The Disappeared (51 page)

It
was four a.m. when her mind finally folded. She collapsed into a chair and
tried to relax her still-agitated body. There's nothing more to be gained, she
told herself. You tried, you did more than any other coroner ever would. Slowly
her muscles began to unwind and grow heavy.
Some things are simply beyond
your grasp; let yourself off the hook, Jenny
.

Her
eyelids began to droop. She rocked forward, meaning to take herself to bed, but
instead fell into a doze, then into a deep, defeated sleep.

It
felt like only moments later when she was painfully jolted to consciousness by
the phone. Disorientated, she reached for the receiver and murmured a croaky
hello.

'Jenny?
It's Alec.' McAvoy's voice was quiet and sober.

'My
God.' Jenny blinked at her watch: it was nearly four- thirty. 'Where the hell
did you go?'

'I
didn't think you'd get to me today ... I had things to do.'

Her
thoughts came at her in a jumbled rush.

'I
need you. You've got to give evidence tomorrow. I need you talk about the
American - you know something, don't you?'

'I've
plenty to tell you, Jenny. Plenty. I could fill a book with it.' He sounded
tired.

'Alec
. . . you are all right, aren't you? Pironi told Alison you didn't seem well.'

'Oh.
Was this a physical or a spiritual diagnosis?'

'I'm
bringing him to court to hear your evidence. There's a chance he could be
persuaded to come round, at least as far as to say who made him halt his
original investigation. He might even admit that he was ordered to put you
away.'

'That'd
be the day.'

'I
think he's had an attack of conscience. Something happened this evening . . .'
She checked herself. 'I'll tell you after you've testified. You will, won't
you?'

McAvoy
was silent.

'Alec,
listen to me, listen. You have to come. I'd begun to think there was no hope,
but there is still some, isn't there? . . . Alec?'

'There's
always hope.'

'And
when this is over, we'll talk?'

'We
will. Goodnight, Jenny.'

'Goodnight
. . . Alec — '
You didn't tell me why you called
was what she wanted to
say, but the line had already gone dead. She could have rung him back, but it
would have spoiled the moment. Besides, she knew what he wanted to say, she
could feel it: that she wasn't alone. He was with her.

From
her office on the first floor Jenny could hear the protesters chanting outside
the hall. The crowd of angry young Asian men had swelled to more than thirty,
but they remained outnumbered by the police. Still not a word about the inquest
had been published in the papers or broadcast on radio or television. Nor had
the snatching of Anna Rose and the exchange of gunfire in a motorway service
station made it to the news. As far as the outside world was concerned, none of
it had ever happened.

Alison
knocked on the door and entered wearing an apologetic expression.

'There's
no sign of Mr McAvoy yet, nor Dave Pironi. I've left another message for Dr
Levin. She knows she's meant to be here.'

'What
about Salim Hussain - did you manage to trace him?'

'I
got an address and phone number from the university office. He's not answering.
I spoke to his tutor, who says he's missed his last two supervisions.'

'When
was the last time he saw him?'

'Nearly
three weeks ago.'

Jenny
fought back the suspicion that her witnesses were being deliberately withheld
from her.

'What
do you want to do?' Alison said. 'We should have sat fifteen minutes ago. Miss
Denton's getting impatient.'

Jenny
drew on her dwindling reserves of strength. Deep tiredness combined with the
overwhelming anxiety about everything slipping through her fingers was
threatening to overwhelm her medication. Her heart was hammering against her
lungs.

'I
ought to tell the jury something,' she said, and got up from behind her desk.
'Keep trying McAvoy and Pironi. Who knows? Maybe they're on their way
together.'

Alison
raised her eyebrows. 'Stranger things have happened.'

Martha
Denton rose impatiently as soon as Jenny had taken her seat at the head of the
courtroom.

'May
we have a word before the jury are brought in, ma'am?'

Jenny
could think of no reason to refuse.

Denton
produced a document. 'You won't be surprised to hear that the Secretary of
State has issued a certificate of public interest immunity covering the
intelligence relating to the whereabouts of Nazim Jamal or Rafi Hassan during
the time immediately following their disappearance.'

Alison
took a copy over to Jenny. She glanced over the impersonal text and noticed
that Mr Jamal looked older today, resigned.

Jenny
said, 'I suppose if I demand to see this intelligence I'll be refused.'

'If
it's any help, ma'am, there is a High Court judge currently sitting in Bristol
who can make himself available this afternoon.'

With
his appeal-proof judgement already written, Jenny didn't doubt.

'I
have several other witnesses to call, Miss Denton. I'll make my decision on
this certificate when we've heard their evidence.'

With
a look of surprise, Denton said, 'Surely, if you don't intend to challenge this
certificate, the correct course would be to direct the jury to return an open
verdict sooner rather than later. Mr Skene's statement does at least confirm
that the intelligence places the missing men outside the country. It's not
concrete evidence, but as far as I can see it is the best evidence that will
ever be available.'

'Unless
I can see it, it's no evidence at all, Miss Denton,' Jenny said, prompting an
approving nod from Khan.

Denton
shot straight back. 'Ma'am, although it's a highly unusual occurrence, a
coroner's verdict can be overturned and a fresh inquest ordered when the
verdict is clearly perverse. And although it may be frustrating, without
hearing the content of this intelligence the jury can reach no credible verdict
other than an open one.'

