In the Barrister's Bed. Tina Gabrielle

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Chapter 1

      May 10, 1819

      London, Old Bailey Courthouse

      Honorable Barnard Bathwell, presiding

      “You’re a bastard by birth. How could you inherit anything?”

      “Me father wanted me to ’ave it,” Pumpkin O’Dool explained.

      “So you just broke into your stepmother’s home and took this?” Prosecutor Abrams strode forward, a gold pocket watch dangling from his fingers.

      “Well, I knocked first, I did,” Pumpkin claimed. “She peeked through the curtains and saw me and never opened the door.”

      “And yet you still took the watch. Your illegitimacy prevents you from inheriting property from your father,” Abrams argued.

      James Devlin jumped to his feet from behind the defense table. “Objection, my lord. Mr. O’Dool’s illegitimacy is not in question. What is in question, however, is the missing will. If the prosecution had exerted as much effort in locating the will as it did in prosecuting a grieving son, we wouldn’t be in court today.”

      Judge Bathwell, a squat fellow whose bewigged head barely cleared the top of his perch, drew his lips in thoughtfully and looked to Abrams. “Has the prosecution any idea where the will is?”

      Prosecutor Abrams shook his head. “No, my lord. The solicitor that drafted the will is deceased. The original was given to Mr. O’Dool’s stepmother. It has not been found.”

      “No doubt stuffed under her mattress,” James drawled.

      “Objection!” the prosecutor shouted.

      Six of the twelve members of the jury guffawed; two others eyed the prosecutor with a critical squint.

      And that’s when James Devlin knew he had them.

      Juries СКАЧАТЬ