Chapter 23

The judge called everything to order following the recess and advocate MacMillan called the prosecution's next witness. As Kenny passed the prosecution's table he had whispered to MacMillan so only he could hear.

"Mr MacMillan, have you heard of the Church of Cyberscience and what it can do for you?"

There had been no reaction from the advocate and Kenny tried again.

"Did you know that the bluebells are blue?"

The advocate looked at him strangely, clearly puzzled by what Kenny was whispering. Kenny brushed past and took the seat at his own table. The advocate hadn't responded to his original trigger phrase, or the new one he had sent out to everybody. The chances were therefore, that the man was indeed under the control of Luke MacNab.

MacMillan looked over at him, still trying to work out what his words had meant. He shook his head and looked up at the judge.

"M'lord, the prosecution calls Adam Sinclair."

Kenny recognised Sinclair as soon as he stepped into the courtroom. He had met Adam when he had lectured at an advanced computer class in Edinburgh and he had taken that opportunity to use the brain defrag programme on the boy. The boy was now a man - a skinny, red-haired and pimply-faced man, but a man nonetheless.

Sinclair was sworn in and he fidgeted in the box as the advocate walked towards him. The courtroom had settled down and everyone was now leaning forward to hear the next instalment in this case.

"Mr Sinclair, could you tell us who your employers are please?"

"I'm an accountant working for Standard Amicable. They're a life assurance company," Sinclair replied.

"Yes indeed, Mr Sinclair. Now, can you tell us all if you know the gentleman sitting here on the left?"

"Yes. I believe his name is Mr MacGovern."

"And how do you know Mr MacGovern?" the advocate enquired.

"I met him on a computer course I was sent on by my school."

"Yes, that's very helpful, Adam. But, can you tell us about your most recent involvement with Kenneth MacGovern please?"

"Oh, yes, sorry. He asked me to help him launder some money - I'd say about two million pounds over the past few years. I funnelled his cash money into the company and issued him with electronic payments from Scottish Amicable that no bank would question."

"Have you heard about the Church of Cyberscience, Adam?" the advocate asked.

Kenny's attention snapped towards Adam Sinclair when he heard the advocate's words - he had inadvertently spoken one of the trigger phrases. There was no reaction from the accountant however. That obviously meant that someone had changed the man's original trigger. There were a number of possibilities - either he had read the e-mail that Kenny had sent him or Luke could have changed the trigger phrase.

"Yes, I have heard of that church," Sinclair answered the advocate.

"How did you hear about this church?" asked MacMillan.

"Mr MacGovern sent me an e-mail asking me to launder the money for him and to deposit the money into an account that belonged to the Church of Cyberscience," Sinclair answered.

"And how long has this been going on, how long have you been laundering money for Mr MacGovern?"

"I've been receiving the money and making the transfers for six years now," said Sinclair.

"Thank you, Adam. No further questions," said advocate MacMillan.

Kenny was out of his seat this time before the judge could say anything. Judge Bradford simply nodded to indicate that he should proceed with his cross-examination. Kenny walked toward the accountant.

"Mr Sinclair, Adam, although I'm not wearing a wig, I'm still allowed to ask questions."

There was less of a reaction in the room this time - most of them had heard his line the first time he had used it. From Kenny's point of view, that didn't trouble him, what did was the fact that Adam Sinclair didn't react to his trigger phrase either. Still, he wasn't a genius for nothing; he had to defend himself here with or without the help of mind control.

"You said that you first met me on a school computer course. When was that exactly?" asked Kenny.

"Ah, I don't know, maybe nine years ago?" said Sinclair.

"Time does funny things to our memories, Adam. I think you'll find it was closer to twelve years ago. When was the last time you met me?" asked Kenny.

"Ah, I guess twelve years ago then, because that's the only time we've met," Sinclair replied.

"Oh. Didn't you say that you've been laundering money for me over the past six years, Adam?"

"Yes, I have, but I haven't actually met you while I've been doing that."

"I'm sorry? What do you mean? How do you know you've been laundering money for me if you haven't actually met me?" asked Kenny, letting his incredulity show in his voice.

"I just knew it was you. Who else could it be?"

"Who else indeed? Do you have anything concrete that you can point to that proves you were doing anything for me? That proves that I was in any way involved in the illegal activity that you were carrying out?"

Sinclair hesitated and a confused look appeared on his face. It was clear that he couldn't think of a single thing that could link Kenny to what had been done.

"Mr Sinclair, have you been charged with the offence of money laundering? You have testified in this court that you have been laundering money for six years now, what charges have the police brought against you?" asked Kenny, his instincts sending him on this fishing expedition.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr Sinclair, you have been laundering money for over six years. Surely the police have arrested you for the many crimes that you have committed over that time?"

