'Black and White' - The White Bridge Crime Series 2 - LGBT, manXman

31

(Three Months Later)

Eli shook his head firmly, and rubbed his hands together nervously.

He was trembling.

"Come on, Eli." He mumbled to himself. "Snap out of it. You can do this. Rex can't help you now."

His hair was freshly washed and neatly combed, his skinny body clad in a new, charcoal grey suit.

At Rex's insistence, Eli had left the scarf he now wore permanently around his neck as habit at home.

It would make a greater impact, Rex had said, if the jury could see his scarred throat.

"Eli Shan to courtroom number one. Eli Shan." A mechanical voice came over the speakers placed in the bathrooms.

Eli shivered again, before firmly straightening his tie and leaving the bathroom.

A bailiff waiting outside the bathroom escorted him to the courtroom.

Eli entered slowly, trying to keep his head up and his back straight, trying to ignore the stares of the jury, Tyler Dougherty and the members of the public who had managed to find seats in the public gallery.

He was sworn in, and took his place in the witness box.

Tyler Dougherty was to his left, the two lawyers and their teams in front of him, the judge just behind and above him.

He reached for the glass of freshly poured water in front of him with a shaking hand and took a big sip. He searched the gallery and found Adrian sat there, as he had been for the entire trial so far.

Aidy smiled reassuringly at him, and Eli gathered some strength from his friend's support.

Finally, Stan Mitchell got to his feet and started his questions.

After establishing Eli's credibility as a witness, Mitchell turned his questions to the night of the attack.

"Could you please describe what happened on the night in question, Mr Shan, in your own words? Take your time."

Eli nodded and took a shaky breath.

"I, erm... I had a nightmare that night. I have a phobia of water, and I had a nightmare of being far out to sea, drowning. The dream made me wake up, and when I did, I found I was strapped to my bed by my wrists and ankles. I had read in the papers about men who had been murdered in their beds over the last few months and..."

Eli shivered particularly hard.

"I was scared. I managed to turn my head and see who was stood behind me."

"Could you identify the man who attacked you?"

"Yes. First I described him to a police sketch artist, and later I picked him out of a line-up of six men."

"Could you identify the man, please?"

"Tyler Dougherty," Eli said.

"The defendant?"

"Yes."

Eli cleared his throat, sipped his water again, and continued.

"I, erm... I was taunted for a few minutes. The defendant told me who he was, and I... I started begging him not to kill me. He laughed... that's when he r-... when he raped me."

Eli's voice wavered.

He caught Adrian's eye, saw the reassuring smile, and made himself continue.

"When he was almost finished, he pulled my head up, and he... he cut my throat."

Eli automatically pulled the collar of his shirt down to reveal even more of the scar that sliced across his throat.

"When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I couldn't speak. The doctors told me I might not talk ever again, but as you can hear... My voice still isn't normal, though."

Eli's voice finally shuddered and stopped.

"Thank you, Mr Shan. I know that must have been hard for you to talk about."

Mitchell sat down and looked across at the defending lawyer.

Eli was dreading this part.

"Mr Shan, are you certain my client was the person who attacked you?"

"Yes. As I said, I identified him in a police line-up."

"But you were only able to see him for a moment on the night of your attack. You said so yourself."

"That's right," Eli said warily.

"So how can you be certain? After seeing him for so little time?"

"It's quite easy to remember the face of your rapist," Eli said coolly. "I won't ever forget anything that happened that night, much as I may want to."

"Your honour, if I may, I'd like to ask Mr Shan to identify some people from some photographic line-ups I have with me."

"Objection, your honour. Mr Shan has already identified his attacker, in a fair, controlled police line-up. There is no reason for another line-up to be performed."

"I agree. Move on, Miss James."

The defence lawyer looked annoyed for a moment.

"Can you tell me what you did before going to bed that night, Mr Shan?"

"I... let my cat, Maki, inside from the garden and locked the back door. I had a cup of coffee while I finished marking some essays from work, and then I went up to bed."

"And it was your cat that the police gathered DNA from, is that right?"

"Yes. I'm told she bit your client as he left my bedroom. Detective Rex Barnett found Maki the morning after my attack, saw she had blood around her mouth, and a sample of blood was taken from her."

"And is this the same Detective Barnett you're now sleeping with?" The lawyer asked smoothly.

"We're not sleeping together," Eli said firmly.

It was true... partly.

 The lawyer looked superior for a moment.

"Nothing further, your honour."