Page 50 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

His co-host gave a breathless chuckle. “Well, I think we’re all asking, has Josiah Raine bitten off more than he can chew?

I mean, we’re all aware of his record in court.

Inquisitus has never lost a case where he was the lead investigator.

But taking on George Tyler?” She gave a long whistle.

“Could that be a career-ending mistake?”

Alex slammed his hand on the mute button. “That’s quite enough of that.”

Josiah turned it back on. “Nah, let’s hear what they have to say. It’ll clue us in to how the jury is likely thinking.”

Amanda was in full flow. “Tyler’s team seems to be running rings around the prosecution right now. You have to wonder whether the judge will move to abandon the trial altogether, given that the lady in question seems to be alive and well and living her best life. ”

“Why would Raine bring a case this risky unless he was sure of his evidence?” Alan mused.

“Why indeed? We’re all used to Josiah Raine being the steely-eyed indiehunter, but is it possible that on this occasion he’s less the hunter and more the prey?

” Amanda mused. “You have to hand it to Alexander Lytton. If anyone could melt our indiehunter’s stone-cold heart and make him believe a pack of lies, it’s clearly him.

Alexander Lytton: face of an angel, soul of a demon. ”

Alex laughed out loud. “Remember to put that on my gravestone,” he told Josiah. “I like that one.”

“Hah! And I’m steely-eyed with a stone-cold heart.”

“They know you too well,” Alex joked, and they both burst out laughing, grateful of some relief from all the tension.

“I must say, I find the presence of his brother, Charles, in court very poignant,” Alan continued in a more reverential tone. “To still be there, supporting his no-good brother, after all he’s been through.”

Josiah’s fists tightened on the steering wheel.

“He’s a true national treasure,” Amanda added, sounding ever so slightly choked with emotion. “Now, let’s go to Sandra from Essex. Sandra, what do you make of proceedings so far?”

“Morning, Amanda and Alan. I just wanted to say I’m very cross with Investigator Raine. I thought he was on our side, but he seems to have been taken in by this Lytton boy.”

“ Our side?” Amanda queried.

“You know, against indies stealing our jobs, murdering us in our beds and running off with all our money.”

“I suppose we don’t know what Josiah Raine thinks about anything. He never gives interviews,” Alan hedged.

“But he’s the indiehunter,” Sandra snapped.

“Not a title he’s ever claimed for himself,” Alan warned, sounding a rare note of sanity in a show not well known for it.

“But an indie murdered his husband,” she protested. “We all know he hates them. Why is he letting this one run rings around him?”

“Why indeed? Let’s ask Hameed from Carshalton that same question.”

“Maybe the Lytton lad has something on him,” Hameed offered.

“ This is a trial all about blackmail, after all, and I doubt Lytton would have any problem stooping to it. Poor Charles. Sitting in that courtroom supporting his low-life brother, still wanting to believe the best of him, no matter what.”

Josiah felt the beginnings of a headache brewing.

The problem was always that the public perception of Alex was so negative, it would be all but impossible to turn it around.

Everyone wanted to believe the world was black and white, that Josiah Raine hated indentured servants, and Alexander Lytton was a villain.

Nobody wanted a more nuanced version. This trial was entertainment, and people wanted everyone to play the part they occupied in the public imagination.

The scale of the task facing them seemed almost insurmountable.

Alex was the baddie and nobody was going to believe a word he said, and that was that.

There was no question of the judge abandoning the trial. “You’ve been given two conflicting versions of Ms Alajika’s story,” she told the jury. “It will be for you to decide which one is true.”

Yet, Josiah knew the burden of proof lay with the prosecution.

They had to convince the jury that Alex, Ted, and Mick were telling the truth about what happened that night, that Bagshaw had been blackmailed into altering the IS database, and that Tyler was a far bigger villain than Alex.

None of which would be easy. Tyler was a famous, successful entrepreneur.

The idea that he’d prostituted his indentured servants in order to blackmail business partners seemed inconceivable, and that was the mountain they had to climb.

This trial was shaping up to be as much about public perception as reality, and Josiah didn’t have a huge amount of faith in the public.

