When Mr Justice Rainer began to sum up, Ben and Andrew exchanged nervous glances. Not only did he still look tired, pale and drawn, but he had not asked them for any guidance about the law of provocation. Both barristers knew that it was not an easy branch of the law for juries to understand, and any error in the summing-up could have a serious effect on the verdict. But to their considerable surprise, the judge delivered a textbook summing-up, not only getting the law exactly right, but also putting it in such simple terms that the jury could hardly fail to understand it. He then reviewed the evidence, of which he had taken hardly any notes, accurately and thoroughly, before reminding the jury briefly of the points Ben and Andrew had made in their closing speeches.
‘Members of the jury,’ he concluded, ‘if there’s anything you and I have learned from this case, it’s surely that an evil man like Daniel Cleary can do irreparable damage to people’s lives. He is, you may think, a man with a record for violence, apparently without conscience; a man who thinks nothing of threatening to destroy others for his own gain, willing apparently to destroy Henry Lang for nothing more than a chance of keeping a client, to whom he sold illegal drugs, happy.
‘Members of the jury, it’s a matter entirely for you, but you may think that Henry Lang may well have been so afraid that he took a knife with him for protection. You may also think, and again it’s a matter entirely for you, but you may also think that when Susan Lang uttered those terrible, terrible words, calculated to destroy her husband as surely as Daniel Cleary intended to destroy him, he reacted in a blind rage and lost all self-control. You may think that the justice of this case lies in what I have just said, and while, I say again, it is a matter entirely for you, if that’s the view you take, you would be entitled to reflect that view in a verdict of manslaughter.
‘Wait for the jury bailiff to take his oath, and you may then retire to consider your verdict.’
The jury retired just after midday.
‘Which way do you think the judge is leaning?’ Andrew asked, approaching once the jury had retired and the judge had left the bench. ‘Difficult to tell, wasn’t it?’
They all laughed.
‘I think I can guess,’ Ben replied. ‘He wasn’t particularly subtle about it, was he? I only hope he hasn’t turned the jury against us.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Andrew said. ‘My money’s on manslaughter, but I wish I knew what this man’s obsession with Daniel Cleary is about.’
‘He does seem to have it in for old Danny Ice, doesn’t he?’ Barratt said. ‘I’m surprised he hasn’t had him arrested.’
‘There’s something about that side of the story that disturbs him,’ Jess said, ‘that’s for sure. He kept bringing him up, time and time again, didn’t he?’
‘Well, there you go,’ Andrew said. ‘Nothing we can do about it. At least he got the law right. That’s something.’
As Andrew turned away, he saw DI Webb approaching.
‘Sorry to disturb you, Mr Pilkington, but could I have a word?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Andrew replied.
‘Outside court, sir, if you don’t mind.’