‘Yeah, it’s possible she thought that. But it wasn’t true.’ He pushes his chair back and claps his hands together, effectively signalling he’s had enough of this particular line of conversation. ‘So, where does this leave us?’
‘I have to go.’ Maggie checks her watch. ‘Did I mention I’m seeing your mother and that support group again tomorrow night?’ She starts to check her bag for keys, phone. ‘And where we are is, we have four alternative suspects – five, if we decide to count James Laurence.’
He grins. ‘Six if we include Pete Weston. Give my love to Mum, won’t you?’
‘More significantly, we have a fresh double murder, which everyone including the media is saying could be linked to your case.’
‘And that happened right outside Pete Weston’s bedroom window.’
‘I’ve also made some progress in tracking down that computer, in that I’ve ruled out several possible sites.’
‘If I’m right about Weston, he’ll have moved it.’
‘You’re not. And I need to run if I’m to make my ferry.’
He shakes his head, looking sad and amused at the same time. ‘That’s all great, Maggie, but actually, I wasn’t asking for an update on the case. I was talking about you. Do you believe me yet?’
Chapter 84
THE PHONE IS ringing as Maggie opens the back door several hours later. She runs across the room to catch it.
‘So did you catch the boat?’
Hamish, but sounding different somehow, as though he is talking through a mesh filter.
‘Just barely, thank you.’ She is out of breath, hasn’t even closed the back door. ‘I had to take the ramp at speed.’
‘I’ve been thinking about you pretty much non-stop since you left.’
She is walking back towards the door but stops in the middle of the kitchen. ‘Oh?’
‘Those two men whose sentences you got overturned, did you believe in their innocence? Or did you just not care? Does a man’s innocence or guilt make any actual difference to you?’ He is almost shouting at her down the line. ‘Or is it all about proving to the world how clever you are? Because if it’s the latter, I’m just not sure any more.’
There is a cold draught blowing through the house. She sets off again for the hallway. ‘Hamish, have you been—’
‘I’m not drunk, although the illegal hooch is doing the rounds again. Just curious.’
Even allowing for the background noise he is still speaking loudly. She isn’t sure she believes in his sobriety. ‘Well, then you need to think about what you’re actually asking me.’ She pushes the door shut, turns the key and leans against it. ‘Do I really need to rehearse the time-honoured reasons why everyone, innocent or guilty, is entitled to legal representation?’
She gives him a moment to respond. He doesn’t, but she can hear his breathing. ‘You’re feeling sorry for yourself, Hamish. I don’t blame you, but I don’t have time for it, I’m afraid.’
The kitchen has grown cold during the day. She will need to crank up the heating.
‘So what do you have time for, Maggie? What do you do, all by yourself in that big house of yours, other than play God with other people’s lives? Come to think of it, why do you even do it? What makes a clever young woman say to herself, I will walk among murderers and liars and thieves, and I will succour them?’
How does he know she lives in a big house? ‘Hamish—’
‘Why? Why don’t you want a normal career? Why don’t you want friends, a partner, children? Have you ever even been in love, Maggie Rose?’
His mother. Of course. His mother has seen her house, will have told him about it. ‘I’m sorry, Hamish,’ she says. ‘I won’t be dragged into this sort of nonsense. I understand that you’re upset, but it’s late and things always look better in the morning. Goodnight.’
She puts the phone down before he has the chance to respond. She is trembling.
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Sent via the emailaprisoner service
From: Maggie Rose
To: Hamish Wolfe
Date: 5. 1. 2016
Subject: Why?
I can find just one question worthy of an answer in that self-indulgent diatribe. I do this job because it is rewarding (financially and in other ways) and because it is needed. It doesn’t matter to me whether the people whose convictions I overturn are innocent or guilty, just that their convictions are unsafe. No one should be convicted on the strength of a flawed case. The best, strongest, soundest system of justice in the world is the one that allows itself to be scrutinized and challenged. I scrutinize. I challenge.
In common with many people I fell into my specific career by accident. I became interested in the case of Steve Lampton, sufficiently so that I met with his wife. I saw the weaknesses in his conviction and I made the decision to do something about it, if I could. I never liked the man. I never particularly believed in his innocence. For all that, he should never have been convicted.
One more thought, before I go to bed. It’s late and I’m tired. Are you familiar with the expression: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?
Maggie
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
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