Chapter 11

Monday morning in court hadn't turned out to be quite as Stella had expected. Four of the jurors in the Dixon trial had phoned in sick, which had immediately alerted her suspicions, especially since there'd been no talk of stomach bugs or viruses doing the rounds. Judge Hoskinson, who was infamously grouchy at the best of times, appeared most displeased by this turn of events; he'd been keen to crack on with proceedings, get the Dixon trial finished and make a start on the next one in his list.

If pushed, a trial could run with a quorum of ten of the twelve members that made up a jury, but eight was unthinkable. It didn't help His Honour's ill humour when it was revealed that there were no courts available to accommodate the swearing-in of a completely new jury, allowing the trial to start afresh. Judge Hoskinson was left with no option but to discharge the remaining jurors and adjourn the trial to a date in the future, grumbling about the "abhorrent" waste of public money as he stormed off the bench.

Stella had felt torn. Part of her was keen to see the back of the case, albeit temporarily, but another part was relieved she didn't have to spend the day dealing with Vaughan Elliott and the dreaded Dixon clan.

Gavin Dixon had given a victorious cheer when Judge Hoskinson had announced his decision, earning him a withering look from His Honour, but Gavin Dixon had been undeterred and left the public gallery punching the air, flaunting his lack of respect for the judicial system.

Stella's suspicions were confirmed once she returned to the robing room where gossip was rife that Gavin Dixon and his family had spent the weekend nobbling members of the jury involved in the case, threatening them with unspeakable things if they dared to find his son guilty.

‘Thought as much, there's no other explanation for it,' Stella said, sliding her wig off and dropping it onto the table. ‘That whole family needs locking up and the key throwing away; they're a menace to society.' She'd need to draw her suspicions to the attention of the CPS and the police officers involved in the case – whom she knew to be gutted that the trial couldn't go ahead today, particularly DC Stephens.

‘I'd be very careful what you say about my client and his family, if I were you, Hutton.' Vaughan Elliott entered the room with a supercilious swagger, instantly setting Stella's hackles up.

‘Oh come off it, Elliott! We all know it's true, and so do you for that matter. That family is notorious and have no respect for the law or the people whose lives they ruin.' She shot him a look of utter disdain.

But Vaughan Elliott was undeterred. ‘Have you ever considered that they could merely be the victims of malicious gossip?' He unfastened his bands and proceeded to disrobe, arrogance oozing from every pore. He had a reputation for bandying about baseless, controversial remarks, seeming to thrive on the reaction they generated.

Stella snorted in disbelief. ‘Victims? Maliciousgossip? Are you serious?'

‘Of course he's not, he's just talking a load of rubbish!' Ferdy said, his face growing red with anger. He threw down his pen. ‘And he shouldn't be hob-knobbing with them either, it's unethical and he knows it.' It was no secret at the bar that Elliott was a regular visitor to his clients' homes, including that of the Dixon family. There were even rumours that he sneaked items into prison on their behalf. It didn't seem to bother him that he floated perilously close to being disbarred.

‘I don't know what you're talking about, but what I do know is that now the trial's gone off I'm free for the rest of the day and intend to enjoy a delicious lunch at the Wig and Pen. Anyone care to join me?' He turned to Stella. ‘Oh, and I'm afraid that doesn't include you, Hutton. You seem to have made a bit of an enemy of my client's father and it wouldn't be good to be seen socialising with you. I'd think very carefully about getting on the wrong side of someone like Gavin Dixon, you know.'

‘And what exactly are you trying to tell me?' Stella pinned Elliott with her infamous death stare.

‘Did I hear right?' asked Tim Bentley-Harris – or BH as he was known to his fellow members of the bar on the North Eastern circuit. He was a formidable silk from chambers in Leeds. He was wearing a grave expression. ‘You're spouting-off some highly inappropriate claims there, Elliott, one of which, quite frankly, sounds like a threat. Talk like that just isn't on between members of the bar. I strongly suggest you desist or I'm afraid you'll find yourself being hauled in front of the Bar Council.'

