Andrew consulted his notes, and looked up at the judge.
‘My Lord, I anticipate starting on the police evidence tomorrow morning. There is one short witness I can call now, and then I will ask your Lordship to adjourn for the day.’
Mr Justice Rainer looked up at the courtroom clock. It was approaching 4 o’clock.
‘Yes, very well, Mr Pilkington.’
‘I am much obliged. Jack Farmer, please.’
Jack Farmer, a tall, well-built man in his forties wearing a grey suit, made his way to the witness box and took the oath.
‘Mr Farmer, what is your occupation?’
‘I am a scenes of crime officer employed by the Metropolitan Police.’
‘Tell the jury, please, what a scenes of crime officer does.’
‘We are instructed to attend crime scenes and other relevant locations to secure the scene to the extent necessary; to identify items of evidence, to preserve and seize that evidence; and to work with the officer in charge of the case to ensure that evidence is then sent for forensic examination.’
‘And does that mean that you may deal with evidence such as bloodstains and fingerprints?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘In connection with this case, did you receive a call in the early afternoon of 28 April this year, to attend a scene?’
‘Yes, sir. Together with other officers, I was instructed to attend Harpur Mews WC1. We were told that a stabbing had taken place, and we were asked to attend to make a search for any evidence, and to assist the officer in charge of the case in any way we could.’
‘The officer in charge being DI Webb?’
‘That is correct, sir.’
‘On arrival at the scene, what did you notice?’
‘We noticed two things. One was that the weather was unfavourable. It was raining. In some circumstances, that can lead to contamination of an outdoor scene and to the potential loss of evidence. That meant that we had to start work as soon as possible. But the second thing was that when we arrived, the ambulance crew was still working, trying to revive the victim, and we were unable to approach the scene until they had left.’
‘Did that affect your work greatly in this case?’
‘Fortunately not, sir. DI Webb and other officers had already seized items of evidence and got them out of the rain. These included the weapon allegedly used in the stabbing, and the victim’s handbag. We recovered the clothing from the victim and the defendant later. There was a very large quantity of blood on all the clothing, and despite the rain, we were able to submit all of it for forensic testing.’
‘Mr Farmer, I don’t think there will be any dispute about this, and my learned friend will correct me if I’m wrong. Is it right to say that various items of bloodstained clothing from both Susan Lang and Henry Lang were sent for testing, and when compared to samples of blood collected by the ambulance crew from the body, the blood was found to be that of Susan Lang?’
‘That is correct, sir.’
‘And similarly with the knife, our Exhibit 2, which was recovered by DI Webb, did it prove to be the case that there was a sufficient quantity of blood remaining on the knife to permit a comparison to be made, and were the blood stains on the knife found to be the blood of Susan Lang?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Andrew turned to the judge.
‘My Lord, as there is no dispute about it, I now ask that the knife, Exhibit 2, be shown to the jury.’
Geoffrey once again brought the knife within close range of the jury, but this time he did not walk on past them to the witness box. This time, he stopped in front of the jury box and allowed the jury to see the dark stains for themselves. They nodded grimly.
‘Mr Farmer, I’m going to ask you also to look at some other items. Usher, there are two cardboard boxes behind me. Can we begin with the one on the left, and my Lord, may this be Exhibit 3?’
The box was bulky, but not heavy, and Geoffrey carried it effortlessly over to the witness.
‘Please tell my Lord and the jury what this is.’
‘These are the items of clothing recovered from the victim, Susan Lang. Each item is in a separate plastic bag, including her shoes. Her handbag is also included, but not its contents. The individual items have been marked as Exhibits 3A to 3K.’
‘Yes. And can the jury see for themselves the extent of the staining?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Actually,’ Andrew said, ‘if his Lordship will permit, would you please step down from the witness box and identify the individual items for the jury?’
Ben stood.
‘My Lord, there is no need for the jury to have to see this. I have already made it clear that there is no dispute about the cause of death. My learned friend is indulging in a piece of pure theatre; he is simply trying to shock the jury while adding nothing of substance to the case.’
‘I don’t accept that, my Lord,’ Andrew retorted immediately. ‘The prosecution is entitled to show the jury how ferociously this defendant attacked Susan Lang. It is relevant to our contention that this was a very angry man who planned to kill his wife because he wanted to stop her getting custody of his children at all costs –’
‘My learned friend has already established the ferocity of the attack through Dr Wren,’ Ben countered. ‘We do not dispute it. There is no need to expose the jury to graphic evidence of this kind, which has no value except to prejudice them against the defendant.’
