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Anders had been in half a mind to say that he had no questions
but that would have sounded like capitulation. In truth, he was
always ill-at-ease with witnesses like Audrey Howell, although
he would never show it. His generation had not produced the huge
numbers of well-educated, self-assured young women that this
generation had. That he found Audrey Howell extremely attractive
did not help. Oh well...
He rose to his feet, confident that his gaunt, forbidding
Appearance effectively cloaked his nervousness.
"Miss Howell. You seem to be a young lady who is extremely
interested in sex. Is that a fair generalisation?"
With a straight face, Audrey Howell replied: "It depends on
the man I'm in bed with. Some are more successful at arousing
my interest than others."
The explosion of laughter in the courtroom was a tonic to
Charlie and Golding, and a personal disaster for Anders. His
eyes flickered sideways. Golding was wiping his eyes, the clerk
seemed to be suffering from a sudden cold and was blowing his
nose, and every member of the jury except the matron was in
hysterics.
The laughter reverberated into the corridor and carried into
Number Two courtroom where a public inquiry was in progress.
Only the judge and Anders did not join in the mirth. The
reason Sinclair wasn't smiling was because he was employing
his trick of biting down on his tongue. He found that he had to
bite very hard, with the result that his mighty, hewn jaw jutted
forward in a hard frown.
The clerk recovered from his cold and called for silence. The
tumult of laughter died away to the odd titter that was
extinguished by Sinclair's glare.
Anders decided that somehow, he would crush Audrey Howell.
"Miss Howell. Would you like to be photographed in an
obscene position?"
Golding had the right to object, but was curious to know how
his delightful witness would handle the question. Sinclair had
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similar thoughts and decided not to sharpen his black pencil.
"What's an obscene position?" countered Audrey Howell.
Nice one, Audrey, thought Golding.
"You're the expert on sociology," replied Anders evenly.
"Yes, but not on your tastes. You tell me what you think of
as an obscene position and I'll tell you whether or not I would
mind being photographed in it." Audrey Howell turned to the
judge. "Isn't that fair, my Lord?"
Sinclair was at a slight loss. "Well ... Perfectly fair, Miss
Howell."
"I have no more questions of this witness!" Anders snapped
and sat down.
Golding rose. "Does your lordship have any questions for the
witness?"
Sinclair had hundreds but none had any bearing on the case.
"No. You may stand down, Miss Howell."
The usher guided Audrey Howell from the witness box.
Such hips, thought Sinclair as she sat beside Jane Milton on
the witnesses bench.
"How many more witnesses have you got lined-up, Mr. Golding?'
"Just one, my Lord."
"I'm dying for a cup of tea and I expect everyone else is.
We'll adjourn for fifteen minutes."
Karl Planck was 33 but he spoke at 45; his sentences streamed out
at an amazingly high-speed in a falsetto voice. His verbal
velocity left the court's shorthand writer floundering ten sentences
behind.
Sinclair stopped the articulate flood by repeatedly banging his
pencil on the desk. "Slow down. Slow down. It's not a race and
there are no prizes. I got your name and that you're the manager
of Fulcomtech, whatever that means."
"An abbreviation of Fulchester Computer Technology, sir,"
Planck replied, making an effort to talk slowly.
"Very trendy," observed Sinclair. "You said something about
the supply of software services --"
"Software services, payroll preparation, eighty-column punch
card tabulating, punchcard breeding, collating ..." Then the
high-pitched voice began accelerating at an astonishing rate.
"Verifying, interpreting, line-printing, data storage on paper
tape, magnetic tape, discs -"
Sinclair cut him short by angrily banging his pencil again.
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"Look, Mr. Planck, you're not talking to one of your wretched
machines now. We're a collection of stupid, inefficient human
beings who would be most grateful if you would kindly adjust
your data output to a speed we can cope with."
Planck looked hurt.
"I'm very sorry, my Lord," muttered Golding.
"Sorry, my Lord," mumbled the unfortunate Planck.
"Try breathing between each word," Sinclair suggested. "Now,
let's get on. But not too quickly mind."
"Now, Mr. Planck," said Golding in a conciliatory tone.
"Would you please tell the court, in your own measured words,
about the time the accused visited your office."
Planck swallowed. "He came to see me about a software
programme he wanted to handle information from --"
"When was this?" asked Golding quickly, spotting Sinclair's
lower jaw moving forward.
"About a year ago."
"Tell the court about the services the accused required."
"And slowly," added Sinclair.
"Well," said Planck, almost too frightened to speak. "He
wanted an estimate to have an anticipated ten thousand completed
questionnaires encoded as part of a computer programme
to produce a series of statistical printouts." He spoke each word
slowly and clearly.
"Can the witness be shown Exhibit Sixteen, please," Golding
requested.
The usher handed Planck the same questionnaire that had
been shown to Audrey Howell.
"Is that the form you were asked to base your estimate on?"
"Yes. We were intrigued by the questions."
"I'm sure," said Golding. "Did the accused place a firm order for
your services?"
"No. We did receive a batch of a hundred and fifty-two completed
forms five months ago so that we could design a pilot
programme. I told Mr. Dawson that it wasn't enough -- that
there would be too wide a data credibility gap, but he said that
was all he had."
"Too wide a what?" asked Sinclair incredulously.
"Data credibility gap," said Planck, puzzled.
Sinclair sighed. "What's that when it's at home for heaven's
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sake?"
Planck considered. "It means that public opinion forecasts
based on only so few questionnaires wouldn't be accurate, my
Lord."
"And how many would you need to achieve an accurate forecast?"
"At least ten thousand, my Lord."
"That was a figure you gave the accused or was it one he
suggested to you?"
"I suggested it, my Lord."
Sinclair made a note with his black pencil.
Anders busily prepared some questions for his cross
examination. Planck was an unexpected witness. It meant that
somewhere along the line, either the police or the prosecuting
solicitors had not done their homework. Planck's evidence was
an aspect of court procedure which favours the defence; the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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