Revenge (16 page)

"Were you not aware of the need to
preserve
evidence?" Mr. Clifford
asked Detective
Leary. "An extra swab could have been taken and preserved in Ireland."

"Considering the nature of the substance I was dealing with, I had concerns about keeping any of it here in Ireland."

"Why were no steps taken to ensure that the evidence sent to England would be preserved?"

"It was my understanding from the laboratory that they provide services to the English courts and what was necessary woul
d be done correctly. T
he steps taken in this instance were the only steps open to me."

The court th
en heard from Ava Patterson of
the laboratory in England who
had carried out the work for
the UK Home Office. "I was given
some preliminary information that an exhibit had been seized in a prison and that it had been tested for ricin. I received a package and a contact lens holder was inside. I screen
ed
and X
-rayed the package."

"What is ricin?"
Mr. Clifford asked.

"Ricin is a lethal toxin which is derived from castor beans. It could be toxic if ingested, inhaled or injected."

Charles Finley, who was the manager of the laboratory, also advised the court that ricin was a chemical compound which was produced by castor beans.

"Is it toxic?"

"It's extremely toxic, one of the most toxic compounds."

"Can it kill?"

"It can kill someone stone dead."

"What did you do with the package containing the contact lens case?"

"I took it from Ms. Patterson and placed it in a safety cabinet. It was unpacked and irrigated."

When Detective
Leary and the scientist
s
had finished giving
their evidence to the court,
Mr. Clifford
addressed Judge Enright
. "A highly toxic ch
emical was found. Detective
Leary had serious concerns about it and he acted correctly on his concerns. If the police hadn't acted and some disaster
had occurred in the prison
there would have been a serious public outcry. Mr. McNamara was not charged when the search and subsequent tests were carried out and in such circumstances the Prosecution couldn't be said to be under any obligation to inform him that such tests were carried out. Your ruling does not and cannot apply to Mr. McNamara. Also, there are exceptional and extraordinary circumstances in relation to the other defendant, Ms. Kingston."

"I believe the Prosecution has taken several steps backwards by the evidence which they have presented here today," Mr.
Loftus
retaliated. "I'm not disputing the fact that ricin is a deadly substance but Mr. McNamara should have been made aware of the
positive test results
."

"My client has the constitution
al right to a fair trial," Mr. Kiely
spoke for his client, Ms. Kingston. "There are no grounds on which your Lordship should reconsider your ruling. The ricin element should not be allowed."

Everyone knew t
hat the decision made by Judge Enright
the following morning was going to be crucial in terms of whether or not the trial would proceed. A tension-filled courtroom listened intently as he made
his judg
ment. "It appears to me
that
,
considering the circumstances,
the police acted quickly, urgently and expeditiously with the evidence which was obtained and performed the tests which were available to them. It was clearly not a right that any defendant had to be present when an original sample was t
aken. The court also finds
that
there was no deliberate attempt to deprive the individuals of the possibility to investigate or indeed to deal with the laboratory in England. The matter should be dealt with by the jury and they should be allowed to hear the evidence and possible conflicts that exist."

The relief from the Prosecuti
on was palpable
. There was no way
they would have wanted to lose their entire case on a technicality and at such a crucial stage. They'd worked too long and too hard to let Mark McNamara and Savannah Kingston get away with their evil plan.

The jury was recalled and the evidence in the case proceeded. Scotland Yard Agent Julia Lawson took the stand
next
. She ex
plained that she suspected
Savannah Kingston was involved in the production of ricin when she visited her home in
London
. Agent Lawson was investigating an alleged extortion and as part of her investigation she had visited the home which Savannah had shared wi
th her partner Daniel Williams
. "I saw a drum of acetone on a shelf in the garage of the house. A blender and a coffee carafe, both containing white residue, were on the ground. I had previ
ously interviewed Mr. Williams
and it is my belief that the residue was ricin."

"Did you wear a warfare suit when you wen
t to Ms. Kingston's home?" Mr. Kiely
asked.

"No, I did not."

"You didn't wear any protective clothing when you went
to investigate Mr. Williams’
claims. Don't you think that was rather peculiar
in the face of such a deadly poison and
considering how increasingly security conscious the world has become?"

"I didn't think that specialist clothing was necessary at the time," Agent Lawson glared at him.

Mr. Kiely
turned to face the jury. "There is no evidence of any significant amount of r
icin which could kill anybody.
I put it to the court that there is no such evidence before you and the Prosecution repeating it does not make it evidence."