Elliott, who'd now joined them at the table, leant back in his seat, his top lip curled in a lopsided snigger. ‘We're not in the playground now, you know, BH; we don't go telling tales to the teacher. And besides, no one's foolish enough to report me.'

‘Oh, is that right?' BH glared at him, hostility emanating from him.

‘Don't worry, BH, he's not worth rising to,' Stella said, anger thrumming through her. Elliott had a reputation for taking pleasure in winding up other members of the bar, and he was doing a good job of it right now. He didn't appear to mind that it had resulted in him being universally disliked. On the contrary, he appeared to get a kick out of it.

‘There's no need to get your pretty little knickers in a knot, Hutton. I was merely making an observation, that's all.'

Stella clenched her fists. Arghh! Irritating man! Fighting to keep a lid on her anger, which was now at boiling point, took every ounce of her courtroom skills. Her jaw tightened. There was no way she was going to be goaded into losing her temper which was exactly what Elliott was aiming for, she knew. Instead, she shook her head in distaste, rolling her eyes as she headed to her locker. Retrieving her red bag she set it down on the table, her breathing heavy as she stuffed her robes inside. Though she was aware of Ferdy's eyes on her from his usual seat opposite, she didn't look up; she needed to save every ounce of her strength to keep her anger reined in.

‘You might want to reconsider how you converse with women, Elliott.' Speaking calmly but firmly, Stella turned her gaze from her brief bag and pinned the defence barrister with a steely glare.

‘And you might want to reconsider your stuck-up attitude, Hutton.' Elliott glowered at her. ‘No one likes a pinch-faced shrew.'

Ferdy pushed himself up, his eyes narrowed. ‘Now just hang on a minute, you low?—'

‘Ferdy!' Stella cut him off. ‘He's not worth it.' She pulled herself up to her full height, pushed her shoulders back and adopted her familiar confident stance. ‘He's still bitter that I turned him down. Several times, actually.' She arched a challenging eyebrow at Elliott. ‘He even resorted to pinning me into a corner at the court Christmas party last year, trying to force me into letting him "show me a good time in the bogs".' She used finger quotes around his words. A murmur of disapproval ran around the robing room.

‘How very unappealing,' said Fay Norton.

Stella watched, a sense of satisfaction slowly replacing her anger as Elliott's smile faltered. He licked his lips nervously. ‘I was only having a laugh.'

The robing room fell silent, the other members of the bar looking on with interest as events unfurled.

‘Oh really? It didn't feel like you were joking at the time, and I certainly didn't find it funny. Quite the opposite in fact. As I recall, you were pretty persistent, and wouldn't listen when I told you, quite forcefully, and repeatedly, that I wasn't interested.' Stella sensed she'd hit a nerve and it sent a feeling of victory surging through her. It was time he was called out for his inappropriate and unwelcome behaviour.

He pushed himself up, his chair scraping noisily across the wooden floor. ‘You're a hard-faced cow, Hutton, I've no idea what you're talking about.' All trace of his arrogant expression of earlier had vanished as he stole an uneasy glance around the robing room.

‘Oh, I think you do. It wasn't the first time you'd made a pest of yourself with me either, and I know for a fact I'm not alone, you've got quite the reputation.'

‘Rubbish!' He glared at her, his eyes full of fury, a nerve twitching at his temple. ‘From what I remember, it was you who came onto me. Desperate for it, you were. Offering yourself up on a plate like you do with every man who crosses your path.' He puffed himself up, seemingly pleased that he'd opted to give this tactic a try. ‘And I'll bet I'm not the only bloke who thinks that.' He cast his gaze around the men in the robing room as if looking for support, his face falling when none was forthcoming.

Ferdy shook his head in disgust.

Stella gave a shallow laugh of disbelief. ‘Why would anyone in their right mind be attracted to someone as unscrupulous as you with your dubious morals?'

‘That,' said Fay Norton, ‘is a very pertinent question.'

