Page 47 of Cuckoo

‘Yes,’ Laura replies, nose in the air, shifting in her seat.

‘So it’s fair to say that you have changed a lot since your teenage years, and my client, in the same manner, is very likely not the same person she was at the age of fifteen?’

‘I have changed,’ is all Laura says.

‘What would you do if someone tried to take your child from you, Mrs Thorpe? If they denied you the right to be with your children? Would you push them, or worse?’ Grosvenor chances her arm.

Laura looks affronted and Dodgson shoots to his feet. ‘Objection, Your Honour! Relevance.’ he calls out. ‘And pretty much every other ground,’ he mutters under his breath.

‘Sustained,’ the judge replies, allowing Laura to avoid answering the question.

‘That’s all.’ Grosvenor smiles.

The judge gives a nod and Laura is escorted from the room. As she walks past, we both refuse to make eye contact, but her strong perfume wafts over me and I feel like vomiting. It stings my throat.

I wonder how much more of this I can take; how many more horrible memories are going to be unearthed; how many more twisted truths and bare-faced lies are going to slap me in the face throughout the trial. It feels like they’re trying to break me in court, but they don’t realise Noah already has.

Chapter Forty-Three

We’re in the consultation room and Grosvenor has been preparing for the next witness while I’ve tried to block out intrusive memories of my terrible school days and Laura Thorpe.

‘Listen, don’t worry about that witness. It was bullshit, just Dodgson trying to fill a quota,’ Grosvenor assures me. ‘Nobody gives a shit about some childhood bully from however long ago. We all have a Laura in our life.’

I wonder who Grosvenor’s Laura is, and try to imagine the strong woman in front of me being picked on as a child. It’s impossible.

‘Who’s the next witness?’ I ask.

‘Sukhi Dhillon.’

I close my eyes in relief.

‘Have you spoken to her much? Heard anything from her?’ Grosvenor asks me.

Guilt floods through me. ‘We’ve written a few letters. She’s tried to visit but… I can’t bring myself to see anybody while I’m locked up on remand. Least of all her. It’s embarrassing. I’m so ashamed of being in this situation,’ I admit.

‘Claire, I just want to make clear and remind you… Sukhi is being called in by the prosecution, not us. So just be awarethat you may not like what you hear,’ Grosvenor tells me, gravely.

‘Sukhi wouldn’t drop me in it. She’s my friend,’ I say firmly.

Grosvenor says nothing.

Sukhi Dhillon

‘How long have you known Miss Arundale?’

Sukhi glances at me, chewing on her lip. ‘Around fifteen months.’

She’s wearing one of the suit dresses that I’ve seen her in at the office for client meetings and looks good in it. She gave me a warm smile when she walked past me to the witness stand, her eyes filled with sympathy. It made me want to weep, the fact that my friend was here, had been dragged into all of this, and was still offering me her support and not turning her back on me.

‘And you work with her?’ Dodgson asks.

‘Yes. I work in PR, Claire is on my team, which is how we met.’ Sukhi throws me a brief, supportive smile, and I bow my head to her in silent thanks.

‘Mrs Dhillon, is this the CV Miss Arundale included with her job application?’ A copy of my CV flashes up on-screen. Sukhi frowns down at her own paper version, before nodding. ‘Yes, I believe it is, though it was a while ago so I can’t be certain.’

‘We can see here that the last job Miss Arundale claimsto have had was another role in PR, at Baker Rise Public Relations?’ he says.

‘Yes. That is where she worked before she joined us.’

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