The Guilty Couple(84)
Dani, on the other hand, lied through her teeth when she appeared as a witness for the prosecution and gave an account of his arrest. She happened to be near Heathrow, she told the court, when the call came through about a potential murder suspect at the airport. She said she recognised the name as he was the victim in another crime she’d brought to court. Dominic knew that was absolute bullshit. Somehow she’d worked out that he was leaving, and what flight he was on, and she’d turned up at the airport to snatch the phone recording and the repayment schedule before he could leave. It was pure luck on Dani’s part that the call to arrest him had come through. As he sat in the back of a squad car, handcuffed and humiliated, he was determined that, if he was sent to prison, he’d take her down with him.
His solicitor had talked him out of it. Given the fact Jack’s body had been found in a freezer in his garage, it would be foolhardy for him to deny he was responsible for the man’s death. Either he’d killed Jack in self-defence after he’d discovering that Jack and Olivia had arranged to have him murdered, panicked at what he’d done, and hidden the body. Or, he’d killed Jack in anger, hidden his body and framed Jack and Olivia to disguise what he’d done.
‘Which option,’ his solicitor asked him, ‘would allow a jury to see you in the most favourable light?’
Dominic had to concede that she had a point but inwardly he raged. There was no way he could take Dani down too, not without weakening his own case.
As for the fraud charge, his solicitor said he wouldn’t be tried for it before the manslaughter case had been heard. If he was found guilty of manslaughter he wouldn’t be charged with fraud at all. It wasn’t win-win, it was lose-lose.
Now, a trapped nerve twitches under Dominic’s right eye as the jury take their seats. It’s Nancy’s fault he’s standing in the dock. He could be on a beach in Dubai now, sipping cocktails under a flaming-hot sun if she hadn’t done what she did. Nancy isn’t standing beside him, not because she isn’t also on trial, but because her wheelchair doesn’t fit in the dock so she’s been parked up beside it. Dom hasn’t given her more than a passing glance during the two weeks of the trial. According to the detective who interviewed him, Nancy suffered a broken neck when he threw her against the wall. He should have thrown her harder.
He stands up taller as the judge beckons the court usher to approach. Her low heels clack on the wooden floorboards as she crosses the room and the judge speaks to her in a low voice as she approaches the podium.
The usher turns to the jury. ‘Would the foreman please stand.’
A short man with a beard levers his heft out of his seat and stands up.
‘Mr Foreman,’ the usher’s voice rings out through the wood-panelled courtroom. ‘On this indictment have the jury reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?’
Beardy man nods. ‘Yes, we have.’
‘On count one,’ the usher says. Dominic grips the dock. If Nancy is found guilty of preventing a lawful burial, he will be, too. ‘Do you find the defendant Nancy Ritchie guilty or not guilty?’
‘Guilty.’ The foreman’s voice rings out loud and clear.
Dominic’s vision swims. The maximum sentence for preventing a lawful burial is life. They’re both going to prison for a very, very long time. ‘On count two,’ the usher says. It’s the kidnap charge now, for locking Olivia in the garage. ‘Do you find the defendant Nancy Ritchie guilty or not guilty?’
‘Guilty.’
The nerve twitches again below Dominic’s right eye. He looks down at the ground, willing it to stop. It’s his manslaughter charge now and he’s struggling to breathe.
‘On count one,’ the usher says, ‘do you find the defendant Dominic Sutherland guilty or not guilty?’
‘Guilty.’
‘On count two,’ the usher says, ‘do you find the defendant Dominic Sutherland guilty or not guilty?’
‘Guilty.’
Dominic raises his chin and looks across the court to where Olivia is sitting in the raised viewing gallery, with Lee on one side of her and Ayesha on the other. His eyes meet Liv’s and she smirks.
Chapter 55
OLIVIA
Two Months After The Trial
The choices we make can be small and insignificant – a prawn mayo sandwich for lunch or a tray of sushi rolls? – or they can be so big, so monumental they can change the course of our lives forever. I was a biddable child and I played by the rules. I wouldn’t go so far as to tell another child off but if they put the drawing pencils in the coloured pencil pot I’d wait for them to walk away and then swap them around. Wherever I went – ballet class, Exeter Uni, Sotheby’s – I tried to fit in. I didn’t want to stand out, I didn’t want to be noticed and, given the decision between a risky choice with a high reward or a safe choice without, I’d always go for safe. I believed that by playing by the rules the world would see me as a good person. And, if I worked hard enough and stuck at something for long enough, I’d earn my recompense. I liked my life – mother, art gallery owner, wife – at least that was the official line. I’d been unhappily married for years but hadn’t admitted it to myself because to admit that would be to admit that I’d failed.
And then I met Jack.