‘For the benefit of the jury, the alleged incident took place on the Thursday. Let me know how you came to be at the festival, and how you met the complainant.’
‘Sure,’ Jamie nodded. ‘Of course. I was supposed to be going down to Cornwall with an old schoolfriend, Peter, but a couple of days before we were supposed to travel, he broke his leg abseiling with the Venture Scouts.’ Of course he fucking did, I thought. What next? A digression into Peter and Jamie’s other hobby of helping little old ladies across busy roads? ‘So I went down on my own, on one of the coaches that was laid on from London, and then just set up camp.’ He gave an embarrassed half-smile. ‘It wasn’t the best start to the festival. Pitching the tent on my own didn’t come easily to me. Peter was the scout; that was his area really. Actually, once I’d got the tent all set up I felt a bit down about even being there. I’m not a natural loner. That’s why I was walking around the campfires that night, looking for people to chat to.’ He cast his eyes down, then up again, gave it the full Princess Diana. ‘Lots of the campfire circles were quite big, it wasn’t like you had to ask to join them. I didn’t even look to see where I was sitting, I just sat down in the first space I saw. At first it was a general group chat, about other festivals they’d all been to, whether the weather was going to be clear for the eclipse, that sort of thing.’
‘And how did you strike up conversation with Miss Taylor?’
He turned slightly so that I could see him in profile. I wondered if his looks would count for or against him.
‘Well, once it got really dark, the guitars came out, and that meant we could only really talk to the people next to us. So we got chatting about this and that. She was really well travelled, she’d been to lots of festivals. I told her it was something I wanted to get into but my girlfriend wasn’t really keen.’
Price twirled a pen between her fingers. ‘So the complainant knew you were in a relationship?’
‘Well, I thought . . . there was a bit of a spark between us.’ Jamie looked apologetic, as if, even after what Beth had put him through, he didn’t like to speak badly of her. The mumsy juror put her head to one side. ‘She put her hand on my thigh when we were talking and I thought that I ought to get that out of the way, quick, so that flirting was off the table.’
Price needlessly straightened her wig. ‘So we’re talking about the previous night, the night before the eclipse?’ Jamie nodded. ‘Did you take any drugs at this campfire?’ Kit and I looked at each other; this sounded like something the prosecution would say, surely. Polglase looked unsurprised.
Jamie looked at the public gallery and bit his lip.
‘Jamie, you must answer the question. Did you take any drugs at this campfire?’
‘I’m sorry. It’s hard to answer this in front of my mum.’ He sighed, long and deep. ‘Yes. There was a joint being passed around and I took a puff on it, just to be sociable really. I thought it would be a way of being accepted as part of the crowd around the fire.’ The tattooed juror nodded, as if to say, well, who wouldn’t? ‘I was just getting carried away with the atmosphere. But I coughed it out, I’m not used to it, and I said something along the lines of, this isn’t my usual sort of thing. Beth took it from me and laughed and said, don’t worry, it’s a festival, normal rules don’t apply.’
‘And did Miss Taylor partake of this joint that was being passed around?’
‘She did, yes, but only one go, I think.’
‘Were you intoxicated?’
‘I can’t speak for Miss Taylor, but I certainly wasn’t.’
I didn’t realise I was drumming my fingers until Kit put his hand over mine to stop me.
‘And how did this gathering end?’
‘Well, at maybe midnight, I wasn’t wearing a watch, she got up to leave. I asked her where her tent was and walked her back to it. I wanted to make sure she got there safely. I stayed there till she’d zipped herself in.’
Staying positive during this performance was like trying to hold water in my fist.
Price leaned forward on her knuckles. ‘And you weren’t tempted to make a move on her there? In the dark, when it was just the two of you?’
Jamie palmed his eyes and waited a long time before answering. ‘Yes, I was tempted, ok? We’d hit it off. But I didn’t do anything about it.’
I looked at Antonia. Her face was a mask. What the hell is going through your mind, I wondered.
‘So, knowing that she was vulnerable, and with both of you under the influence of cannabis, you left her to sleep on her own?’
‘Of course I did,’ said Jamie, as though anything else was unthinkable.
‘Of course. And now we come to the morning of the alleged incident itself. How did your day begin?’
‘He deserves a fucking Oscar,’ I muttered to Kit. He took my hand and smoothed it flat from its fist, but like everyone else he was mesmerised by Jamie.
‘The next morning was the day of the eclipse,’ said Jamie. ‘I thought I’d walk by Beth’s tent to see if she wanted to watch it with me. She wasn’t in, but I bumped into her leaving the main field, and she said she was going to find somewhere to watch it in peace. It was pretty full-on in the main field with all the music and shouting, and I didn’t fancy it either, so I said I’d go with her.’
‘And what was her response?’
‘She didn’t object.’ Jamie was emphatic. ‘I wouldn’t have gone otherwise. So, we walked a sort of winding way around until she suddenly stopped in this field full of circus equipment. I thought, hang on, because it wasn’t the best vantage point, there were loads of lorries and stuff in the way, but then I realised: what it did have going for it was privacy. She made a little space on the grass between two caravans and I sat next to her.’