Read Online Trespass (P.I. Johnson Carmichael Series - Book 2) by Stephen Edger - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen Edger
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Elizabeth Collinghurst QC was an experienced criminal prosecutor and when she had been made aware of the crimes Green was accused of, she had pushed to be made lead on the case.
She was a stout feminist, and had been since she was fifteen and a boy in her class had attempted to take advantage of her naivety. She had been fortunate, in that her parents had returned home early from the theatre, and walked in on him trying to pin her down. Elizabeth’s father had kicked him out of the house and threatened to do far worse if he ever came sniffing around the doorstep again. The boy had learned his lesson and never troubled Elizabeth again. Her father had been a greengrocer but he had had such high hopes for his daughter. He had told her the same night that it was important for her to be strong-minded if she wanted to be successful in a man’s world. A teacher at school had slipped her a copy of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch , and it had opened her eyes to the way women were generally viewed in society. It had given her all the motivation she needed to succeed at school and earn her place at Cambridge University. From there she had secured a place at one of London’s top firms, even though it had taken her two years longer than some of her male colleagues to obtain her Queen’s Counsel membership.
Collinghurst had worked hard to be where she was and as her fortieth birthday rapidly approached, she hoped that people would remember her for the crusading way she sought to deal with sex offenders such as Nathan Green. Inside, she wanted to see Green punished just as much as Cat Jurdentaag did, but she had to hide this deep-rooted desire from the court.
Collinghurst called the young police officer who had been first to arrive at the scene of Patricia Tropaz’s murder. The police had been called in because Patricia Tropaz had missed work, and this had been unlike her. Friends had knocked on her door and tried to phone but there had been no response. Eventually a neighbour had used a spare key to enter the property and had found her dead body in a pool of blood on the living room carpet. Police Constable Barnes had quickly sealed off the scene when he had arrived and the forensics team had then processed the scene. Barnes explained to the court that bruising around the victim’s neck suggested that she had been strangled. He added that the nature of the cuts and scratches on her body suggested that she had sustained defensive wounds as she had fought with her attacker.
Charleston asked what other evidence of a fight there had been. Barnes confirmed that the victim’s hands had been cleaned, presumably by the killer, as there was no skin or blood found under the victim’s fingernails. Collinghurst was pleased that this question had been raised by the defence team as she hoped to prove later that Green was very experienced with taking care of his own hands and, as such, would have had the necessary experience to clean the victim’s hands so well. Barnes also advised that Miss Tropaz’s hands had been bound above her head by gaffer tape.
Collinghurst continued to question the young officer about his movements on the day, whether all visitors to the scene had been carefully logged in and out and whether anybody had appeared on scene who’d had no reason to be there. Barnes answered each of the questions with ease and Charleston was then invited to cross examine him.
‘Who discovered the supposed bloody thumb print on the bathroom tap?’ Charleston asked.
‘That was one of the Forensics team,’ Barnes replied confidently.
‘When you arrived at the scene, Constable Barnes, did you undertake any cursory examination of the property?’
‘I briefly scanned the property for any sign of life, in case the intruder was still present, but the place was empty.’
‘I see. Did you look in the victim’s bathroom during this cursory glance?’
‘I poked my head around the
She was a stout feminist, and had been since she was fifteen and a boy in her class had attempted to take advantage of her naivety. She had been fortunate, in that her parents had returned home early from the theatre, and walked in on him trying to pin her down. Elizabeth’s father had kicked him out of the house and threatened to do far worse if he ever came sniffing around the doorstep again. The boy had learned his lesson and never troubled Elizabeth again. Her father had been a greengrocer but he had had such high hopes for his daughter. He had told her the same night that it was important for her to be strong-minded if she wanted to be successful in a man’s world. A teacher at school had slipped her a copy of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch , and it had opened her eyes to the way women were generally viewed in society. It had given her all the motivation she needed to succeed at school and earn her place at Cambridge University. From there she had secured a place at one of London’s top firms, even though it had taken her two years longer than some of her male colleagues to obtain her Queen’s Counsel membership.
Collinghurst had worked hard to be where she was and as her fortieth birthday rapidly approached, she hoped that people would remember her for the crusading way she sought to deal with sex offenders such as Nathan Green. Inside, she wanted to see Green punished just as much as Cat Jurdentaag did, but she had to hide this deep-rooted desire from the court.
Collinghurst called the young police officer who had been first to arrive at the scene of Patricia Tropaz’s murder. The police had been called in because Patricia Tropaz had missed work, and this had been unlike her. Friends had knocked on her door and tried to phone but there had been no response. Eventually a neighbour had used a spare key to enter the property and had found her dead body in a pool of blood on the living room carpet. Police Constable Barnes had quickly sealed off the scene when he had arrived and the forensics team had then processed the scene. Barnes explained to the court that bruising around the victim’s neck suggested that she had been strangled. He added that the nature of the cuts and scratches on her body suggested that she had sustained defensive wounds as she had fought with her attacker.
Charleston asked what other evidence of a fight there had been. Barnes confirmed that the victim’s hands had been cleaned, presumably by the killer, as there was no skin or blood found under the victim’s fingernails. Collinghurst was pleased that this question had been raised by the defence team as she hoped to prove later that Green was very experienced with taking care of his own hands and, as such, would have had the necessary experience to clean the victim’s hands so well. Barnes also advised that Miss Tropaz’s hands had been bound above her head by gaffer tape.
Collinghurst continued to question the young officer about his movements on the day, whether all visitors to the scene had been carefully logged in and out and whether anybody had appeared on scene who’d had no reason to be there. Barnes answered each of the questions with ease and Charleston was then invited to cross examine him.
‘Who discovered the supposed bloody thumb print on the bathroom tap?’ Charleston asked.
‘That was one of the Forensics team,’ Barnes replied confidently.
‘When you arrived at the scene, Constable Barnes, did you undertake any cursory examination of the property?’
‘I briefly scanned the property for any sign of life, in case the intruder was still present, but the place was empty.’
‘I see. Did you look in the victim’s bathroom during this cursory glance?’
‘I poked my head around the
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