Hope to Die

‘I had to drop off something in Kidlington so I thought I may as well come straight here, DC –?’

‘Sargent.’

He flushes. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. God, how embarrassing –’

‘No, no,’ she says, ‘it happens all the time. Sargent – it’s my name. And you were right first time: I am a DC.’

He looks ridiculously relieved. ‘Phew, thank God for that. So what’s the drill – what do you need me to do?’

‘If you can follow me, we’ll go into an interview room and I’ll take a swab from the inside of your cheek. It’ll only take a minute.’

‘Just like on the telly, eh?’ He smiles.

‘Right,’ she says, returning the smile almost despite herself. ‘Just like on the telly.’

* * *

Ev breathes a sigh of relief as she pulls up outside Gantry Manor. She’s in time: no sign of the press yet. No sign of anyone at all, unless you count the fox crossing the lane in front of the car who stops and gives her a long stare before evidently deciding she’s of no particular interest and continuing on his way. Ev drags her jacket from the passenger seat and gets out of the car. The cloud is too low to see the top of Wytham Hill – no star-gazing tonight, that’s for sure. She locks the car and starts up the drive, feeling the first drops of rain in the cold air.

It’s Richard Swann who answers the door. He’s in a check flannel shirt and a cardigan with pockets that have bagged with age. He frowns.

‘What do you want?’

‘I’m sure you’ve seen the papers, Mr Swann. DI Fawley is concerned the press may turn up here.’

‘Why should they? They don’t know who we are –’

‘Not yet, no, but it won’t take long. They can easily find out who owns this house, and from there it’s just a couple of checks online and they’ll know your name is Richard and you were born on exactly the same day as Camilla’s father. And as the boss always says, there’s no such thing as coincidence.’

He’d been pale before but he’s paler now. ‘I see. I suppose you’d better come in.’

* * *

Adam Fawley

25 October

14.55

Elaine Challoner catches up with me at the coffee machine.

‘I hope you don’t think I dumped you in it.’

I press the button for hot water and turn to face her. ‘Don’t worry – I know what he’s like when he’s got a bee in his bonnet.’

We exchange a smile.

‘Let me know if I can help, won’t you? And obviously I’ll come with you to the studio.’

‘I’ve been doing this job twenty years – you really think I need someone to hold my hand?’

She flushes a little. ‘I didn’t mean it like that –’

And now I feel like a shit, because she’s a nice woman and I’m taking my irritation with Harrison out on her. ‘Sorry – it’s been a bit of a crappy day. I’ve done media training – I’ll be fine.’

She picks up a cup and presses for coffee.

‘I’m assuming you did watch that Netflix thing?’

I give her a weary glance. ‘Well, I was in the room when it was on – does that count?’

She smiles. ‘Fair enough. But you may want to watch it again before you see Penrose. Especially the last episode.’

‘You’re probably right.’

I fish my teabag out of the cup and drop it in the bin. ‘But there’s something else I need to do first.’

* * *

Channel:

Netflix

Programme:

Infamous, season 4

Number of episodes:

4

First shown:

09/03/2016

[THEME SONG – ’KARMA CHAMELEON’ [CULTURE CLUB]]

TITLE OVER:

INFAMOUS

FADE IN

THE CHAMELEONGIRL

MONTAGE: clips relating to the trial – newspaper headlines, people holding banners and shouting outside the court, Camilla trying to escape the cameras, interspersed with vox pops/news broadcasts/clips.

VOICEOVER – JOHN PENROSE

On 6th November 2003, after a six-week trial and more than four days in the witness box, Camilla Rowan received the verdict of her peers. And that verdict was unanimous: Guilty.

There was uproar in the court. Some people in the public gallery cheered, others screamed abuse and had to be removed by security personnel. Camilla’s mother collapsed and had to be given medical attention. And over it all, Camilla could be heard wailing, again and again, ‘I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it’.

Cut to: John’s study. Wall of photos and news clippings about the case, piles of files, computer with Post-its on the screen, etc.

JOHN PENROSE

The announcement of the verdict may have been dramatic, but few observers can have been surprised. Anyone who covered the case for the press certainly wasn’t. Those four days on the stand were damning. Some people had questioned her defence team’s decision to allow her to give evidence, but objectively speaking they had little choice. The jury was always going to want to hear Camilla’s story from Camilla herself.