The Accused (Modern Plays) (7 page)

Mitchell
Half a dozen times during the next three months.

Kersley
I apologise, Ms Mitchell, but I must now ask you an embarrassing question as I want the jury to understand fully why you became so willing to fall in with Mr Sherwood’s plans. During the time leading up to Mr Sherwood asking you to collect these prescriptions from Wellingborough, did he maintain a professional relationship with you?

Mitchell
To begin with he did, but then he started to give me presents, send me flowers and even invited me out to dinner.

Kersley
And did you accept any of these invitations?

Mitchell
No, not immediately, but then he became more and more insistent, and it’s quite difficult for a junior nurse to go on refusing the senior consultant. So I finally gave in and agreed to have dinner with him at a restaurant in Fulham, where he assured me no one would recognise us.

Kersley
So he chose the restaurant, but did you make the booking?

Mitchell
No, he did. And he paid for the meal in cash - he explained that way it couldn’t be traced back to him.

Kersley
And did he invite you out again?

Mitchell
Oh, yes. After that, Patrick regularly invited me out for a meal, or to the theatre. He kept telling me how lonely he was. And then one night on the way home, he said he was falling in love with me.

Kersley
What was your reaction?

Mitchell
I was very flattered at the time, and when we arrived back at my flat he asked if he could come up for coffee.

Kersley
And did you agree to his request?

Mitchell
No, I made some excuse about having to be up early for morning rounds. I didn’t mind having dinner with him, but I wasn’t willing to begin a relationship with a married man, especially one who was working at the same hospital.

Kersley
Quite understandably. But that later changed?

Mitchell
Yes, it was a few weeks later, at the staff Christmas party - he pulled me under the mistletoe and started kissing me.

Kersley
But isn’t that normal at a Christmas party, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
Yes, but it isn’t normal for a doctor to put a hand on your breast.

Kersley
And how did you respond?

Mitchell
I pushed him away and then left the party as quickly as possible, hoping that none of the other nurses had noticed.

Kersley
And did you go straight home?

Mitchell
I would have done so, but he followed me out. He apologised immediately and asked if he could walk me back to my flat.

Kersley
Did you let him?

Mitchell
Yes, I lived less than a mile away and he seemed very contrite.

Kersley
And did he leave you once you arrived back at your flat, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
No, he asked if he could come in for coffee.

Kersley
And did you agree this time?

Mitchell
Yes, I’m afraid I did. You see, on the way home he never stopped telling me how much he adored me and longed to be with me. And in any case, it had started to rain and I felt rather sorry for him.

Kersley
So after he’d joined you in the flat, what happened next?

Mitchell
I made us some coffee, but he hung around long after he’d drunk it. I pointed out that it had stopped raining, but he just wouldn’t go.

Kersley
And did he once again try to kiss you?

Mitchell
Yes, he did.

Kersley
Forgive me for being indelicate, Ms Mitchell, but how far did it go?

Mitchell
(
looks at the
Judge
) Do I have to answer that question, My Lord?

Judge
Yes, indeed you do, Ms Mitchell. You see the jury need to know exactly what took place that night.

Mitchell
(
hesitates
) We ended up making love.

Sherwood
We’ve never made love and you know it.

Judge
Mr Sherwood, I have already spoken to you about interrupting this witness.

Sherwood
My Lord, do I have to sit in silence while this woman goes on telling lies about me?

Judge
You must listen to all the witnesses without interrupting, Mr Sherwood. You will in time be given an opportunity to answer questions from the witness box under oath, if you choose so to do. But until then, you will remain silent. (
Sherwood
sits down
.) Carry on, Mr Kersley.

Kersley
So, after Mr Sherwood had made love to you, did he eventually leave?

Mitchell
Yes, it must have been about three in the
morning
.

Kersley
And how did he treat you the following day?

Mitchell
He was very courteous and professional during ward rounds, but that changed when he asked me to join him in his office.

Kersley
Why, what happened, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
As soon as I walked in, he pulled me towards him and started to undo my uniform. I warned him that anyone might come in.

Kersley
What did he say to that?

Mitchell
He didn’t, he just smiled and locked the door.

Kersley
And did he continue to try to undress you?

Mitchell
Yes, we ended up making love on his couch.

Kersley
And did this become a regular occurrence?

Mitchell
Oh, yes. After that, Patrick would often turn up late at night, explaining that he told Elizabeth he was out visiting a patient. He made love with such a passion that I was convinced he no longer had a sexual relationship with his wife.

Kersley
And how long did this affair go on for?

Mitchell
About three months.

Kersley
And he asked you to pick up the prescriptions from Wellingborough soon after you started sleeping with him?

Mitchell
Within days. But by then Patrick knew only too well that I nearly always visited my parents at the weekend.

Kersley
And were these prescriptions ever made out for Mrs Sherwood?

Mitchell
No, they were all for private patients.

Kersley
Can you recall the date of the first one?

Mitchell
Yes. It was about three months before his wife died.

Kersley
How can you be so sure?

Mitchell
Because I made a diary entry that Patrick had given me a ten-pound note to cover the cost, and there was four pounds change, which I returned to him on the Monday morning.

Kersley
But if you were so surprised to be asked to carry out Mr Sherwood’s instructions, why didn’t you report your misgivings to anyone in authority?

Mitchell
Because by then I’d fallen in love with him.

