For the first time after several weeks of the trial, there were TV vans and news crews lining the road outside the Crown Court. Dani kept her head down as she walked past them all. Luckily the reporters and crews were still in the process of getting themselves set up and no one took any notice of her as she edged through. Perhaps on her way out she could find a back entrance. She really didn’t want to say anything to the press today, regardless of the verdict.
Dani once again seated herself in the public gallery, which was fuller today than it had been at any point during proceedings to date. No sign of Damian Curtis once again. Dani had been unsure whether perhaps he’d be brought out ceremoniously – or was it unceremoniously – for the verdict. No point, she guessed. The jury had made their minds up now, so his presence here, whatever state he was in, would have no bearing. He’d have to hear about his fate after everyone else. Dani felt a little sorry for him because of that, even if he was a killer. Albeit a killer who she still firmly believed had been grievously coerced into killing.
She would soon find out if the jury agreed.
‘Have the members of the jury reached a verdict?’ the judge asked the foreman – a middle-aged lady in a headscarf who was on her feet with a piece of paper rattling in her nervous grip.
‘Yes.’
‘On the charge of aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping, how do you find the defendant?’
‘Guilty.’
The charges against Curtis for his attack on Sophie Blackwood, an entirely innocent victim in what was otherwise a concocted scheme of revenge, were perhaps the most straightforward, and ones which had been barely argued by either side.
‘On the chargers of murder, five counts in total, how do you find the defendant?’
‘Not guilty.’
There were uneasy murmurs and mutters from around the room now, particularly from those around the CPS team who were looking all the more nervous.
‘On the alternative charge of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, five counts in total, how do you find the defendant?’
‘Guilty.’
There were ructions from all around Dani now. Family members of the victims perhaps, angry that Curtis had ‘got away with it’? Dani noted a strange exchange between Barker and O’Hare too. The two turned to each other and there was a mutual almost nonchalant nod from each of them, as though both were satisfied with the result.
Dani had seen enough. She slunk out. If she was quick, she could make it past the cameras before they even realised the court had been dismissed.
Only one TV interviewer, from BBC Midlands, tried to accost Dani as she made her escape. She politely declined to comment, indicating that she was sure DCI McNair would be providing a formal statement shortly. A white lie which had the desired effect of diverting the interviewer’s attention back to the doors of the courthouse. How long would she wait there now for McNair to emerge?
Well, it wasn’t as if Dani had specifically said that McNair would make her statement – which was sure to follow – from that particular spot, was it?
Dani was soon past the swarm and was able to start to digest what she’d just witnessed. No murder conviction. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? Manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Insanity as the press would surely term it. Damian Curtis would almost certainly now spend the foreseeable future, possibly even the rest of his life, in a secure mental facility. Exactly where he belonged, as far as Dani was concerned. Curtis wasn’t a good person. He was violent, he was unhinged and Dani hoped he would never be allowed back onto the streets again. But she also still firmly believed that prison was not the right place for him, and even more crucially that he’d been horrifically played into killing. Worked up into a frenzy from which his fragile mind was unable to make sense. The court had heard time and again how Dr Helen Collins was the person who’d done that.
It remained down to Dani now to prove that theory wrong, and finally get the justice that Curtis and his victims deserved.
She took out her phone as she walked. Still no response from Easton, and just the first signs of doubt were creeping into Dani’s mind now as to what was going on with him. She sent him a text. She was happy doing this next step alone, but the longer he remained incommunicado, the more annoyed she was becoming, given the crucial point they were at in their investigation.
She walked the short distance across the city to Brindleyplace. With the sun out today, and the temperature a balmy four degrees, most of the previous day’s snow, particularly in the city, had already melted. Even at mid-morning the Christmas market, which she had to navigate through on her way, was in full swing. The smell of sizzling wurst and steaming glühwein carried through the air with every step.
Maybe she’d make a stop-off on her way back over to HQ later.
