Chapter 57
Matthew gets back into court just in time.
No one asks him where he’s been – there’s a fractious air, as though the jury has been arguing in his absence.
That surprises him; as far as he can see, everyone is against Isobel, but perhaps he may find more support.
Maybe he’s not the only one hoping she’s found not guilty.
That is, if finding her not guilty is what he’s going to do.
The judge begins her summing-up. He sits back, pen in hand, ready to take notes of any salient points.
He wants to know about whether there’s any wiggle room for discussion about Isobel’s mental health.
It starts off well enough, information about burdens and standards of proof, an analysis of the evidence presented at the beginning of the trial.
But the longer that the judge talks, the more that Matthew’s head starts to hurt.
He’s struggling to make out what she’s saying, as well, her words increasingly drowned out by that buzzing he heard before in his ears.
Shouldn’t he raise his hand, tell the court that he’s not well enough to continue? He isn’t ill, though. It’s not that. He’s overwhelmed with the sense that only he understands the truth, only he has the power to stop this from all going terribly wrong. He looks over again at the girls in the dock.
Smoke and mirrors – that was the phrase that the advocate depute used when he talked about the role that witchcraft has allegedly played in this case.
He’s not wrong, either, that there’s been a lot of deflection in the case, sleight of hand tricks to keep them all looking in the wrong direction.
Eliza with her picture-perfect ways, her winning smiles.
Isobel who doesn’t play the game at all.
She scowls at the court, refuses to engage, tells them a version of the truth that no one sensible could ever accept.
Matthew knows the truth, though. The Devil does exist. He’s talked to Matthew, shown him his hand.
Isobel wasn’t tormenting Christian – she was simply telling her what was going to happen.
It’s irrelevant that Christian’s parents had told her to lay off; death was always Christian’s destiny.
Isobel was not the instrument of it, only the messenger.
The instrument was Eliza, working towards her own selfish ends.
Arrogantly taking it on herself to jump the gun rather than let Isobel take the lead as the Devil had ordained.
Christian’s fate was already sealed – the Devil had called it all.
Eliza should have had faith in him, not decided to act herself.
She overstepped the mark; she deserves to be punished.
The jury might not yet understand it, but Matthew is going to make them believe it. By any means possible.
The judge keeps talking. The buzzing in Matthew’s head has subsided and he could listen now, if he wanted to. He could make a careful note so that he could refer back to it in his deliberations. There’s no need. He knows everything that he needs to know.
He’s got a plan. Scanning this bunch of deadweights, losers – he’s the only consultant surgeon here, a natural born leader. He can swing it, he’s certain of it. He’ll need to be clever about it, but Matthew is nothing if not clever. Probably the most intelligent man in the room.
He sits up, a pen in his hand, scribbles some illegible notes.
Not that he’s listening to the judge – he doesn’t need to do that, after all, but he needs to look as if he is.
This is going to take some careful management.
Emma will be one to watch; she mentioned seeing him with Gill before. He can handle her, though.
At last, the summing-up comes to an end.
He hasn’t listened to a word of it, but he arranges his face in an attentive manner, stands up when everyone else does.
The one thing he needs to know is that it’s a simple majority for a finding of guilty.
A finding of not guilty, too. Even not proven would be acceptable at a push.
All he needs to do is to persuade seven of them to join him in the verdict. That’s it.
There’s no way he can’t succeed.