Obsession (Sequel to : The Doctor Will See You Now)

Strike while the iron is...

Fed and watered I resumed my vigil within the courtroom.

Arthur approached the bench.

“I call my first witness……Terri Mackenzie”

I took my place in the witness box and prepared to receive the questions….Arthur had told me that all the questions he would ask me would be strictly….his eyes only….I had no idea what sort of a grilling I was going to get.

“Mrs MacKenzie can you please tell the court what happened for the drug Hexachromite to end up in the hands of Jessica Mackenzie and subsequently lead to the case that has been brought before this court”.

“As head doctor for the surgery I received the intake of the drug which was being used to treat patients with sexual disfunction….on the first night I removed the pills from the surgery because I was concern that they could be stolen from the surgery….a couple of patients had acted angrily to news of this drug which was entirely experimental”

“I am showing the court a witness statement from two of these patients proving that they were unhappy with this”

“So what concerns did you have?”

“That someone could break in and steal it….after all it was a female Viagra….many would be happy to commit theft to get there hands on it”

“Was this speculation?”

“Yes…..but we had been broken into twice previous when new drugs were being trialled”

I look out of the corner of my eye at Chloe….she was a witness to both burglaries.

“Ok….taking the possibility into consideration…..you kept the pills in your handbag for safekeeping?”

“I intended doing that…..but I mislaid my keys and emptied my bag to look for them…..I put the pills on a ledge”

“You never left them there?”

“No I unlocked the front door…..grabbed the pills and went inside”

“What did you do with the pills?”

“I put them on the kitchen work surface”

“Where they were no longer safe….anyone could come in contact with them?”

“Yes……I completely failed in my duty….I went to do other things and left them there”

“What happened when you returned?”

“Elixir….my wife….complained of a headache….I assumed she had taken a paracetomol….but later found out she took one of the pills”

“You didn’t know at the time…..what did you do with the rest of the pills?”

“Put them into a drawer for safe keeping”

I had fully anticipated this line of questioning…..I was guilty of neglect….I was guilty of the consequences.

“Terri you may leave the witness box”

I looked at the judge who was stern faced…..I hoped that she had not already made up her mind…..i could only hope that the other witnesses were able to keep focussed.

“I call my second witness Mrs Elixir Johanssen”

I watched as Elixir walked into the court room and took the stand.

“Mrs Johanssen…..can you tell the court what happened to you at the school please?”

“I had discovered that the headmaster Catherine Baker was abusing her students”

“Abusing?”

“Actually her position…..she was having sex with them on school premises”

“And what did you think of that?”

“I wanted to get this stopped”

“And how did you do this?”

“I told her that unless she stopped then I would go to the police”

“What happened then?”

“I went back to class and met up with Jessica Mackenzie later…..we exchanged pleasantries…..I wasn’t feeling too good and had a headache”

“Did you get a paracetomol?”

“Jessica had some…..I took two with a glass of water”

“Do you know what happened then?”

“Not until much later……the pills were not paracetomol…..they were the same ones that Terri Mackenzie had brought home”

“So your cognitive reasoning was impaired…..do you think you were raped?”

“I had no recollection at all…..but Catherine Baker showed me a film that had been recorded….showing me having sex with Jessica Mackenzie”

“And how did she react?”

“She told me to drop the police threat or she would use the images on the disc to have me charged”

I watched as Elixir looked across at me….she picked up a glass of water.

“Unfortunately the disc with these images does not exist….however the disc with the image of Catherine Baker having sex with a student does exist…..as does her threat”.

“Thank you Mrs Johanssen you may leave the stand”

Elixir walked to my direction…..tears were streaming down her face….it was perhaps good that Chloe had not been allowed cross examination….I feel that could have pushed her over the edge and she may have lashed out.

The judge slammed down her gavel.

“We will now have a short recess for twenty minutes”

We rose from our seats and then she left chambers…..Chloe turned to look at me and smirked…..she was enjoying this.