"No, why would they?" asked Sinclair naively.

"Mmmm. Let's think about that. Maybe because it's highly illegal, Mr Sinclair? Has the Crown Prosecution Service given you immunity from prosecution?"

"I OBJECT!" shouted advocate MacMillan, jumping to his feet.

Kenny turned to look at the advocate, the scent of something in his nostrils.

"That has nothing to do with this case and Mr MacGovern's question should be ruled out of order!" said MacMillan.

Before Judge Bradford could respond, Kenny managed to get in his own tuppence worth.

"I'm sorry, but if this man, a man who has already admitted he's a criminal, has been granted immunity from prosecution on the basis that he testifies against me, then I think that's got a bloody great deal to do with this case!"

"ORDER! ORDER!" screamed Judge Bradford once more over the sudden hubbub in the courtroom after this exchange.

"Mr MacGovern, I would caution you in the strongest possible terms about your behaviour and language in my courtroom! I'm ruling your question out of order, clerk strike it from the record," said the judge.

Kenny was stunned. How could his question be out of order? Surely if Sinclair had an incentive to testify against him that was germane to this case? The jury had a right to know! He tried to calm himself so he could focus on how to deal with the situation.

"Mr Sinclair, how can we sum this up? You've admitted to committing serious crimes over a six-year period, so you're a criminal. You have no evidence you can point to of my involvement in any criminal activity. So you expect this court, this jury, to simply rely on the word of a self-confessed criminal with no other corroboration? To be honest I'm at a loss as to why you're a witness for the prosecution. This is pathetic! First a girl who admits to her allegations being no more than fantasy and now a crook making wild accusations! The prosecution is surely wasting court time! No further questions."

A second accountant was next up and Kenny listened to a similar testimony before he used his trigger phrase at the start of cross-examination and saw it work. Thereafter it only took minutes to have the man admit that he - Kenny MacGovern - was not involved in the money laundering. Kenny couldn't resist going a little further.

"Were you also promised immunity in return for lying today?" he asked.

Before the judge could explode, the second accountant answered.

"Yes."

Bedlam broke out in the courtroom again and Kenny could see by the steam coming from the judge's ears that he had badly misjudged and overstepped the mark.

"Mr MacGovern, approach the bench please!"

Things quietened down as Kenny walked up to the bench, as everyone strained to hear what the Judge had to say to him.

"You, sir are walking on very thin ice! I'm making allowances for the fact that you have no legal training, but my patience is wearing thin son, very thin. I already warned you on the other accountant that you had gone too far - don't make this mistake again or I'm going to really lose my temper. Do you understand?"

Kenny nodded and tried to look contrite. Inside he was juiced up. The prosecution so far had been pathetic and he figured he was ahead on points by a considerable margin. The crown couldn't have very much more - it was inconceivable that either of the Hamilton brothers would appear to testify, so how could they press home the commissioning murder charges other than through his own e-mail to Mark MacGhee. Kenny thought he could handle that.

Advocate MacMillan did indeed introduce Kenny's e-mail next.

"The prosecution calls Mark MacGhee," said MacMillan.

Kenny wasn't surprised by this. He had been expecting it as a way of bringing his e-mail into play.

Mark was taken through the formalities and then advocate MacMillan moved in take him through his evidence.

"M'lord, I wish to introduce into evidence this e-mail which came from Mr MacGovern to Mr MacGhee."

The judge nodded and the exhibit was placed on the table in front of the bench.

"Mr MacGhee, this e-mail is definitely from the accused?"

Mark glanced at Kenny almost guiltily before answering.

"Yes, it is. Mr MacGovern has confirmed to me that he sent it."

MacMillan picked the plastic bag up again and handed it to Mark. Read it for me please."

Mark peered at the e-mail through the plastic and began to read:

Dear Mr MacGhee,

"What do you think Mr MacGovern meant when he wrote 'I hope this message finds you well... ' and 'You're no doubt aware that someone has been trying to kill you... ' or 'I can assure you now that that has been stopped and you should be safe... '?" asked the advocate.

"Objection!" exclaimed Kenny. "I see no reason why Mr MacGhee should be asked to guess what I meant in my e-mail, should be asked to presume my intent, when I'm here and can remove all doubt as to what those words meant!"

"Overruled," said Judge Bradford. "We can't have you simply making up a new intention for your words after the fact, Mr MacGovern. I'm minded to allow the witness to answer."

"Mr MacGhee?" the advocate prompted.

"Erm, I took the words as meaning Mr MacGovern had somehow managed to call off the men who had been attempting to kill me," Mark answered.

"And to do that he would have to have been the one in control of these men would he not?"