were you and Rosie over the last, say, five years?’

  ‘Well, it’s funny. We had lost touch a bit, we were both so busy. But when she and Debbie separated, she called me and we met up and then we became much more close.’

  ‘What did Rosie tell you about Debbie?’

  Caroline Fleming looked down at her hands. Then she stared at the camera and then the judge.

  ‘Do I have to answer that question?’ she asked.

  ‘You do. If we stray too far from relevant matters, I will intervene,’ Judge Nolan confirmed.

  ‘I just think it’s not fair to ask me. I didn’t like Debbie much, when she was Danny. I think that’s maybe part of why we didn’t stay in touch. Rosie knew I wasn’t keen.’

  ‘Was there anything in particular that made you dislike Debbie?’

  ‘It was stupid. We were just kids, I suppose. But that kind of thing you don’t forget easily.’

  ‘What kind of thing?’

  ‘We were out once in the local park, a whole load of us. And there was this cat, pretty thing, black with one white paw, it was. We were all stroking it, making a fuss. Then these two dogs came running over, no owner in sight. They cornered the cat.’ Caroline grimaced and bit her fulsome bottom lip.

  ‘And what happened?’

  ‘They killed it, tore it to pieces. It was horrible.’

  ‘And what did the defendant do?’

  ‘Danny just laughed. That’s the thing. He thought it was funny. Then he saw how horrified we all were, Rosie was almost hysterical, so he pretended he was upset too and hugged her and took her away. But I’d seen what he was really like and I never forgot.’

  Laidlaw shook his head sympathetically. Constance glanced at Debbie.

  ‘And when you caught up a couple of years ago?’ Laidlaw continued.

  ‘Rosie confided in me, said Danny had left her. She said she didn’t know what to do.’

  ‘She said Danny had left her?’

  ‘She said she’d been understanding about the…surgery and everything. That she had stayed with him even though they didn’t…they didn’t share a bed any longer. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted a new life.’

  ‘And how did that make her feel?’

  ‘Used, thrown away, worthless. She felt that all those years of working at a relationship, those shared experiences…she said she couldn’t even enjoy her memories anymore.’

  ‘And she mentioned money?’

  ‘She said her money was all tied up in the houses they had bought, that Danny hadn’t paid for things, kept saying he would, but then she’d get the reminders and then final notices. She was really stressed about it.’

  ‘Did Rosie ever say that Danny had been violent towards her?’

  ‘She said that they had huge rows about what to do, that when she told him about the bills, he said she earned enough herself to pay them. And she was scared of him.’

  ‘She told you that?’

  ‘She didn’t have to. She would shake when she mentioned his name. She told me he’d changed a lot since he began his treatment...’

  ‘When you say treatment, what do you mean?’

  ‘His gender reassignment treatment, to become a woman. She said it changed him.’

  There was a burst of laughter from the public gallery, which Judge Nolan silenced with a stern glare.

  ‘His personality, I mean. She said he used to be so chilled. Now he was always on the edge. She didn’t know who he was any more.’

  * * *

  Judith flicked through her notes, before finding her place and rising to her feet.

  ‘Miss Fleming. I wanted to clarify a few things you just told the court. Is that all right?’ Judith asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘What did you do after college?’

  ‘I did some modelling work. Now I’m in PR.’

  ‘Did you want to be a performer?’

  ‘I decided it wasn’t for me, after all. I didn’t finish the course.’

  ‘Rosie stayed and you dropped out?’ Judith’s voice descended at least an octave, in sympathy with Caroline Fleming.

  ‘Yes, but I don’t see what this has to do with anything?’

  ‘Neither do I, Ms Burton, please move on.’ Judge Nolan’s newly-pencilled eyebrows reinforced her displeasure.

  ‘I’m interested, next, in the extent of your friendship with Rosie. You shared a flat together for a short time, before you dropped out, is that right?’

  Caroline paused before answering. Clearly the term ‘dropped out’ offended her.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied crisply.

  ‘But you moved out, even before you left college?’

  ‘I got a better offer from some other friends, that’s all.’

  ‘It wasn’t because you and Rosie had fallen out?’

  ‘No.’ Caroline’s eyes wandered the court room.

  ‘Miss Fleming. You seem a little uncertain. You have told us already that your friendship had lapsed. Do you want to qualify your last answer at all?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said curtly.

  ‘Isn’t it true – and I can bring in some of your contemporaries if you dispute this, so I ask you to think hard about this question before you reply. Isn’t it true that you liked Danny? In fact, he approached you first, before Rosie, and that you resented the fact that they had become close? And that once their relationship blossomed, you were jealous?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that,’ Caroline’s voice was calm, but her eyes were wide. ‘I didn’t want to be in a house with people gazing into each other’s eyes all the time and closed bedroom doors. I preferred to live with friends. That’s all.’

  ‘And you say that you recently rekindled your friendship and that Rosie confided in you many personal things. Did she tell you that Debbie had been violent towards her?’

  ‘Not in words but, like I said, she couldn’t even mention Debbie’s name without shaking. And she said they had huge rows.’

  ‘Yes, you’ve said. You’ve interpreted huge rows to mean violence towards her. Is that right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I suggest that huge rows can mean different things to different people. My instructing solicitor and I are inclined to have huge rows from time to time, about professional matters, but we’ve certainly never laid a finger on each other. All we really mean by that terminology, is that we’ve had a robust exchange of views. And, in Rosie Harper’s case, she was a fiercely intelligent woman, managing a challenging workload and bringing up two children.

  ‘Likewise, Debbie Mallard is known to be a plain speaker. It would not surprise me to know that, if they disagreed about something – these two strong personalities, with competing priorities – then they might have had a mental tussle, a “war of words”, a vigorous altercation. That doesn’t mean that either of them bullied the other or threatened the other or raised a hand to the other, though, does it?’

  ‘From what Rosie said and how she said it, I believed he hit her.’

  ‘I see. You told Mr Laidlaw that, in your regenerated friendship, Rosie confided in you about her lack of intimacy with her former husband. That doesn’t sound like the notoriously private Rosie Harper I’ve heard about through other witnesses. I’m wondering how well you really did know her?’

  ‘We became close. She didn’t have anyone else to talk to.’ Caroline’s words were candid, but now her eyes narrowed into two slits.

  ‘What are Rosie’s children called?’ Judith stood back from her lectern.

  Caroline stared at Judith and then darted a quick glance out to the public gallery.

  ‘Her daughter is…Laura,’ Caroline stammered.

  ‘And…’

  Silence. Judith moved to her right to block Caroline’s field of vision and, when that didn’t work, she waved her arm to grab Caroline’s attention.