"Lee Edgar - Andromeda Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

The Counsel for the Prosecution got to his feet, clearly without his
usual confidence. ‘My Lord, in view of the circumstances, I shall be
reasonably brief. The evidence against the Mrs Hardy consists solely of
her voluntary confession taken by one of my colleagues. It is somewhat
lengthy but, in it, she admits to the premeditated murder, and
conspiracy to murder, of the aforementioned deceased persons on
Thursday the third of July, nineteen-ninety-seven.’ He sat down.
The judge was dumfounded. ‘There are no witnesses?’
‘No, my Lord.’
‘No other evidence?’
‘None, my Lord.’
‘Not even circumstantial?’
The Prosecutor shook his head. ‘No, my Lord. And, in view of the
period of time which has passed, the gathering of forensic evidence is
no longer possible.’
‘Were the bodies not available for post-mortem?’
‘No, my Lord. The bodies have not been recovered.’
The judge leant forward. ‘You wouldn’t be trying to make a fool of
me, would you, Mr Adams?’
The prosecuting counsel swallowed and hurriedly shook his head. ‘No,
my Lord.’
There was silence for some time before the judge looked straight at
the defendant over the top of his prinz-nez. ‘Young lady, if I may be
so bold, how old are you?’
‘Twenty-two, sir.’
He stared at her for some time before turned to his clerk. ‘This is
not April Fool’s Day, is it?’
The clerk, clearly embarrassed, shook his head. ‘No, my Lord.’
The judge slowly leant back in his big chair which creaked a little -
he was a big judge. ‘Veyr well, gentlemen. I am intrigued and, for that
reason, will go along with this for the time being. But, first of all,
I will need a very convincing explanation as to how this young lady,
who is by her own admission, twenty-two years of age, could have
committed these alleged crimes which took place almost twenty-four
years ago - two years before she was born.’
 —— ——




1
Thirty-five year old Antoinette Duchanet looked up from her word
processor as the navy blue and grey fourtrack drew into the car park
with a squeal of tyres. On the driver’s door was the logo of the Europa
Space Corporation. As she watched out of the window at the younger
woman who jumped down, she reached out and pressed a button on her
desk. ‘Your wife has arrived, Marshal.’
‘I’m on my way,’ came the reply from the intercom.
The outer door swung open and the newcomer seemed to sail into the
room, dressed in a short white pleated skirt and tank-top which