The man she was due to meet, Henry Welter, was already waiting for her outside the coffee shop. Short and wiry, he looked jittery and shivery and greeted Dani with a limp handshake and a mouthful of overly white teeth.
‘Mr Welter? I’m DI Stephens,’ Dani said, releasing his clammy hand. ‘Sorry I’m a bit late.’
‘Actually, I was a little early,’ he said, his voice nasal, capping off his geeky appearance perfectly.
‘Shall we go inside?’
He nodded and they headed in and Dani bought them both a drink – a black coffee for her and a skinny latte for him. They took a table in the front, by the window looking out onto a fountain which looked bedraggled and sorry for itself, all drained of water for the winter.
‘I recognised your name,’ Welter said as he took a sip from his milky drink. ‘I remember your brother.’
Dani nodded but didn’t say anything to that.
‘He was so… normal.’ Welter’s cheeks reddened at his lacklustre description.
‘How long have you worked at Ellis Associates?’ Dani asked.
‘Oh, many years. Since 2002.’
Which would place him at about forty, if he’d been a graduate then. He didn’t look a day over thirty, his hair was neat and thick and full of colour, his skin blemish free. Perhaps some newfangled diet kept him thin as a rake. Dani ought to try it.
‘What do you remember of James Alden?’ she asked.
Welter looked quizzical. Dani could tell from the shake of his torso that his foot was tapping furiously. Nerves or just a curious habit?
‘James was an interesting character,’ he said. ‘I get a sense of people very quickly.’ He said this as though it made him infinitely profound. ‘I might be seen as something of an introvert, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand others. James was a very intriguing proposition.’
‘Intriguing how?’
‘Ellis is a big company, we get all sorts, from super intellectuals to – for want of a better phrase – wide boys. The strange thing is that to some extent, both ends of that spectrum fit perfectly well with consultancy. But with James… the best way to describe it is that he didn’t fit. He didn’t fit in the sense that I don’t think he really wanted to be here. I worked with him closely on Reflow, and it wasn’t that he wasn’t capable. He was smart and everything else, but he just didn’t seem to need to be here. If that makes sense?’
‘Not massively.’
‘Like it was all a play for something else.’
Dani thought back to what she knew of Liam Dunne. The inheritance windfall. Did that explain what Welter was saying?
‘Do you know why James left Ellis Associates?’ Dani asked.
Welter looked confused. ‘Of course. Don’t you?’
‘Perhaps you could explain what you know.’
‘It was because he lied. Simple as that. He lied about his CV. About everything. His education, his past employment. I was part of the disciplinary investigation.’
‘And what did you find? About who he really was? Why he lied?’
He shook his head. ‘We found nothing. We contacted his school, university, his past employers. No one had ever heard of him, had ever seen his picture even. But he never said a word to us about any of it. We never got an explanation. It was all very bizarre. We did notify HMRC of this, too, obviously, because we were paying taxes for him but God knows if he was even properly registered.’
‘You never found that out?’
‘That wasn’t something I was involved in, to be honest.’
‘Do you know how the disciplinary even started?’ Dani asked. ‘Obviously his CV wasn’t checked when he came into the business otherwise he never would have got the job? So what happened?’
‘We had a tip-off.’
‘A tip-off? From inside the firm or outside?’
Welter looked uncomfortable now. He clearly knew the answer.
‘I’m really not sure I can say, it was a confidential matter.’
Dani huffed, shook her head as though she’d never heard anything so ridiculous in her whole life.
‘You do realise this is a murder investigation,’ Dani said, as hard as she could. ‘I’m sure a man as intelligent as you can understand the repercussions of withholding evidence.’
The combination of both attack and flattery seemed to do the trick.
‘OK, I mean I’m sure there’s no real harm in me saying this to you now, given events since.’
Dani frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, the tip-off we had, about James Alden lying, about him not being who he said he was. It came from within the team. It came from your brother.’