Free The Accused (Modern Plays) by Jeffrey Archer Page B

Chelsea?
    Sherwood I don’t remember exactly.
    Kersley Come, come, Mr Sherwood, I think every one of us knows exactly what we paid for the home we live in,especially if we bought it less than a year ago. I repeat, how much did it cost to purchase a penthouse in Chelsea?
    Sherwood Around eight hundred thousand pounds.
    Kersley Wouldn’t eight hundred and thirty-seven thousand be more accurate?
    Sherwood Possibly.
    Kersley So you must have won the lottery? Or did you inherit it?
    Sherwood Neither. My wife left few assets in her will. By the time I had finished paying death duties I received less than twenty thousand pounds.
    Kersley Well, that would just about cover the stamp duty on twenty-two Cadogan villas, so I must therefore ask you what the current salary is for a surgeon at St George’s?
    Sherwood Just over ninety thousand pounds a year.
    Kersley How many people earning ninety thousand pounds a year can afford to purchase a penthouse in Chelsea for eight hundred and thirty-seven thousand pounds? I feel sure you’re about to tell us that there’s another simple explanation.
    Sherwood Yes, there is. Some years ago I took out a joint life insurance policy on my wife and myself.
    Kersley Some years ago. Wouldn’t March 1997 be more precise?
    Sherwood That is some years ago, Mr Kersley.
    Kersley But it’s only some weeks before your wife suffered her first heart attack - ‘the first hint came in 1997, my wife complained of loss of breath, pains in her left arm and chest …’ - And what was the value of the policy?
    Sherwood A million pounds.
    Kersley One million pounds. And would I be right in thinking that the life insurance company are refusing to settle the amount until the result of this trial is known?
    Barrington My Lord, that can only be speculation.
    Judge I agree, Sir James. Mr Kersley, unless you can provide evidence, move on.
    Kersley Mr Sherwood, has the life insurance company settled the full amount?
    Judge Mr Kersley.
    Kersley I apologise, My Lord. However, I do hope my learned friend will consider one million pounds a large enough sum to constitute the motive he was searching for.
    Sherwood No amount of money would constitute a motive for harming my wife.
    Kersley Is that right? Then why did you tell Ms Mitchel that you were sick of the way she continually belittled you in front of the hospital staff and how you longed to be rid of her?
    Sherwood My Lord, do I have to answer such a ridiculous suggestion?
    Judge Yes, I’m afraid you do, Mr Sherwood.
    Sherwood Of course I didn’t want to be rid of my wife. She was the only woman I’ve ever cared for.
    Kersley Then why did you seek solace in the arms of another?
    Sherwood I did no such thing.
    Kersley So when Ms Mitchell informed the court that your wife had refused to make love to you for several years, was that also untrue?
    Sherwood How could she possibly know?
    Kersley Oh, I see, you regularly made love to your wife, did you, Mr Sherwood? ( Sherwood
hesitates
.) Your silence speaks volumes and, more importantly, supplies us with yet another motive.
    Sherwood It does no such thing. When will you work out that when it comes to my private life, Ms Mitchell simply made it up?
    Kersley Well, then, let’s consider something Ms Mitchell couldn’t have made up - your wife’s desire to be cremated. Mr Sherwood, your wife’s will - was it written in her own hand?
    Sherwood No, it was typed.
    Kersley Typed by whom, may I ask?
    Sherwood (
hesitates
) I think I may have typed it, but it was signed and duly witnessed.
    Kersley So who witnessed the document?
    Sherwood Mr Webster, the porter at Arcadia Mansions.
    Kersley A man who - by his own admission - could neither read nor write.
    Sherwood It wasn’t necessary for him to read or write, he was only witnessing my wife’s signature.
    Kersley So just a few days before your wife dies she suddenly adds a codicil to her will stating that she wishes to be cremated. No doubt my learned friend will once again