The Ancient Craft

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

As Matthew predicted, the bail sergeant claimed that Jessica Vandermeer was a suicide risk so that he could justify refusing her bail overnight. The next morning, after a short submission by Matthew, the magistrate granted bail on condition that a surety promised to forfeit $10,000 if there was any breach of bail, together with a requirement that Jessica report weekly to the police.

After arranging for one of Jessica’s distant relatives to provide surety, Matthew had a brief conference with his client in the cells beneath the court complex. ‘Cool’ and ‘detached’ were the words Matthew used to describe her demeanour to Lena later at their office. Whilst that was preferable to someone ranting incoherently, her behaviour certainly gave him pause. If he had been arrested and charged in full view of his friends and colleagues, he could not conceive – even with his legal training – how he could appear as controlled as Jessica Vandermeer. There seemed to be an undercurrent of planning behind her behaviour, and that did not correspond with an innocent widow, wrongly arrested and unfairly charged.

The police fact sheet handed to him in court was relatively brief, but the main thrust of the prosecution case fell into four parts. Firstly, it alleged that Cornelius Vandermeer had died of a seizure, caused by an unnamed substance.

Secondly, and most importantly, a young actress named as Angelina Smythe-Baker was to give evidence that she had been having an affair with Cornelius Vandermeer, and that Jessica Vandermeer had agreed to a divorce.

Thirdly, the fact sheet alleged that Jessica Vandermeer frequently assisted her husband by preparing his special health drink concoction, and that traces of the unnamed substance had been discovered in the metal flask he used on the day of his death.

Lastly, following the execution of a search warrant at the Vandermeer family home, Brooks had found a small bottle, wrapped in some old oily rags in a corner of the couples’ garage. Obviously Brooks considered the bottle important, but Matthew could not see how it was relevant, unless perhaps it contained some toxic substance.

When Matthew arrived at his office an hour after the bail hearing, he waited until Lena finished speaking with an elderly couple about preparing new wills, and then poked his head around her door.

‘Got a minute?’ he asked.

‘Sure,’ she replied with her usual easy smile. ‘How did the bail application go?’

Matthew outlined the bail conditions, and then commented on their client’s behaviour.

‘Is that going to be a problem?’ Lena asked.

‘More a puzzle than a problem. Our client is either the deadliest of our species, or a victim of a frame-up.’

‘Which is it?’

Matthew gave a chuckle. ‘I’m not sure. But if it’s true that Dr Vandermeer was having an affair with that actress, it does provide the prosecution with a valid revenge motive against our client for murder.’

‘So we now know for certain it was poison?’

‘I’m not sure because they won’t tell us what the substance in his body was. Why do you think they’d hold back on that?’

Lena paused in thought for a few moments before replying. ‘Perhaps they’re still trying to gain some evidence about her purchasing something that contains that exact ingredient. That would be fatal for her defence.’

‘It certainly was for her husband.’

Lena tried to suppress a smile. ‘This is serious, Matt. She’ll get twenty years if she goes down.’

‘Serious is my middle name. You know that, Lena.’

Matthew opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder. He flipped through the pages and extracted the fact sheet, then handed it to Lena. She skimmed the document, and then re-read it slowly.

‘They also won’t tell us what this small bottle contains,’ Matthew said. ‘It could be cough syrup, rat-killer or the elixir of life.’

‘I think the ratkiller suggestion might be closest to the mark. Certainly they have to be searching for some type of poison.’ Lena tapped the fact sheet that lay in front of her. ‘I’ll bet they’re canvassing every outlet for this bottle to connect her to it, and they don’t want us to interfere with their investigation.’

‘You may be right. But we need to ask ourselves the critical question.’

‘Which is?’

‘Who would profit from his death? I overheard the police prosecutor at the bar table quietly asking Detective Brooks what was happening with the insurance policy. It wasn’t part of the prosecution case in the fact sheet but I’m guessing that if there is a policy, our client may be the beneficiary.’

‘That’s not what I want to hear, Matthew.’

‘Juries, as you know, love insurance policies. It usually kills any reasonable doubt lurking in the jury room. In any event, we’ll get our client in and see what she says. But before that, I’ll have to have a word with Oscar.’

‘To discuss the case?’

‘To see if he’s up to another celebrity murder trial. Health-wise, I mean.’

‘Is he up to it mentally?’ Lena asked.

‘I’ve no reason to doubt that, and our client seems adamant. This is a conundrum in itself. I still don’t think that her explanation for instructing us seemed genuine.’

‘Well, to be honest, it did seem a bit weird.’

Matthew placed his hands behind his head and arched his neck, accompanying his movement with a loud sigh. ‘Why is nothing black and white?’

Lena’s face crinkled into a grin. ‘Don’t complain. It makes life more interesting. Would you rather spend your time writing wills for old dears like the last couple?’

‘You have a point.’ Matthew fell silent for several moments before continuing. ‘She reminds me of Rebecca, actually.’

He had come to the conclusion that Rebecca MacGregor had engaged he and Oscar to appear for her politician husband, believing their incompetence would result in a conviction. She assessed Matthew as being inexperienced and Oscar as being a has-been drunk. That was a woman that truly hated her husband.

‘If Jessica’s as devious as Rebecca MacGregor, then we have interesting times ahead.’

‘That reminds me of the old Chinese saying, May you live in interesting times,’ Matthew replied. ‘Some say it’s a curse and others say it’s a blessing. We’ll just have to wait and see which applies to us.’