Ted returned to the stand. Josiah could see how nervous he was, how out of his depth and scared of Tyler.

He drew strength from his wife, Trudy, often looking to her for support.

He was no match for HMS, although Tyler’s smug barrister wasn’t as tough with him as he could have been.

Ted was too sympathetic a witness for that, and Josiah had a suspicion HMS was saving his roughest mauling for Alex.

“Was Mr Tyler a good houder to you?” he asked.

“He was a bully. He had Solange beaten by his major-domo once.”

“Was he a good houder to you ?” HMS emphasised. “Were you fed and housed, were your conditions as specified in your contract?”

“Yeah.” Ted shrugged.

“And after you left Mr Tyler’s employ, were you automatically enrolled in his IS Leavers’ Scheme, and given aid and support in establishing yourself in a new job?”

Alex glanced at Josiah. “IS Leavers’ Scheme?” he mouthed.

“I dunno about no leavers’ scheme,” Ted replied. “He helped me set up in an army shop, but that was hush money for staying quiet about Solange.”

“On the contrary, Mr Tyler runs a generous programme for IS leavers. All his indentured servants are enrolled in it when they complete their contracts. You were given support like countless others.” HMS took a moment to read out some sworn testimonials from happy leavers.

Ted stared at him miserably. “Like I said, I dunno about no leavers’ scheme,” he said when HMS was finished.

“I’ve been told something rather different.

I put it to you that you developed a crush on Ms Alajika, and when she rebuffed your advances, you became obsessed with her.

In the end, she reported you to Mr Tyler and he removed you from his security roster.

You were let go early for that reason, although he paid out your contract in full, which speaks to his generosity.

However, you were angry with him for intervening as you had deluded yourself that you had a chance of romance with Ms Alajika.

That is why you colluded with Alexander Lytton in this concoction of lies against Mr Tyler. ”

It was breath-taking in its chutzpah. Josiah had wondered how they’d blacken Ted’s motives, but it hurt to see a good man traduced in this way.

“That’s not true,” Ted cried, looking towards Trudy in distress.

She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded to him, bolstering him up.

“ Solange and I were in love,” he said forlornly.

He cut a pathetic figure standing up there, stooped, lanky, and emotional, with his drooping moustache and scarred face.

“Solange Alajika – this woman – was in love with you?” HMS spoke in a tone of sneering disbelief as he brought up Solange’s picture on the smartwall again.

She was stunning, and his insinuation was clear.

Would a woman this beautiful have looked twice at a man like Ted?

The Solange they’d seen in court was beautiful, cultured, and elegant.

She was in a completely different league to this shambling, scarred, uneducated man.

It was laughable to think that she had ever been interested in him.

“Poor Ted,” Alex whispered. “Fuck Tyler.”

Byrne gave Ted an easier time.

“Tell us about the Solange you knew, Mr Burgis,” she instructed.

Ted smiled. “Well, she was like me. We both came from the Quarterlands, and we were both indies. Sure, she was dead pretty, but she was like all the girls I knew growing up, all desperate to get outta the Quarterlands, to start living. She knew she had to put in the time doing Tyler’s dirty work for a few years, but then she’d be free to pursue her dreams. It was the same for me.

Sell yourself for a few years, and then hopefully be able to rent a little place on the dry and start making something of yourself.

She wasn’t artistic like they made out. She wasn’t a reader or a thinker, really.

She was warm-hearted and kind. She wanted kids above everything else.

She was a traditional girl at heart, my Solange.

She didn’t dream that big. She just wanted a bloke who wouldn’t let her down, and I wanted to be that for her. ”

“She sounds lovely,” Byrne said softly. Josiah exhaled.

She’d brought out Ted’s sincere love for Solange and showed that they were just two Quarterlands kids who’d found each other in servitude.

This Solange had much more in common with Ted than the fake version, but he doubted it would be enough to convince the jury.

“Tell us about the events of the night of November third, 2088,” Byrne requested .

Ted took a deep breath before launching into a detailed account of the night Solange had died.