Funeral in Blue - Anne Perry [86]
“But no one has been violated!” Callandra protested at last. “And it is Elissa who is dead.” Her voice was full of argument, but he could see in her face that she understood what he meant. The parallel was not irrelevant.
“We shall go on searching for some other answer,” Monk agreed, still facing Callandra and ignoring Pendreigh and Hester. “But we must accept the fact that Kristian will stand trial.”
Callandra closed her eyes. He saw courage and defeat struggling in her face. The daylight in the room was hard and cold; the clear, pale, autumn sun did nothing to disguise the marks of age in her. There was no kindness in it.
“I’m sorry,” he said gently. For a moment even Pendreigh’s loss did not mean anything to him. He had known Callandra since shortly after his accident, and that was six years now, all the life he could remember. She had always been loyal, brave, funny and kind. He would have done anything within his power to have saved her from this, but the only way he could offer his love was not to make the ordeal harder by drawing it out with lies. “We have to think who we can ask to defend him when the case opens. At the moment that is the most urgent thing.” As he spoke he turned to Pendreigh. “That is the principal reason we have come to you, sir.”
“I’ll do it,” Pendreigh answered without hesitation. Obviously he had been thinking of it while they were speaking. It was not a question he was asking, but a statement of intent. “I’ll defend him myself. I don’t believe he’s guilty, and that fact will be apparent to the jury. As Elissa’s father, I’ll make the best character witness he could have.”
Callandra’s face filled with relief, and for the first time the tears spilled over her cheeks. She turned to him and was about to speak, perhaps to thank him, when she must have realized how inappropriate that would be, and stopped.
Hester hastened into the silence, perhaps to distract Pendreigh’s eye from Callandra’s emotion. “That would be excellent! We will do everything we can to find more evidence, seek everything you want, talk to anyone.”
Pendreigh looked thoughtful. Now that he had made a decision, his manner changed. Some kind of strength returned. “Thank you.” He looked from one to another of them. “I shall do all I can to raise doubt as to the evidence and any conclusions that can be drawn from it, but we need more than that. Someone is responsible for the deaths of these two women. We need to raise at least one other believable alternative in the minds of the jurors.” He looked questioningly to Monk. “Is it true that witnesses preclude Allardyce from the possibility of having been there?”
“Yes. They are willing to swear he was in a tavern on the other side of the river all evening.”
“And I assume you have thoroughly investigated the people who own the gambling houses?” His distaste was hard in his voice, but he did not flinch from asking.
“Yes. Apart from their wish to draw the attention of the police as little as possible, and to not frighten away their custom, Mrs. Beck did not owe them any significant amount of money. They say all her debts were paid to date. People like her are the main source of their profit.