Chapter 14

A defendant in a criminal trial does not have to give evidence.
I
t’s
not up to them to prove their innocence. However, there had never been much doubt that when the d
efendant was Mark McNamara
the defence would be lengthy and entertaining. The media hoped that one or both of the accused would take the stand. Mark made a great pretence of musing about whether
or not he should speak
. Although not quite as chatty as his co-defendant, he had struck up convers
ations with a few journalists. “
Do you
think I should give evidence?”
he asked one r
eporter, still
anxious about his public image.

“
Well, everyone wants to hear your side of the story,
”
was the candid reply; anything else would have been a bare-faced lie.

“You're right,” Mark nodded decisively. “
I think people
would like to know what really happe
ned.”

He was
looking forward to having his day in court, when all eyes would be on him and he would be the centre of everyone's rapt attention; a position which he always relished. It was no surprise to Rebecca or the
other women that he
had
decided to give evidence. He had maintained his demeanour of innocen
ce throughout the trial and
strolled around the grounds of the courts with his usual
nonchalant, confident attitude
. Outwardly, he seemed like he didn't have a care in the world and his body language portrayed this perfectly.

Rebecca knew that Mark was so twisted that he had quite probably convinced himself that he really was
the innocent party
! She had talked in detail with her psychiatrist, Brianna Moynihan
,
about her husband and had read extensively about sociopaths. Frighteningly, her husband seemed to fit the description; outwardly engaging and charismatic but
deep down
it was nea
rly always a ploy to get what he
wanted. Sociopaths were described as being shells of people; often attractive and colourful on the outside but completely hollow inside. They knew how they should behave and were aware of the social norms but it didn't mean anything to them. Their entire persona was usually an act.

Mark's body language said it all. He seemed like coolness personified as he chatted daily to
his legal team. His
calm attitude drew curious glances from the onlookers in the c
ourtroom. Most people were
surprised to learn that this was the man who allegedly was "
devils-revenge
". He seemed so self-assured and fearless.

Hi
s moment finally arrived. It was three o' clock on the twenty fifth day of the trial when Mark McNamara's athletic figure arrived in the witness box. There was an imperc
eptible intake of breath as he
stood up to take the stand. Those sitting in the
back seats leaned forward,
not
wanting
to miss a sin
gle word. Mark basked in the limelight
. This was his moment and he was going to make the most of it.

He sat down and smiled at the jury, his muscular frame seemed even larger against the dark wood of the judge's bench. Holding a bottle of still water in one
hand he leaned back in his seat
and gazed
around the room, relishing
the fact that all eyes were on him. He fixed the microphone in front of him, tapped it and s
miled at the jury before asking;
"can you hear me?" It was the first of
many smiles
he was to bestow upon the jury that afternoon. He oozed confidence and charm and seemed very comfortable
in his own skin
.

He spent almost three hours in the witness box over the course of his two day
examination. His exchange with
his own lawyer was straightforward
as he was led through an easy protestation of his innocence
but the sparks began to fly when
Mr. Clifford
, for the Prosecution, began his
arduous interrogation
.
Mark explained to
him
that he had been interviewed by the police on several occasions and had set out his position in great deta
il in letters to the Director of
Public Prosecutions.

Mr. Clifford had been
chosen to handle the cross-examination for strategic reasons. It
proved to be a prudent move as
he had deftly navigated through the majority of the technical evidence and knew exactly how
to handle Mark. The experienced barrister
w
as more than a match
for
his
charms and within minutes, as the proverbial line was drawn in the sand between them, Mark's smile faltered for the f
irst time.

"Do your letters to the Director of Public Prosecutions represent the truth
about
what happened?"
Mr. Clifford
asked.

"Yes, the honest
truth," Mark promptly replied.

"Did you solicit anyone to kill?"

"Absolutely not." He shook his head emphatically.

"Did you conspire with anyone to kill?"

"No, I did not."

"Did you send money to an address in England?"

"I accept that I sent money to the address which I was given but I didn't know anything about Savannah Kingston. I think if I was paying someone to kill so
meone else that it would be obvious to me
it would be traceable. I had no idea that the police were investigating something like this; as far as I knew they were investigating a burglary at the office. The information I gave the police was regarding blackmail."

"What about th
e mysterious and elusive Henry Whitington-Smyth
? The only reason you tol
d your wife about him was because
the office had been burgled and there had been an extortion attempt. You re
alised
your plan had gone badly wrong."

"Henry was helping me to get
some ex
tra work. He has lots of contacts
in the industry a
nd I wanted to see
what he
could find
before I told Rebecca about him. I was hoping
to get some extra work so
I could s
ave enough money to take her
away on holiday. We'd been going through a bad patch in our relationship and I wanted to try to make it up to her. It was supposed to be a surprise."

“
Did you tell
your wife
t
hat you were being blackmailed?”