Dead in the Water

managerial classes, is rudimentary—a length of cloth, a shawl, a bandanna, a pair of shorts will dress one well enough for most St. Marks occasions.”
    “This country has not been so good to you, Leslie,” Stone said. “I understand that you come from some wealth.”
    “That is true. When I was younger I was something of a firebrand in the legal system. I would have much preferred the American definition of reasonable doubt to our own; I would have preferred better-paid and unimpeachable officials and a more frequent change of prime minister. I was not popular.”
    “If your prime minister is eighty-nine, then there must be a change of power in the offing.”
    “That is true,” Hewitt said, “and Sir Winston is one of two or three who might succeed the present occupant of that office. If he wins a conviction in our case, that will probably give him a distinct advantage.”
    “Why?”
    “Because he will be seen to have prevailed over a wealthy white American with a white American lawyer.”
    “Would he really have Allison put to death in order to obtain a political advantage?”
    Hewitt smiled sadly. “My dear Stone, you are naive. Men have put whole peoples to death for such power. Don’t believe that because we are an insignificant country, political power here is deemed to be insignificant.Remember, if Sir Winston becomes our next prime minister, he will have, for all practical purposes, a lifetime job at the very pinnacle of our governmental and social heap, such as it is on this small island. If he went to England and worked as a barrister, he might make a living, in spite of his race, perhaps even a fine living. But here, on his home island, he can be the closest thing we have to a king.”
    “A big fish in a small pond?”
    “In England, he would be a minnow in the sea.”
    “So his ambition makes him dangerous.”
    “Indeed it does—most immediately to Allison, but eventually to us all on this island.”
    “Is any of the other candidates to succeed the prime minister a better man than Sir Winston?”
    “Both,” Hewitt said. “One of them could be very good indeed. He has Sir Winston’s intelligence without his venality or his vanity, especially that. It is his vanity as much as his ambition that makes him dangerous. If we can defeat him in court today, we will have struck a blow, perhaps a fatal one, to his political dreams. That is why I am taking part in this case. A new prime minister, whoever he is, will not reappoint Sir Winston as minister of justice. He will be back depending on his skill as a barrister and his wife’s money. That would give me great satisfaction.” Leslie Hewitt smiled sweetly.

Chapter
54
    C ourt reconvened after lunch, and Sir Leslie Hewitt rose and addressed the bench. “Your Lordship, normally at this time the defense would move for a dismissal of the charges on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Certainly, the evidence submitted by the prosecution has been almost laughable and quite easy for us to refute. But the defense will not request a dismissal of charges, because we want the jury to hear our client, Mrs. Allison Manning, tell her own story, so that they will know from her lips that she is an innocent woman.” He sat down.
    The judge nodded sagely. “Mr. Barrington, please call your first witness.”
    Stone stood. “Your Lordship, the defense will, of course, call Mrs. Manning to testify, but before we do, we wish to call one other witness, Mr. James Forrester.”
    “Call James Forrester,” the judge said.
    The bailiff called out the name, and Jim Forrester took the witness stand and was sworn, giving a New York City address and styling himself as a journalist.
    “Mr. Forrester,” Stone began, “were you the last person, apart from Allison Manning, to see Paul Manning alive?”
    “I think I may very well be, along with anyone else who was standing on the quay when their yacht left the Canary Islands.”
    “Good, now let’s begin at the beginning. How long did you know Paul Manning?”
    “I first met him during our university years, more than twenty years ago, when we played on opposing basketball teams.”
    “How well did you know him?”
    “While we were not close friends, we had a very cordial relationship, and I knew him fairly well.”
    “How would you describe Paul Manning?”
    “I always found him to be a pleasant and friendly person, very bright, and a good athlete.”
    “After your graduation from university, did some