‘Certainly not me,' said Alice Wiggins, a barrister with a broad Leeds accent who'd swept into the robing room and caught the tail-end of the altercation. ‘Nor any other woman in my acquaintance, they all run in the opposite direction when they hear you're around.' She slid her laptop onto the table beside Stella and shot him a distasteful look. ‘When are you going to stop making a nuisance of yourself, Elliott? You might want to consider behaving yourself before someone takes you to task about it.'

‘My thoughts exactly,' said Stella.

Elliott glowered at Stella. ‘I don't know what your problem is, Hutton, but you've always had some kind of vendetta against me, always had a high opinion of yourself,' he spat the words out. ‘You'll be sorry you ever started this.' With that, he grabbed his cabin case and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

‘Wow,' said BH. ‘His sort really shouldn't be at the bar.'

‘I very much doubt he will be for much longer,' said Fay Norton. ‘And well done for tearing a strip off him on behalf of the sisterhood, Stella.'

‘Bravo, Hutton, our fearless, kickass lass!' said Ferdy in his cut-glass accent.

‘Yes, Hutton, that was something to see. Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you,' said Peter Theobald, a highly respected King's Counsel who'd walked in halfway through the exchange. ‘Having said that, he's had that coming to him for a long time.'

‘He has. It's about time somebody put him in his place,' said Alice Wiggins. ‘He's starting to act like he's untouchable; above the law.'

‘Yes, well done, Hutton.' BH gave her a smile. ‘No man should make a woman feel uncomfortable like that.'

‘Ughh.' Stella's shoulders sagged with relief. She pulled out a chair and sat down, rubbing her temples where she could feel a headache beginning to brew. ‘I'm just glad the trial's gone off and I don't have to deal with him any more today.' She knew her colleagues were right, and much as she was glad to have got the better of him, his warnings about his client's family had sent a ripple of unease running through her. Had it really been such a good idea to spar with him? she wondered.

Stella headed to chambers once she'd gathered her stuff together in the robing room, including her brief bag since she was in court in Newcastle the following week and didn't want to have to detour to York to collect them. After the nightmare of the Dixon trial and her unpleasant interaction with Vaughan Elliott, she'd made up her mind that she was going to take the rest of the week off.

After updating Allegra her clerk on the situation with the Dixon case and Allegra had passed on a handful of messages, Stella said, ‘Since I've had to return the trial I had for this week thanks to the Dixon trial running over, I'd like my diary kept clear for the rest of the week, so please don't accept any further instructions in my name. I'm going to take the opportunity to unpack the rest of the boxes at my new place.'

‘Are you sure?' Allegra looked surprised. ‘I was just about to say the CPS have been on, asking if you'd take a section eighteen trial for them. Counsel for the prosecution has to go to the Court of Appeal tomorrow, so he's had to return it.'

Normally Stella would snap Allegra's hand off but nothing could tempt her today. ‘No,' she said resolutely. ‘Somebody else in chambers will have to do it.'

‘Are you coming down with something, Miss Hutton,' asked Jacob, looking as if he'd heard wrong. He was one of the junior clerks who'd been listening from his desk.

Stella laughed. ‘Don't think so. But I have had an overkill of Vaughan Elliott and the Dixon family.'

‘Ughh! That explains everything.' He rolled his eyes.

‘Actually, things got quite heated in the robing room,' she said. ‘I'm expecting repercussions as far as Elliott's concerned – nothing I can't deal with,' she added, seeing their concerned expressions. ‘Right, who fancies a cuppa before I head off?' Stella asked, eager to move on from the unsavoury topic of Vaughan Elliott. She was met with a resounding chorus of yeses.

Before long, Stella was driving back to Micklewick Bay, the top down on her car, savouring the refreshing breeze that was doing a good job of clearing her head. It had been an intense day and she was looking forward to having a break from it. The driven and determined Stella Hutton was taking a back seat and her counterpart, the more relaxed version, was taking her place. Stella couldn't remember the last time that had happened, if at all.