Contents ( 84)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- Acknowledgements
Mansour glanced at the papers again, then back towards Michael. For a moment he looked as if he was about to speak. Then he seemed to change his mind.
It’s still progress, Michael thought. I’ll take that over nothing.
‘Everything Mr Duffy has told you so far is right,’ Michael said. ‘It is our job to defend you. If you’ll have us. But we both know that you’ve no reason to trust us yet. Why the hell would you? You don’t know either of us from Adam. But that’ll change, Nizar.
‘That’ll change because this is only day one. It’s one short appearance before the district judge in the court upstairs. All he’ll do is order that your case goes to Woolwich Crown Court, which is where you’ll be taken tomorrow morning. We’ll be there with you again then. Both of us. And that’s when you’ll plead – when you say whether you’re guilty or not guilty. Assuming you say you’re not guilty, the judge in Woolwich will fix a trial date. What that means, very simply, is that he’ll pick the date when your trial will begin. A date which will be in a few months time.
‘And in those months, Nizar, you’ll see Mr Duffy and me regularly. One of us will come and visit you in prison at least once every week. Maybe more than that, depending on how the case is looking. So you see, it’s OK that you don’t trust us yet. We understand that because we know we have to earn your trust. And we will. We will earn it over the course of the next few months.’
Michael stopped speaking. This time he knew that Mansour had listened to and understood every word. He could see it in his eyes; a sign of life that had not been there until now. Michael could practically see the gears turning as Mansour considered what had just been explained.
It was almost a minute before Mansour spoke, with neither Michael nor Duffy breaking the silence.
‘The months?’ he finally asked, his voice unexpectedly deep, his words understandably slow. ‘Between now and my trial? Where would I be?’
‘Where would you be?’
‘Would I be free? Or would I be prisoner?’
Duffy beat Michael to the answer.
‘In a case like this? You won’t get bail in a case like this, son. You’ll spend that time in prison.’
Mansour’s eyes flitted from Duffy to Michael, in search of confirmation. Michael provided it with a nod of his head, and as he did so he saw something that confused him.
He saw relief. He saw a man to whom imprisonment was good news.
In all of Michael’s years as a criminal barrister, the one consistent desire of every client had been for freedom, no matter how unrealistic their chances of achieving it.
So to see someone pleased with the prospect of months in a high security jail?
What the hell is going on in this guy’s head?
‘What do you say, son?’ Either Duffy had missed what Michael had seen, or he had chosen to ignore it. ‘Do you want our help? Because I can assure you, you damn well need it.’