Kersley
And did he ever give any hint that he might have fallen in love with you?

Mitchell
Oh, yes. Patrick regularly told me he was sick of his wife, and he couldn’t wait to be rid of her so he could spend the rest of his life with me. He hated the way she constantly belittled him in front of the staff. He even talked about moving out of Arcadia Mansions, finding a larger apartment and starting a family. I didn’t take it too seriously to begin with. But then one night he proposed.

Kersley
He asked you to marry him?

Mitchell
Yes, he did.

Kersley
While his wife was still alive?

Mitchell
Yes, it was after we’d made love - I’ll never forget it, because he left a few minutes later.

Kersley
So would that have been around three in the morning?

Mitchell
No, just after ten.

Kersley
But you told the court that he usually left around three in the morning, so that no one would realise you were having an affair.

Mitchell
Yes, but that night he told me he had to visit a patient in Westminster and he would come back later, which puzzled me.

Kersley
Why did it puzzle you, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell
Because he didn’t have his doctor’s bag with him.

Kersley
And did he come back later?

Mitchell
Yes, a few minutes after eleven.

Kersley
And did you notice any change in him when he returned?

Mitchell
Yes, he seemed very nervous. And when I asked if there was a problem, he told me that the patient had died.

Kersley
He told you that the patient had died?

Mitchell
Yes, I tried to calm him, but he just paced around the room mumbling to himself and then suddenly left without warning.

Kersley
And did he ever raise the subject of marriage again?

Mitchell
No. Once his wife had died, Patrick refused even to speak to me.

Kersley
But this was the man who had regularly shared your bed and even asked you to be his wife.

Mitchell
Yes. (
Near to tears
.) Which is why it came as such a terrible shock when he dropped me without any warning. Of course, relationships can come to an end, but that doesn’t mean you can’t remain on good terms.

Kersley
But you did attend Mrs Sherwood’s funeral?

Mitchell
Yes, but Patrick ignored me and didn’t even invite me back to his flat to join the other guests.

Kersley
Was there anything else you can remember about the funeral?

Mitchell
Yes, I was surprised that Mrs Sherwood was cremated and it made me anxious for the first time.

Kersley
What were you anxious about?

Mitchell
Well, I began to wonder if Patrick was making sure that no one could ever check what had caused the bruising on her arm.

Sherwood
half rises, catches
Judge
’s
eye and sits back down
.

Barrington
My Lord, this is a disgraceful slur on my client. There is absolutely no proof that…

Judge
I agree, Sir James. The jury will disregard Ms Mitchell’s last statement. Ms Mitchell, this court is not interested in your opinions, only in facts. And Mr Kersley, you are as much to blame. You must have known only too well where that question was leading.

Kersley
I did, My Lord, but then I considered Mrs Sherwood’s cremation to be a fact, and one the jury might even find relevant.

Judge
Mr Kersley, you are bordering on impertinence. Stick to facts in future.

Kersley
Ms Mitchell, is it a fact that while you continued working at St George’s Mr Sherwood began to threaten you?

Mitchell
Yes, he did. When I raised the subject of the prescriptions he flew into a rage, warning me that if I mentioned them to anyone, not only would I lose my job at St George’s but he would personally make sure that no other hospital would ever employ me again.

Kersley
So you decided to leave St George’s.

Mitchell
I didn’t have a lot of choice, as he’d made it abundantly clear that I had no hope of promotion while he remained the head of department.

Kersley
So what did you do next?

Mitchell
I resigned and took a short holiday abroad. While I was away, a vacancy arose at Wellingborough Cottage Hospital for the position of senior staff nurse. I was delighted when they offered me the post and hoped this would be my chance to start a new life.

Kersley
But that didn’t prove possible, did it, Ms Mitchell, because Mr Sherwood got in touch with you again. When was that?

Mitchell
It must have been about a month after I’d started my new job. He began phoning me at the hospital.

Sherwood
(
rises
) I never phoned you. I didn’t even know you’d got another job.

Judge
Mr Sherwood, this is the last time I shall warn you. If you interrupt again, I will have you taken below as long as Ms Mitchell remains in the witness box. Do I make myself clear?

Sherwood
Yes My Lord, but…

Barrington
My Lord, may I be allowed to have a word with the defendant?

Judge
For what purpose, Sir James?

Barrington
To leave Mr Sherwood in no doubt of the harm it will do his cause if he is unable to hear all the evidence offered by this particular witness.

Judge
Do you have any objection, Mr Kersley?

Kersley
If it means I can continue uninterrupted, My Lord, I would welcome it. However, it may be that these unseemly outbursts, repeated by Mr Sherwood at regular intervals despite Your Lordship’s continual warnings, will only serve to shed light on the character of the accused and thus assist the jury when the time comes to consider their verdict.

Barrington
My Lord, my learned friend can never resist making a speech and this one did indeed shed some light, if not on Mr Sherwood’s character, then on the Crown’s lack of any real evidence, which they try to cover up by resorting to personal abuse. However, I will have a word with my client My Lord, and warn him of the gravity of your words. (
Barrington
goes over to the dock
.) Very good, but that was one more interruption than we agreed on, so don’t do it again. (
Sherwood
nods and sits back down
,
Barrington
returns to his place
.) I’m obliged, My Lord. I think Mr Sherwood now fully understands what is expected of him.