"The defence calls Amelia Murphy."
Silence fell in the courtroom as Amelia stood and took to the witness stand. "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," she recited, hand over her heart.
"Amelia Murphy, you have heard the evidence against you," said McAfferty. "When asked how you plead in this case, you answered 'not guilty'. I will now ask again. Amelia Murphy, for the attempted murder of Rebecca Hidgens, do you plead guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty," said Amelia, her voice shaking.
"For conspiracy to commit theft from Harry Corbett, do you plead guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty."
"Amelia Murphy, you have been charged as the leader of an organised crime ring, the person referred to as 'The Godfather'. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty," Amelia said, unsure of where to look. She wanted to glare at Lisa Kleinman or Rebecca Hidgens, to scream at them, or better still, rip them apart with her bare hands, to hell with the forensic evidence. But they were outside, with no idea what was happening but probably congratulating each other on a job well done.
McAfferty nodded to Drew Carson. "Miss Murphy, can you confirm your whereabouts on the 29th October 2034 between the hours of 5 and 7 pm?"
Amelia nodded. "I was in my apartment at 5 o'clock, and left approximately 15 minutes after that. You see, it was the anniversary of myself and Anthony's first date, so we had arranged to spend the night together. As I'm not very organised I had forgotten to buy wine, so I stopped at the local Tesco. I then drove to Anthony's house but found he wouldn't answer the door. Concerned for his safety, I let myself in. That's when I found Rebecca Hidgens holding him at gunpoint. She turned the gun on me as soon as I entered - presumably it was me she had been waiting for. Anthony ambushed her, between us we managed to overpower her and restrained her, before calling the police. To my horror the officers that arrived were her closest friends."
The jurors exchanged glances. Amelia looked down at her hands. "I don't know my way around a gun. I held it up to defend myself, then fired by accident. If I could change what happened to Constable Green then I promise I would. But I didn't intend to hurt anyone, only to protect myself and the man I love."
Carson nodded and indicated the slide show. "Eyewitness statements place Miss Murphy at Tesco like she says, buying a bottle of wine. And can you describe the relationship between yourself, Rebecca Hidgens and Paul Houston?"
"Rebecca Hidgens and I were once close friends, until one day she snapped, taking Paul Houston with her."
Carson nodded to Richard. "Your witness."
Richard stood and started pacing in front of Amelia. "You say you overpowered and restrained Rebecca Hidgens?"
Amelia nodded. "That's correct."
"And also coated the hallway in tarpaulin?"
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "There was no tarpaulin there."
Richard sighed. "Forensic analysis of the tarpaulin found at the crime scene. Fibres from the hallway in question detected, as well as fibres from a storage cupboard in Anthony's house and fibres from the clothing worn by Rebecca Hidgens."
Amelia shrugged. "It could easily have been planted there."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "All right, let's move onto the gun. No fingerprints were found belonging to you or Rebecca Hidgens, however gunshot residue was found on your clothing."
"Like I said, I fired it by accident, not knowing my way round a gun."
"You only bought a bottle of wine," snapped Richard. "That wouldn't take long. Easily enough time for you to drive to Anthony's house, coat the hallway in tarpaulin and kill Rebecca Hidgens. You took every precaution - got yourself an alibi, arranged for the body to be burned and made into a diamond. You made sure Anthony didn't use his own car to bring Rebecca to you and made sure the gun was silenced. But you didn't count on Hidgens surviving. You didn't count on her working for MI5. You didn't count on impressionable young Courtney Beckett actually being Agent Hannah Perkins. You didn't count on Lisa Kleinman actually doing something other than what you want. Hidgens was supposed to die, Beckett would be silenced and with Lisa Kleinman keeping you out of prison nobody would be able to stop you!"
Amelia stroked her chin thoughtfully. "You have no forensic evidence that goes against what I've said. You can't prove that I'm the Godfather. If I was, don't you think that upon recognising Courtney Beckett as Hannah Perkins I would have killed her? And I knew that Rebecca always had dreams of working in MI5. With me not speaking to her for years, I wouldn't take the risk of trying to kill an MI5 agent. And yes, Lisa Kleinman is my attorney, because she is my best friend and I trusted her to represent me. But I have to wonder if there's a bigger conspiracy going on here."
"I'm asking the questions, Miss Murphy," Richard interrupted.
Carson stood. "Your honour, the defendant has a right to be heard."
McAfferty nodded. "Sustained. Let her speak, Mr Lestrade."
Richard sighed and Amelia smirked. "I'm clearly being set up by a number of corrupt police officers and government officials. John Goodman's strict MI5 security rules are very similar to those used by the Godfather. If there is no hard evidence that points towards me being the Godfather rather than my version of events, then Paul Houston could easily twist the evidence available to frame me. And the untraceable phones used by MI5? Sounds like burner phones to me. Paul Houston and his team had access to my apartment after I left and before the forensic team arrived, giving him plenty of time to plant the tarpaulin. And to top it all off Rebecca Hidgens lives on as a hero, while her rival goes to prison for life. My rival. Her best friend. Her boss. And after a conversation in which they threaten her with arrest, my best friend is suddenly backing up everything they say."
Richard had been still for a while. "The apartment was crawling with police officers and paramedics. Now, it may well be that every single one of them were in on the plot, handpicked by DCI Houston, and Anti Corruption is looking into that line of enquiry."
He sighed, looking defeated. "All right. I just want to ask you about one more thing."
Goodman smiled knowingly. Paul frowned. Was it possible that the jury would find Amelia...not guilty?
Amelia seemed to think so. She smiled at Richard. "Of course."
Richard ran a hand through his hair, worn out. "When Hidgens turned the gun on you, you overpowered her. Prior to taking the gun, did you have any other weapons?"
Amelia shook her head. "Of course not."
Richard nodded. "Okay. So you overpowered her by brute strength?"
"It sounds horrible when you put it that way, but yes, I overpowered her on strength alone."
Richard started pacing again. "Paint a picture for me here. You ran at Hidgens, prising the gun from her, presumably she struggled?"
"Naturally," Amelia nodded. Then her face fell.
Richard stopped and allowed himself a smile. "Then why were there none of your clothing fibres or skin cells on Rebecca Hidgens, and none of her clothing fibres or skin cells on you?"
Amelia was silent. "Furthermore," Richard continued, "there were no prints found on the gun, yet gunshot residue was found on your clothing, meaning you did fire the gun."
Amelia sighed. "Like I said, I fired accidentally."
Richard nodded. "After you took the gun from Rebecca Hidgens. So why aren't your fingerprints on the gun?"
"Because I was wearing gloves," said Amelia. "It was a cold night."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "None of your gloves had gunshot residue on them, nor did your hands. However these were found on your person."
He returned to the slideshow. "Disposable latex gloves. Traces of your DNA on the inside, gunshot residue on the outside. Now why would you be wearing them if you weren't planning a murder?"
Amelia shook her head but didn't say anything. Richard nodded again. "You bought a bottle of wine and went to Anthony's house to celebrate something. But it wasn't the anniversary of your first date. It was to celebrate the death of the only person capable and willing to stop you. Or so you thought. Because she didn't die, and you underestimated her friends. No further questions."