Page 98 of Maybe Tomorrow

She turned to him. ‘What?’

‘Why did you say all that to Susan Livesy? She wasn’t a bad girl.’

Pauline wiped her eyes. ‘I didn’t like her. I didn’t like the whole family. She had a sister, Rita, a few years older than her. She certainly put it about, and I could see Susan going the same way. Ididn’t want Anthony to…’ She trailed off and returned to looking out of the window.

‘He needed to make his own mistakes though, Pauline. We were all eighteen once. We’ve all done things we regret. It’s part of life.’

‘She would have dropped him as soon as she’d had her fun. That’s what girls like Susan Livesy and her sister are like. And I’d have been left to pick up the pieces.’ She looked over to Leo. ‘You’d have handled it differently, wouldn’t you?’

‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Yes, Anthony would have been hurt had Susan dropped him, but you’d have been there to make everything all right. Then he’d have learned from that and moved on.’

Pauline’s bottom lip began to wobble, and more tears fell. ‘I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I?’

‘No. Of course not.’

‘The jury will find him guilty and it’s all my fault for not giving him any freedom. I thought I was doing the right thing, Leo.’

‘You have done the right thing.’

‘I bet he hates me now.’

‘He won’t. Come here.’ Leo stood up and went over to her with his arms open. He pulled her into a tight embrace and comforted her. Her sobs were muffled against his thick jumper.

Leo didn’t want to admit it, but Pauline’s testimony had played into the hands of the prosecution. There was very little left in the trial and the jury would go out to consider their verdict. Leo tried to put himself in their shoes. Would he find Anthony guilty? Very probably.

ChapterForty

Tuesday 29th May 1984

Day fourteen of the trial

The trial finished with prosecution and defence summing up their cases. Stefan Villiers used Pauline’s testimony to condemn Anthony, calling his childhood repressive, claustrophobic and stunted. Pauline struggled to sit through the character assassination without crying, remaining grateful for Leo’s strength by her side.

The jury went out on Thursday afternoon to consider their verdict. The deliberations went on all through Friday before they were sent to a hotel for the weekend. By eleven o’clock on Monday morning, Jennifer Ripley found Pauline and Leo in the canteen.

‘The jury have reached a verdict.’ Her face looked grim.

Sitting side by side in the public gallery, Pauline and Leo held hands. They couldn’t see Anthony from their position, but according to Jennifer, he’d been quiet all morning and was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight. That gave Pauline a glimmer of hope. She fed on Anthony’s confidence even though she didn’t feel it herself.

The foreman of the jury was told to stand, and the clerk of the court began to speak.

‘Has the jury reached a decision?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Is it the decision of you all?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you find the defendant, Anthony Winstanley, guilty or not guilty for the murder of Alice Patterson?’

Pauline gripped Leo’s hand. Judith and Geoff Patterson, who had elected to miss the trial but wanted to be present for the verdict, looked down; Judith with her eyes tightly shut, Geoff practically holding his breath. DI Bishop leaned forward in his seat, eager to hear the result.

In the back row of the public gallery, WPC Freya Sloan and Chris Tyler held hands. Freya uttered ‘not guilty’ over and over again under her breath. Chris was staring straight ahead, wincing at the pain Freya was causing by squeezing his hand so hard.

In the dock, Anthony sat with a blank expression. His hands were on his lap in front of him. He faced the jury. The enormity of the decision was lost on him. He had no idea they held his life in their hands. With one word, they could condemn him to a prison cell for life. All he could picture in his mind, was returning home to his terraced house in Whitby and sleeping in his own bed with his Spider-Man duvet cover and his comics.

‘Guilty.’