Calmly,
Jenny said, 'Miss Denton, my jury will deliver a verdict of their choosing
when, and only when they have heard all the available evidence. That may or may
not include your so-called intelligence.'

Alison
appeared at the committee-room door on the right- hand side of the hall and
mouthed, 'Dr Levin's here.'

'Bring
the jury in, please,' Jenny said. 'And then we'll have Dr Levin back.'

Martha
Denton shot a look over her shoulder at Alun Rhys and thumped into her seat.
Rhys fixed Jenny with a threatening glare, but there was nothing he could do
except sit and watch. The jury filed back to their places and Sarah Levin made
her way out from the committee room.

She
glanced apprehensively between Jenny and the lawyers as she took her seat in
the witness chair.

'You're
still under oath,' Jenny said. 'I've asked you to come back to help us with a
few background questions that may be of assistance. Has anyone from the police
or Security

Services
spoken to or made contact with you since you gave evidence yesterday?'

'No.'

'Has
anyone told you what you may or may not say in evidence?'

She
shook her head.

Jenny
was unconvinced, but tried not to let it show. Havilland and Denton would leap
at the merest suggestion of bias.

She
struck a conciliatory tone. 'You were a Stevenson scholar, weren't you? After
graduating, you secured a scholarship to study for your doctorate at Harvard
university in the USA.'

'That's
right.'

'You
were one out of only a dozen or so that year.'

'Yes.'

'Did
you have any American connections while you were an undergraduate at Bristol?'

'No,'
Levin replied, with a trace of apprehension.

Jenny
pressed on. 'A man in his forties was seen leaving Manor Hall at midnight on 28
June - the night Nazim and Rafi disappeared. He was described by Dani James as
wearing a blue puffy anorak and a baseball cap. He was carrying a rucksack or
holdall. Do you know who that man was?'

'I've
no idea.'

'Did
you know any American men at the time who met that description?'

'No
. . .'

'You
don't sound very sure.'

'No,
I didn't.'

'Last
week a man of a similar description, only several years older, was seen leaving
the building where Nazim

Jamal's
mother lived, only minutes after she had died. Have you met any fifty-year-old
American men lately?'

Martha
Denton slapped her hands on the desk in front of her as she sprang to her feet.
'Ma'am, what possible relevance could this have to the events of eight years
ago?'

'Miss
Denton, I'll remind you that I decide what's relevant, not you.'

'Ma'am,
if I'm correctly informed, Mrs Jamal's death is currently the subject of a
police investigation. It is only right that I remind you that any speculation
in this court regarding it runs the risk of prejudicing the jury and
invalidating their verdict.'

'Sit
down, Miss Denton. And don't interrupt again.'

Jurors
smiled. Martha Denton did as she was told with a venomous glare.

Jenny
returned her attention to the witness. 'You haven't answered my question, Dr
Levin.'

'I
can answer it very well. I don't know a man meeting that description.'

'But
you do know Anna Rose Crosby, don't you?'

Alun
Rhys sat up sharply.

'Yes
. . .' Sarah Levin said tentatively.

'Could
you please tell the jury who she is?'

'She
is . . . she was a student in my department. She graduated last summer.'

'And
you helped get her a job last autumn as a trainee in the nuclear industry.'

'I
was her tutor ... I wrote the usual references.'

'And
are you aware that she has been missing for the past fortnight?'

Sarah
Levin glanced anxiously at the lawyer's bench. Alun Rhys had left his seat and
was crossing the floor of the hall towards them.

'I
did know that, yes.'

'Are
you aware that last year she became involved with a young Asian man - a
postgraduate student at the university - by the name of Salim Hussain?'

'No
... I didn't know that.'

'And
do you have any idea why the same American man might have been looking for her
since she's been missing?'

Sarah
Levin shook her head, her eyes on Rhys, Denton and Havilland. Their solicitors
were hurriedly conferring.

'You've
no idea at all, Dr Levin?'

'I
told you, no.'

'Really?
Would it help prompt your memory if I told you this man seems to have been
contaminated with a radioactive substance that you'll doubtless be familiar with
— '

Denton
interjected. 'Ma'am, I am instructed that this line of questioning has to
stop.'

'I've
told you already, Miss Denton — '

Rhys
leaned over the desk behind her, issued Denton with further orders and hurried
from the hall.

Denton
stalled, her expression of indignation replaced with one of bewilderment.
'Ma'am. I am instructed to inform you -' she spoke as if she could scarcely
believe what she was about to say herself - 'that Dr Levin is a criminal
suspect and will be placed under arrest immediately.'

'She's
a witness in a lawful inquiry. Anyone who interferes with her giving evidence
will be in contempt of court.'

Rhys
crashed through the doors at the back of the room flanked by two uniformed
police officers, a sergeant and a constable.

'Apologies,
ma'am,' the sergeant stammered. 'I've been asked to arrest Dr Sarah Levin.'

'You
can wait until she's given evidence or be committed for contempt,' Jenny
snapped.

'Do
it,' Rhys ordered.

The
two police officers marched up to the witness box.

Jenny
unleashed her fury at them: 'Don't you dare interfere with the proceedings of
this court.'

Behind
the emotionless masks of uniformed men obeying orders, the two policemen took
hold of a terrified Sarah Levin and led her from the witness box. Rendered
speechless with impotent rage, Jenny watched them take her from the hall. As
they left, it was DI Pironi who held the door open for them.

'Mr
Pironi,' Jenny said, in scarcely more than a whisper, 'are you going to tell me
what's going on?'