Chapter 41
Sarah minimised Louise Coulter’s witness statement on her screen, and then moved back to her summary of the evidence in Jamie’s case.
Was there anything there to suggest that the burglar had been male?
If there was, she couldn’t see it, and the only evidence against Jamie was that he had been seen fixing Christy’s door with an electric tool three days earlier, which wasn’t even evidence.
It was circumstantial at best. The burglar couldn’t have used a power tool, it would have made too much noise, and Sarah knew from experience that most levering-type burglaries were carried out with a simple screwdriver or crowbar because they were easily carried.
The burglar could have been anyone, male or female.
As she got to the end of the residents’ statements, she came across one from Brenda Barlow, which had been accepted into evidence by the defence.
This meant it would have been read out in the courtroom.
Brenda Barlow had been a key witness and Christy’s next-door neighbour, on the other side from Kerry Munt, and yet she hadn’t been called to give live evidence at Jamie’s trial, which in turn meant that the defence hadn’t disagreed with anything she had to say in her statement.
Had they really had no questions to ask her?
Sarah opened Brenda’s statement. It was entirely factual, she realised, and described only what had happened on the morning Bella had turned up on her doorstep.
She had comforted the little girl, returned with her to the house next door, found Christy’s body, called the emergency services – and that was it.
It was markedly different from any of the other witness statements from the Blenheim Road residents.
They had all had something to say about Jamie, and none of it good.
Everyone had an opinion about him, about what kind of person he was – except Brenda.
And yet Brenda had been the neighbour Bella had run to, so presumably the person she knew the best.
Sarah paused to absorb this fully, but as she did so, it made less and less sense.
Brenda was a key witness. She ought to have given live evidence.
Also, she had given her occupation as retired, meaning she was likely to have been home for much of the day.
Of all the neighbours, Brenda would surely have seen the most of Jamie if he was a regular visitor to the house next door.
So why was there nothing about him in her statement?
Had she even been asked about him? It didn’t look like it.
‘OK,’ Will said, coming back into the kitchen with Ben’s water bottle and filling it at the tap. ‘We’re ready. We’ll see you in an hour or so.’
Sarah glanced up at him, then back at the open document on her laptop screen. ‘Wait,’ she said, scribbling on a piece of paper and jumping to her feet. ‘I’ll come too.’
‘Are you sure? I thought you’d appreciate the peace and quiet?’
‘Site visit,’ she said decisively, then shut down her laptop and unplugged it, tucking it under her arm. ‘We’re going to Streatham. Blenheim Road.’