To Cut a Long Story Short (2000) by Jeffrey Archer Page B

Inspector drove straight to Chester Square and personally arrested Kenny on a charge of fraud.
    Mr Duveen appeared in court the following morning, insisting that his client was a model citizen. The judge granted Kenny bail, but demanded that he lodge his passport with the court.
    ‘That’s fine by me,’ Kenny told his solicitor. ‘I won’t be needing it for a couple of months.’

    The trial opened at the Old Bailey six weeks later, and once again Kenny was represented by Mr Duveen. While Kenny stood to attention in the dock, the clerk of the court read
out seven charges of fraud. On each charge he pleaded not guilty. Prosecuting counsel made his opening statement, but the jury, as in so many financial trials, didn’t look as if they were
following his detailed submissions.
    Kenny accepted that twelve good men and women true would decide whether they believed him or Mr Cox, as there wasn’t much hope that they would understand the niceties of the 1992 Data
Protection Act.
    When Mr Cox read out the oath on the third day, Kenny felt he was the sort of man you could trust with your last penny. In fact, he thought he might even invest a few thousand in his
company.
    Mr Matthew Jarvis, QC, counsel for the Crown, took Mr Cox through a series of gentle questions designed to show him to be a man of such probity that he felt it was nothing less than his public
duty to ensure that the evil fraud perpetrated by the defendant was stamped out once and for all.
    Mr Duveen rose to cross-examine him.
    ‘Let me begin, Mr Cox, by asking you if you ever saw the advertisement in question.’
    Mr Cox stared down at him in righteous indignation.
    ‘Yes, of course I did,’ he replied.
    ‘Was it of a quality that in normal circumstances would have been acceptable to your company?’
    ‘Yes, but …’
    ‘No “buts”, Mr Cox. It either was, or it was not, of a quality acceptable to your company.’
    ‘It was,’ replied Mr Cox, through pursed lips.
    ‘Did your company end up paying for the advertisement?’
    ‘Certainly not,’ said Mr Cox. ‘A member of my staff queried the invoice, and immediately brought it to my attention.’
    ‘How commendable,’ said Duveen. ‘And did that same member of staff spot the wording concerning payment of the invoice?’
    ‘No, it was I who spotted that,’ said Mr Cox, looking towards the jury with a smile of satisfaction.
    ‘Most impressive, Mr Cox. And can you still recall the exact wording on the invoice?’
    ‘Yes, I think so,’ said Mr Cox. He hesitated, but only for a moment. ‘“If you are dissatisfied with the product, there is no obligation to pay this invoice.”
‘
    ‘“No obligation to pay this invoice,” ‘ repeated Duveen.
    ‘Yes,’ Mr Cox replied. ‘That’s what it stated.’
    ‘So you didn’t pay the bill?’
    ‘No, I did not.’
    ‘Allow me to sum up your position, Mr Cox. You received a free advertisement in my client’s magazine, of a quality that would have been acceptable to your company had it been in any
other periodical. Is that correct?’
    ‘Yes, but …’ began Mr Cox.
    ‘No more questions, m’lud.’
    Duveen had avoided mentioning those clients who had paid for their advertisements, as none of them was willing to appear in court for fear of the adverse publicity that would follow.
Kenny felt his QC had destroyed the prosecution’s star witness, but Duveen warned him that Jarvis would try to do the same to him the moment he stepped into the witness box.
    The judge suggested a break for lunch. Kenny didn’t eat - he just perused the Data Protection Act once again.
    When the court resumed after lunch, Mr Duveen informed the judge that he would be calling only the defendant.
    Kenny entered the witness box dressed in a dark-blue suit, white shirt and Guards tie.
    Mr Duveen spent some considerable time allowing Kenny to take him through his army career and the service he had given to his country in the Gulf, without touching on the service