‘Harriet still insists on giving evidence first,’ Barratt whispered to Ben. ‘She feels responsible.’
‘But –’
‘I’ve told her how you feel, but she’s adamant.’
Ben nodded, and turned back towards the bench.
‘My Lord, I call Harriet Fisk.’
Harriet seemed very composed. She was dressed in her best black suit, with a crisp white blouse and moderate heels, her hair up, held in place with an elegant silver pin. She took the New Testament from Geoffrey.
‘I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.’
‘Are you Harriet Fisk, and are you a practising barrister with chambers at Two Wessex Buildings in the Temple?’
‘I am, my Lord.’
Ben smiled.
‘Miss Fisk, there is one matter I want to deal with straight away, so that the jury will be aware. Are you and I in fact members of the same set of chambers?’
She returned the smile. ‘Yes.’
‘Until her death, did you represent Susan Lang in the family proceedings in the High Court?’
‘Yes, I did.’
‘The jury may find it strange that you represented Susan in those proceedings, while I am representing Henry in this case. Can you confirm that it is in fact quite usual for members of the same chambers to be on opposite sides of a case?’
‘Yes. Barristers are all independent practitioners, and only act on instructions from solicitors, and many firms of solicitors may retain barristers from the same set of chambers. It’s quite common to have both sides of a case in chambers.’
She looked at the jury and smiled.
‘We’re honour bound not to sneak a look at each other’s files.’
The jury chuckled.
‘And I might add that your learned junior, Miss Farrar, represented Henry Lang in the family proceedings, although we’re not in the same chambers.’
‘Thank you. Was your instructing solicitor in the family proceedings a lady by the name of Val Turner?’
‘Yes. That’s correct.’
‘Miss Fisk, has my instructing solicitor, Mr Davis, explained to you that his Lordship has ruled that you are no longer bound to Susan Lang by any legal privilege?’
‘Yes, he has.’
‘And with that assurance, are you willing to give evidence about something Susan Lang told you while you were still acting for her?’
‘With that assurance, yes, I am.’
‘I want to take you back to 21 April, a week before Susan Lang met her death. Do you remember that day?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you do something in relation to the family proceedings on that day?’
‘Yes. Miss Turner and I had a conference with Susan Lang in chambers.’
‘At what time was that?’
‘I recall it was just after lunch, about 2 o’clock. I wasn’t in court that day.’
‘Was there a particular purpose for that conference?’
‘Yes. We were getting to the stage where Mrs Cameron, the court welfare officer, was making progress with her inquiries. Mr Justice Wesley had already indicated that Susan would not necessarily get permanent custody of the children, and Miss Turner and I were worried about some aspects of the case.’
‘Tell the jury, please, what you were worried about.’
‘Mr Lang was alleging that she was associating with criminals and taking drugs, and from our observation of Mrs Lang, we suspected that there might be some substance in those allegations. Miss Turner and I decided that we owed it to Mrs Lang to counsel her to change her behaviour if she was serious about having custody.’
‘You were worried about the impression she was likely to make on Mrs Cameron?’
‘Yes. And we had to tell her that if she lied to the court, as responsible legal representatives, Miss Turner and I might reach the position where we could no longer ethically ask the judge to award her custody.’
‘How did Mrs Lang respond to your advice?’
‘She became very defensive. She seemed to take on board what we said, but then she said that what she did in her spare time was her business, and not the court’s, or ours. I concluded from this that she didn’t intend to make any real changes.’
‘Did Mrs Lang also say something else to you?’
‘Yes. She said there was no need for us to worry, because Henry would give up his claim for custody and it would never come back before the court.’
‘How did you react to that?’
Harriet shook her head.
‘I remember that Val – Miss Turner – and I looked at each other. We both felt very anxious about what she had said. Giving up his claim for custody was the last thing we would have expected Mr Lang to do. It was clear from his affidavit that he was very serious about it. It didn’t make sense, and it didn’t sound good.’
‘Did you ask Mrs Lang why she thought her husband would abandon his claim for custody?’
‘Yes.’
‘Please tell my Lord and the jury what she said.’
‘She said that her friend, whom she called “Danny Ice”, was going to warn Henry to abandon his claim for custody – or else.’
‘Or else what?’
‘She wasn’t specific, but it was obvious what she meant. She was telling us that this man “Danny Ice” was going to threaten Mr Lang with violence.’
‘No doubt you know now who “Danny Ice” is, but did you know at the time?’
‘No, but the name said it all, really.’
‘Miss Fisk, as responsible legal representatives, did you respond to what Mrs Lang had said?’
‘Yes, we most certainly did. We told her in no uncertain terms that she was probably committing a criminal offence and could be prosecuted; not to mention that if anything like that got back to Mr Justice Wesley she could kiss any hope of custody goodbye. We also told her that we couldn’t condone what she was doing, that we couldn’t continue to act for her, and that we might even have a duty to inform the court.’
‘What did she say to that?’
Harriet smiled grimly.
‘She immediately tried to distance herself from it, saying that it was all Danny Ice’s idea, and she had nothing to do with it.’
‘How was the matter left?’
‘Miss Turner and I didn’t feel we could do any more at that stage, but obviously if Mr Lang had in fact withdrawn his application, we would have had to consider our position.’
Ben paused.
‘Miss Fisk, on the first day of this trial, did you take advice from a senior member of the Bar, and did you subsequently tell myself, Miss Farrar, and Mr Davis what had happened?’
‘Yes.’
‘Before his Lordship had any opportunity to rule on the privilege question?’
‘Yes. Obviously, I understood that the evidence I could give was relevant. I knew I was taking a risk, professionally speaking, to speak out before his Lordship ruled, but my conscience wouldn’t allow me to keep quiet when I knew that Mr Lang was at risk of being convicted of murder.’
‘You did the right thing, Miss Fisk,’ Mr Justice Rainer said.
Harriet turned towards him.
‘Thank you, my Lord.’
‘Please wait there, Miss Fisk,’ Ben said. ‘There may be some further questions.’
‘Miss Fisk,’ Andrew said, ‘you have no way of knowing whether Danny Ice ever did make a threat to Henry Lang, do you?’
‘No. I can only say what Susan told me.’
‘And she told you that he was going to make a threat, not that he had made one?’
‘That’s correct.’
‘Thank you. I have nothing further.’
After Harriet had left the witness box, Andrew turned to the judge.
‘My Lord, the jury will hear me say this. I have no reason to doubt the evidence given by Miss Fisk. If my learned friend wishes to call Miss Turner, of course he is free to do so, but I will have no questions for her; and I will not suggest that the jury should not accept Miss Fisk’s evidence.’
Ben stood.
‘My Lord, I am most obliged to my learned friend. In that case, I will not take up the court’s time unnecessarily. May Miss Fisk and Miss Turner be released?’
‘Yes,’ Mr Justice Rainer said. ‘Mr Pilkington, are you ready to make your closing speech?’