ROGER SUMPTION QC

Would you say he was afraid of Mr Elmys?

GRACE OYEWOLE QC

I hesitate to rise, but my learned friend knows the rules. Can I ask that he sticks to them so that I do not have to address My Lord further?

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Then I will ask a different question. Did you get Elliot to the welcome room?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

Yes.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

What happened then?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

He ran away from us and went into the corner. He was very upset. He sat with his back to us, but I think he was crying. I asked him to come and say hello to Mr Elmys, but he ignored me. I reminded him Mr Elmys was one of his parents’ oldest friends. ‘They wouldn’t have left you in his care if they didn’t think he was a good man,’ I told him, but he stayed put.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

What did Mr Elmys do?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

When I looked at him, I thought he was crying, but he caught my eye and turned away, so I can’t be sure. These are emotional experiences. Big rocks.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Excuse me?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

It’s what I tell the children. When you go to the beach, it’s mostly pebbles, but occasionally there will be one or two big rocks you have to climb over. Just like life. Most days are pebbles, but every so often you’ll hit a big rock. Adoption is a big rock. A murder trial is another big rock.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Quite. Going back to that day, Mrs Hardcastle, what happened next?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

Elliot was shuddering and shaking. He was very upset. I told Mr Elmys we would have to try another day if we couldn’t calm him down. I was about to go to the boy, when Mr Elmys asked if he could try. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but Mr Elmys was already on his way. He crouched beside Elliot and spoke to him.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Could you hear what he was saying?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

No. He wasn’t whispering exactly, just speaking softly. After a short while, Mr Elmys stood. I thought he’d failed, and was about to go over, but Elliot got up and turned around. He wiped his tears and then took Mr Elmys’s hand. Steph and I were blown away. I’d never seen anything like it. The boy was transformed. He seemed calm, happy almost.

‘How did you do that? What did you say?’ I asked Mr Elmys. I’ve worked with hundreds of children and I was stunned.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

And what was the defendant’s reply?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

‘We made a deal, didn’t we, Elliot?’ And he looked down at the boy, who nodded. The two of them smiled.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Did you ever learn the nature of this deal?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

No.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

So, it was secret?

ELAINE HARDCASTLE

Yes. It was secret.

Chapter 1

Harriet Kealty had spent almost an hour sitting alone outside the Nantwich Bookshop, and was now nursing her third espresso. She watched the other customers and listened to their conversations as Steve and Denise, the friendly owners of the bookshop, and their staff shuttled in and out, ferrying orders of coffee and cakes. It was a Saturday, so the town centre was busy and the square opposite the crooked Tudor building was packed with shoppers buzzing from one market stall to another.