Page 115 of Private Lives

‘I contend therefore,’ said Jenkins, ‘that Mr Balon’s business integrity and the origins of his considerable fortune are very much something the voters need to know about.’

Helen could only look on in dismay as Jenkins turned to Jonathon.

‘Mr Balon,’ he said, ‘is it correct to say that steps have been taken to prepare for a campaign for a future London mayoral election?’

Balon looked over at Helen. Helen had met with him dozens of times over the past year and he had never seemed anything other than powerful and in control, but now? Now his dark eyes betrayed panic.

Oh God, thought Helen.

‘I don’t have any political ambitions, no,’ said Balon cautiously. ‘I’m a very busy businessman and right now all my time is taken up with growing that business.’

‘So how can you explain the registration of an internet domain name’ – Jenkins looked down at his notes – ‘Balon4Mayor.com?’

‘I’m not aware of any domain name.’

‘So you are telling this court you didn’t register the name Balon4Mayor.com with the web-hosting site Netstuff.com?’

Helen watched the colour drain from her client’s face.

‘No,’ said Balon. ‘I mean, this could easily be someone else called Balon, couldn’t it?’

Jenkins nodded, as if he was considering the point.

‘Yes, but Balon is a very unusual surname, isn’t it? And I doubt there are many – or should I say any – other people with that surname who are qualified to run for the city’s mayor. Wouldn’t you agree?’

Balon opened his mouth as if he were about to deny the fact, then changed his mind. He just sat there, evidently stunned. Helen wondered idly if the judge would understand if she strangled her client there and then.

‘This is a bloody disaster!’ shouted Helen. ‘A total and utter bloody disaster.’

Anna sat silently in Helen’s office, scribbling notes as her boss paced the room. She was certainly glad that it was Jonathon Balon and not her who was currently on the receiving end of Helen’s fury. Not that the legal team had escaped her wrath; far from it. Immediately after the judge had called for an adjournment, Helen had taken everyone back to her office and gone ballistic. ‘Unprofessional’, ‘embarrassing’, ‘criminally unprepared’ were just a few of her more generous observations. None of the team had said a thing: what could they say? They had missed a vital piece of evidence that could potentially undermine the whole trial. No wonder Jasper Jenkins had been looking so pleased with himself.

But in truth, it was Jonathon Balon himself who had scuppered their case. He’d had ample opportunity to tell Helen all about his plans to run for mayor, but he hadn’t. Certainly Helen would have used a completely different strategy in approaching the libel trial had she known, but now it was too late. They could hardly change tack without looking stupid at best, possibly even dishonest. It was indeed a total disaster, and part of Anna was enjoying th

e fact that Jonathon Balon was getting it in the neck.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t mention this to us,’ said Helen. ‘What possible reason can you have had for keeping it a secret?’

‘I didn’t think it was relevant,’ said Balon, shifting in his seat like a naughty schoolboy.

‘Not relevant?’ snapped Helen. ‘It’s completely bloody relevant, as Stateside’s learned counsel has just ably pointed out. It completely destroys our whole case!’

‘But I’m not running for London mayor,’ said Balon loftily. He clearly wasn’t used to being talked to in such a manner.

‘So explain this domain name.’

‘It was just an idea I had kicking around.’

Helen picked up the evidence file she had been given by the defence team and leafed over a few pages.

‘And who is this “Paul Jones” the site is registered to? Is Paul Jones in any way connected to you? Jenkins and his team clearly haven’t established that he is, otherwise they would have brought it up.’

There was a pause as Balon picked at a piece of fluff on his trousers.

‘Paul is an acquaintance,’ he said finally.

‘Oh shit,’ whispered Helen.

‘He was a freelance business consultant I employed a year or so ago,’ continued Balon. ‘I wanted to look into new projects outside the core areas of Balon Properties.’