BooksBarbecue
Back Marked for Death Save as PDF
Contents ( 83)
  2. ONE
  3. TWO
  4. THREE
  5. FOUR
  6. FIVE
  7. SIX
  8. SEVEN
  9. EIGHT
  10. NINE
  11. TEN
  12. ELEVEN
  13. TWELVE
  14. THIRTEEN
  15. FOURTEEN
  16. FIFTEEN
  17. SIXTEEN
  18. SEVENTEEN
  19. EIGHTEEN
  20. NINETEEN
  21. TWENTY
  22. TWENTY-ONE
  23. TWENTY-TWO
  24. TWENTY-THREE
  25. TWENTY-FOUR
  26. TWENTY-FIVE
  27. TWENTY-SIX
  28. TWENTY-SEVEN
  29. TWENTY-EIGHT
  30. TWENTY-NINE
  31. THIRTY
  32. THIRTY-ONE
  33. THIRTY-TWO
  34. THIRTY-THREE
  35. THIRTY-FOUR
  36. THIRTY-FIVE
  37. THIRTY-SIX
  38. THIRTY-SEVEN
  39. THIRTY-EIGHT
  40. THIRTY-NINE
  41. FORTY
  42. FORTY-ONE
  43. FORTY-TWO
  44. FORTY-THREE
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. SEVENTY-FIVE
  78. SEVENTY-SIX
  79. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  80. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  81. SEVENTY-NINE
  82. Acknowledgements
  83. OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK

‘But he was caught anyway?’

‘Yeah. He didn’t really stand a chance. Once the police helicopter was overhead it would pick up the body heat of anyone in the area. And on that night it only found one. That was part of the case they built against him. The kidnapper had run, and not ten minutes later there was only one body-heat signature in the vicinity, other than those of the cops. And once they had that bead on him he wasn’t going anywhere. They guided Blunt in and he cornered Hirst by a stream. Blunt was armed, Hirst wasn’t. A situation like that only ends one way.’

Michael stopped speaking. He had reached the end of part one. The uncontroversial part.

He looked at what was left in his glass. Just under half. It might see me through, he thought. Let’s find out.

The glass was empty when it next touched the worktop.

‘Derek had been instructed to defend Hirst from the beginning. The summer before I started my pupillage. So all the case prep had been done before I was on the scene. The trial itself was fixed to begin three weeks into my six months with Derek. That gave me time to read into the case, and to get to know Derek, but not much else.

‘Inexperienced as I was, I could still see that Hirst had a good chance of getting off. The case against him just wasn’t that strong. Sure, his whereabouts at the time of his arrest was a problem. Plus he had no alibi at all for the thirty-six hours that mattered and he also fit the general description, in terms of height and build. But the kidnapper had worn a mask and gloves throughout the whole thing. From the house to the bank, and the entire time he spent with the kids. So that general description didn’t mean too much. In addition to which there were no forensics linking Hirst to the house, to the bank, to the van. Or even to Tina’s severed fingers. And no mobile-phone coverage. Cell site evidence was in its infancy then, but it was still useful. And Hirst must have known that, as there was no phone found on him when he was arrested and no calls made on any handset that could have been attributed to him. Like I said, the only mistake he’d made was not leaving the hideout earlier, but even then he wasn’t actually found there. It made convicting him a nightmare for the prosecution.

‘Which was all good for us, as his defence team. On the first day of the trial I walked into the Old Bailey with a spring in my step. I knew how Derek was going to attack. I knew our strengths outweighed our weaknesses. I was going to be part of a big, high-profile murder trial and we were going to win. So I really thought that this was it. I was starting my career with a bang. And then I met Karl Hirst for the first time.’