The Passengers(62)
The baby was on its way.
Chapter 44
Matthew returned from the fridge in the corner of the room carrying five bottles of water on a wooden tray. He placed them on the table top in front of each juror, beginning with Libby. She smiled her thank you.
‘I could do with something a lot stronger than this,’ said Muriel, unscrewing the cap and pouring it into a tall glass.
‘I assumed you were teetotal,’ said Fiona.
‘Why? Because I have a faith?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘Sending four people to their graves would be enough to turn the Pope to drink.’
Fiona comforted her colleague with a pat on the arm.
Meanwhile Libby diverted her attention towards the wall clock, acutely aware of how time was passing more swiftly now they were living under the shadow of a deadline. She focused solely on the declining seconds just to ensure the Hacker hadn’t altered the speed to pile more pressure upon them. Underneath it, Cadman and his team busied themselves with a never-ending stream of data but remained respectfully silent as the jurors debated each Passenger.
A glimpse of sunlight streaming through the tall arched windows distracted her. Libby realised it was the first time that morning she had given thought to what would happen when this ordeal was over. She was certain to leave the room a very different woman to the one who arrived. All eight Passengers’ faces would join her brother Nicky in the rollcall of ghosts that haunted her.
Fiona cleared her throat with an exaggerated cough to gain the room’s attention and picked up her tablet. ‘Shall we move on to Sofia Bradbury?’ she asked. Seconds later, the main screen cut to a dark, blurred silhouette. ‘Where is she?’
‘I think she’s covered her camera with something,’ said Matthew, puzzled. ‘She’s hiding.’
‘Ironic, isn’t it?’ said Fiona. ‘She’s spent her life craving attention and now, when she has the biggest audience of her career, she can’t face them.’
‘Do you think she can hear us?’ asked Muriel.
‘I have no doubt the Hacker will have given her no choice but to,’ Matthew replied.
‘I honestly don’t know what to say about her,’ continued Fiona. ‘It’s not often that words fail me, but, on this occasion, I am truly lost.’
‘If what the Hacker said is true – and we only have his word that it is – how could she cover up what her husband did?’ asked Muriel.
‘Unless she actively participated in it,’ said Fiona. ‘Perhaps they did it together, a shared recreation of sorts. I’ve represented a few couples over the years who have been accused of similar crimes,’ said Fiona.
‘How can you defend people like that when you have a daughter of your own?’
‘Innocent until proven guilty.’
Jack laughed. ‘Only when it suits you. Ten minutes ago you were ready to throw Miss Arden to the wolves.’
‘Even if Sofia was only vaguely aware of what he was doing, she wouldn’t need to physically harm a child to be complicit,’ added Fiona. ‘Hiding him and paying off his victims makes her as guilty as he is in the eyes of the law and the public.’
‘Why did she elect to be sterilised?’ asked Muriel.
‘The Hacker suggested it was because she didn’t want to have children with him,’ added Matthew. ‘Perhaps she feared what he might do to them.’
‘That would indicate she isn’t all evil; that perhaps she has some kind of maternal instinct?’
‘Only when it comes to her own flesh and blood. But what about other people’s kids? By not reporting her husband and stopping him from what he was doing, it shows she couldn’t care less about them.’
‘Then why did she put so much time into raising money for so many children’s charities?’ asked Matthew.
‘She’s hiding in plain sight,’ continued Fiona. ‘Remember what we learned about Jimmy Savile after he died all those years ago? He did exactly the same thing. Spent his life in the public eye raising millions for charity, and all the while he was abusing children right under our very eyes. I’m not saying Sofia is the same but you cannot deny the similarities.’
Muriel let out a sigh. ‘The public can forgive many a celebrity’s transgression, but never child molestation. I hate to say this, but perhaps for Sofia’s sake, she’d be better off dead.’
Each of the jurors returned to Sofia’s silhouette.
‘Do we even need to vote on this?’ asked Fiona.
The others shook their heads and looked away from the screen.
‘Then let us move on to the next Passenger.’
Chapter 45
SOFIA BRADBURY
Sofia hurled her remote control at the dashboard when it failed to turn off the volume. She ignored the sharp jabbing pains running up her spine as she bent forward, moving quickly towards the console, pushing at random buttons, desperately trying to take back control. She had spent her career wanting to be talked about and craving attention. But not anymore. Now her only desire was to hide from the world and spend her final moments in privacy, just her and her dog.
Listening to strangers as they pored over the secrets she had kept hidden for forty years was Sofia’s worst nightmare. But now they were exposed and there was no coming back from what everyone knew about her. She would rather her car explode into a million tiny pieces than face another living soul. She removed her hearing aids from her ears and threw them to the floor.