Mr Justice Rainer nodded.
‘I understand the objection, Mr Schroeder, but I think the prosecution is entitled to ask the jury to look at the evidence and draw their own conclusions. You may leave the witness box, Mr Farmer.’
‘As your Lordship pleases,’ Ben said, resuming his seat.
‘Mr Farmer, without removing any item from its plastic bag, would you take each in turn from the usher and show it to the jury, please?’
‘Here we go,’ Ben heard Barratt whisper behind him.
Piece by piece, Farmer held up for the jury’s inspection each item of clothing Susan Lang had worn, and the handbag she had carried, when she met her death. Even to Ben, the extent of the bloodstains was horrific. To the jury, it went beyond anything they had expected to see in the courtroom. One or two looked as though they felt rather sick. Others had turned pale; others held hands up to their faces.
‘It shouldn’t hurt us,’ Jess was whispering. ‘It’s just as consistent with a frenzy brought on by provocation.’
Ben nodded. In theory she was right, but the jurors were looking towards the dock again, as they had when the knife was produced, and their looks were not kind.
‘I’m not going to repeat the exercise with the defendant’s clothing,’ Andrew said, once Farmer had regained the witness box. ‘But can you identify the second cardboard box, Exhibit 4, please, my Lord, as containing the clothing worn by the defendant, again each item in a separate plastic bag and separately marked as Exhibits 4A to 4G, and is it all available if the defence wish to refer to it?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Thank you. Exhibit 5 is an album containing ten black and white photographs. There are copies for the jury. What do these photographs show?’
Geoffrey quickly distributed copies to the witness and the jury.
‘They show the scene at Harpur Mews after the victim’s body had been removed. There’s actually nothing very much to see except for the dark stains on the ground, from which we took samples, which were found to be the blood of Susan Lang.’
‘Thank you. Did you find any other evidence at the scene?’
‘No, sir, I think we’ve covered it all.’
‘All right. Let me come to the following day. Did DI Webb ask you to do something on that day?’
‘Yes, sir. The next morning, at DI Webb’s request, I went with DS Raymond to a flat at 36B Alwyne Road N1, which was identified to me as being the home address of Henry Lang. We were given a set of keys, and we were able to gain access without difficulty.’
‘Did you and DS Raymond search the address?’
‘We did, sir.’
‘Again, I don’t want to deal with matters that may have no importance, and my learned friend will be able to ask any questions he wishes. But did you find one item that struck you both as of potential value to the investigation?’
‘We did, sir.’
‘Exhibit 6, please, usher. Can you tell the jury what this is?’
‘Yes, sir. This is a set of kitchen knives with blades of various lengths, each with the same brown handle stained to give the appearance of wood. These knives were found in the kitchen, and were contained in this stainless steel rack, as you can see.’
‘The jury will see,’ Andrew said, ‘that one slot in the rack is empty.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Ben stood. ‘Again, my Lord, there is no dispute.’
‘Be that as it may,’ Andrew insisted, ‘I would like the jury to see this. Would you please take Exhibit 2, the knife recovered by DI Webb from the scene, and tell the jury what you notice about it?’
‘Exhibit 2 appears to be identical to the other knives, apart from its size and the length of the blade, and it appears that Exhibit 2 fits exactly into the empty slot in the rack. When you insert Exhibit 2 into the slot it completes the set.’
‘And does Exhibit 2 appear to be the second largest knife in terms of the length of its blade?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘What is the length of the blade of Exhibit 2?’
‘It is approximately five inches in length, sir.’
‘Did you feel the point to test its sharpness?’
‘Yes, sir. It is very sharp indeed.’
‘And does it have a serrated edge?’
‘It does, also very sharp. I would ask, sir, if members of the jury plan to handle it, that they be very careful.’
‘We will bear that in mind. Thank you, Mr Farmer. Wait there, please.’
‘No questions, my Lord,’ Ben said at once.
Mr Justice Rainer looked at the clock once more.
‘Yes, well, we will leave it there. Be back for 10.30 tomorrow morning, members of the jury, please.’
Feeling drained, they started to gather up their papers.
‘Let’s go down to the cells and see Henry,’ Ben said, ‘then back to chambers to go over the police evidence before we go home.’
‘I’m glad we’ve got the gruesome stuff over and done with,’ Jess replied, with obvious relief.
Ben nodded. ‘But it’s not over for the jury. Some of them are going to have trouble enjoying their dinner tonight, and they’re going to want to blame it on Henry.’