They went to a wine bar near to the station. Daniel went to the bar while Anna sat down with the solicitor.
‘Please, Mr Braithwaite, how much trouble is Jack in?’
‘Call me Simon,’ he replied. ‘And I’m afraid it’s not good. It seems that Jack and two other men attempted to rob an off-licence.’
‘Oh, God! I can’t believe it. My dad kicked him out and no one knew how he’d been living since then. But I never thought it would lead to this.’
‘That’s not all. Two of the men were carrying guns. When the owner refused to hand over the money, he was shot.’
Daniel put the drinks down on the table with a thump. ‘Was he badly hurt?’
Simon shook his head. ‘Fortunately the man was a pretty poor shot, or only intended to wound, and shot him in the arm.’
Finally able to speak, Anna asked, ‘Was Jack carrying a gun?’
‘No, he was the look out. The shopkeeper must have had a panic button, because soon after the shooting the police arrived. The other two fled but Jack stayed behind to administer first aid, and that’s when he was arrested.’
‘But if he tried to help and he wasn’t carrying a gun, will that be better for him?’
Simon paused before answering. ‘Well, you’d hope so, wouldn’t you? But have you heard of joint enterprise?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
‘It’s where someone can be convicted for the crime of another, if the court decides that they either encouraged the crime or foresaw it could happen.’
Anna felt sick. ‘So he could be convicted of the shooting, even though he wasn’t carrying a gun and he stayed to help?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
Daniel put his hand over hers and she was grateful for its warmth. She felt icy cold.
‘There are many people who don’t believe that joint enterprise is just, so that could work in Jack’s favour. He told me that he was coerced into being there because he owed one of the men money, and that they told him the guns were firing blanks. So we’ll have to work the evidence to try to prove he was there unwillingly and that he couldn’t have envisaged the outcome.’
‘Will that work?’
‘We can try. But your brother will be spending time in prison, whatever the outcome. Tomorrow he’ll go to court and it’s likely he won’t get bail.’
‘So he’ll go to prison straight away?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘And the other men? Have they been arrested?’
‘Yes. But because they were both armed they’ll be sent to higher security prisons, so hopefully that will keep your brother safe.’
‘Because he’s testifying against them?’
‘Yes. I’ve made him aware of the consequences, but he’s insistent that he wants to tell the truth.’
‘Well, at least there’s some good in him.’ Anna sighed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Anna heaved the bags of food into the hallway, put them down and closed the door behind her. It was Ben’s last night before he went back to Cheshire and Anna wanted to make it special. It had been a joy having him around this week and she’d seen firsthand how much Daniel had enjoyed spending more time with his son. He’d miss him all the more after today, but she’d do her best to distract him next week. Part of her wished Lucinda could settle in London so that the separation wasn’t so great, but then she didn’t think she’d enjoy having her any closer. She’d been a constant irritation this week. Anna had noticed her linger far longer than was necessary to either drop Ben off or to pick him up. She also hadn’t missed the way Lucinda’s eyes constantly strayed to Daniel, or the way she had to touch him, resting her hand on his arm whenever she had the opportunity. It was definitely odd behaviour for an ex-wife.
She heard voices in the kitchen and wondered if Charlotte had called round as she often did, but as she went down the hallway she realised it was Lucinda speaking. She froze for a moment, wondering what to do. She needed to go into the kitchen to put the food away, but she couldn’t face seeing Lucinda.
‘Daniel, we were good together once. We could be again.’
