‘Members of the jury,’ I said, ‘you will see that the photograph is of a new-born foal. The woman in the picture is Millie Barlow, the veterinary surgeon who had been present at the birth, and the man standing behind her, who you can clearly see in spite of the slightly blurred image, is Jacques van Rensburg, a South African citizen. Isn’t that right, Mr Radcliffe?’

‘If you say so,’ he said.

‘I do. And the foal is Peninsula, the horse that went on to be such a champion,’ I said. ‘Isn’t that right?’

‘It might be,’ he said. ‘Or it could be another foal. I can’t tell. Many foals look alike.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘But I assure you that the foal in this picture is Peninsula. He was the very first foal that Millie Barlow had delivered on her own. She was so proud of that horse and her part in its life that she kept a copy of that picture in a silver frame. It was her most prized possession. Isn’t that right, Mr Radcliffe?’

‘I have no idea,’ he said.

‘After his sister’s death, Scot Barlow asked for the picture in the silver frame to keep in his home as a lasting reminder of her. But the photo was removed from its frame and taken away from Scot Barlow’s house on the night he was killed. Why do you think that was?’

‘I have no idea,’ he said again.

‘I put it to you, Mr Radcliffe, that the picture was removed because it was being used by Scot Barlow to blackmail you in the same way that his sister had done previously. Isn’t that right?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s nonsense. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would anyone blackmail me?’

‘Does Jacques van Rensburg still work for you?’ I asked him.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe he does.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘He couldn’t, could he? Because he’s dead. Isn’t that right, Mr Radcliffe?’

‘I have no idea,’ he said yet again.

‘Oh yes, I think you do,’ I said. ‘Jacques van Rensburg went on holiday to Thailand, didn’t he?’

‘If you say so,’ Radcliffe replied.

‘Not if I say so, Mr Radcliffe,’ I said, taking yet another sheet of paper from my stack and holding it up. ‘The South African Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria says so. He went to Thailand on holiday and he never came back, isn’t that right?’

Roger Radcliffe stood silently in the witness box.

‘Do you know why he didn’t come back, Mr Radcliffe?’ I asked.

Again he was silent.

‘He didn’t come back because, as the South African government records show, he was drowned on Phuket beach by the Great Asian Tsunami. Isn’t that right?’

Radcliffe still said nothing.

‘And, Mr Radcliffe, do you know when the Great Asian Tsunami disaster occurred?’

Radcliffe shook his head and looked down.

‘It is sometimes known as the Boxing Day Tsunami, is it not, Mr Radcliffe?’ I said. ‘Because it took place on December the twenty-sixth. Isn’t that right?’

He made no move to answer.

I continued. ‘Which means that, as Jacques van Rensburg was drowned in Thailand by the Great Asian Tsunami on the twenty-sixth of December 2004, this picture had to have been taken before Christmas that year. Which also means, does it not, Mr Radcliffe, that, even though the record of the birth submitted by you to Weatherbys shows otherwise, Peninsula had to have been foaled prior to the first of January 2005 and was therefore, in fact, officially a four-year-old horse when he won the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby last year and not a three-year-old as demanded by the Rules of Racing?’

For what seemed like an age, the silence in the court was broken only by the sound of fast-moving pencils on notebooks in the press box, and by a slight sob from Deborah Radcliffe in the public seats.

The judge looked intently at Roger Radcliffe, who was standing silently in the witness box with his head down, his previous ramrod appearance now nothing but a distant memory.

‘Well?’ said the judge to him. ‘The witness will please answer the question. Was Peninsula a four-year-old horse when he ran in the Derby?’

Radcliffe lifted his head a fraction. ‘I refuse to answer on the grounds that I might incriminate myself.’

It was as close to a confession as we were likely to get.

But I hadn’t finished with him yet.

‘Mr Radcliffe,’ I said. ‘Did you murder Millie Barlow?’

His head came up sharply and he looked at me. ‘No,’ he said, but without much conviction.

I pressed on. ‘Did you murder Millie Barlow because she made further blackmail demands on you after Peninsula had won the Derby?’

‘No,’ he said again.

‘And did you then murder Scot Barlow when he took over the blackmail demands from his dead sister?’

‘No,’ he said once more.

‘Or was it your godson, Julian Trent, who actually carried out that second murder, on your instructions, after you had used intimidation of these innocent people in order to secure his release from prison for that very purpose?’ I waved my right hand towards Josef Hughes and George Barnett behind me.

Radcliffe’s demeanour finally broke completely.

‘You bastard,’ he shouted at me. ‘You fucking bastard. I’ll kill you too.’

He tried to leave the witness box, but he had made just two steps towards me before he was surrounded by court security guards, and the police.

The judge banged his gavel and silence was briefly restored.

‘The defence rests, My Lord,’ I said, and sat down.

Perry Mason himself would have been proud of me.

CHAPTER 21

The judge adjourned the case for lunch while Roger Radcliffe was arrested by Inspector McNeile. Radcliffe was cautioned and made aware that he had the right to remain silent, but that advice was obviously a bit late. The man I had come to know as ‘the whisperer’ was finally led away, still spouting obscenities in my direction.

The smarmy prosecution QC came across and firmly shook my hand. ‘Well done,’ he said with obvious warmth. ‘We don’t often get to see the likes of that in an English court.’

‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I intend to make another “no case” application and request an acquittal.’

‘Up to the judge, old boy,’ he said, ‘I’ll seek instruction from the CPS, but I don’t think there will be any objection from our side. This jury would never convict Mitchell after hearing that lot.’ He laughed. ‘Best fun I’ve had in years. I don’t even mind losing this one.’

Eleanor, behind me, rubbed my shoulders.

‘You were brilliant,’ she said. ‘Absolutely brilliant.’

I turned and smiled at her. Josef Hughes and George Barnett sat behind her, beaming away as if smiles could go out of fashion.

‘You two can have your self-respect back,’ I said. ‘Without you here I think he might have bluffed his way out.’

If it was possible, they smiled even wider, and then shook me and each other by the hand. I thought it unlikely that the Law Society would give Josef back his right to practise, but he was still a young man and he was bright. I was confident that, without the fear that had consumed them over the past fifteen months, he and Bridget and baby Rory would now be fine.

‘How about a coffee?’ I said to them.

As we made our way out of court I bumped into Scot Barlow’s parents. Mr Barlow senior was a big man and he stood full-square in front of me, blocking my path to the door. He was also considerably taller than I, and now he stood quite still and silent, looking down at me. I wondered if he was pleased or not. He had just discovered the truth about who had killed his children and why, but he had also discovered that they had both been blackmailers. Perhaps he might have preferred it if Steve Mitchell had been convicted of the murder of his son. That would have brought finality. Now he would have to endure another trial, and some unpleasant revelations.

He went on staring at me while I stood waiting in front of him, staring back. Eventually he nodded just once, and then turned aside to let me pass.