[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

admitted to going to bed with several men."
"Not all at the same time," said Martin with a broad grin.
The girl spluttered into her coffee and looked up with a red
face, trying not to laugh.
The matron turned angrily on Martin. "There's no call to go
ridiculing other peoples' standards just because you've got none
of your own! It's women who are trying to maintain moral values
today and men who are constantly undermining them. All the
pressures put on young girls today to join in the permissive
society come from men. I work with young people and I know.
Not every young girl today has joined the permissive society or
wants to. It's men who make them feel outcasts if they haven't."
"Haven't what?" asked Martin innocently.
Page 46
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"You know what I mean."
"No I don't. Tell me."
The matron turned to the girl. "Are you married?"
"No."
"Have you joined?"
The girl blushed.
"That's got nothing to do with this case," said the foreman
angrily. "And nothing to do with you."
The matron kept her eyes fixed on the girl.
"You don't have to answer," Martin said to the girl.
"It so happens that I haven't," she stammered out while avoiding
everyone's eyes.
The matron looked triumphant. "Thank you, my dear. I didn't
mean to be personal but at least you've shown that it's not too
late to take a firm stand. If we don't now, then it's only a matter
of time before this filth is on open sale in our High Street."
Martin reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out the
glossy magazine. He flipped through it until he found the page
he wanted, folded the magazine open and slid it across the table
to the matron.
"You mean stuff like that?" he inquired politely.
The woman looked down at the magazine. Her scalp went
back and she blenched. "How dare you 1" she spluttered in fury.
"How dare you!"
Martin felt sorry for her. She was a decent enough woman
who had been badly shocked that day by all she had seen and
heard. In her own circle she was probably well-liked and
respected.
It needed all Martin's self-control not to look away when
she raised her angered eyes to his.
"You were supposed to put all those magazines back in the
wallet," said the foreman anxiously, as if he thought that he
was responsible for Martin's misdeeds.
Without taking his eyes off the matron, Martin shook his head
and said: "I bought this at lunchtime in the High Street. 5op
which I can't afford."
The matron recovered herself. "They always show women!"
she snapped. "Never men."
Martin turned a few pages and showed her another photograph
-- one which had surprised him when he first saw it in the
bookshop.
He held it up so that everyone sitting at the table could see
Page 47
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
it, then dropped it onto the table.
"How many of you think that photograph is obscene?" Martin
inquired.
The foreman looked faintly irritated at the usurping of his
tenuous authority. "What's that magazine got to do with --"
"Quite a lot," Martin interrupted. "Do you think it's obscene?"
He held the picture up again.
The foreman hesitated. By now, like most of the jurors, he had
passed the embarrassment point that morning.
"If it was a photograph of a normal man, I'd say 'no'. But
clearly that isn't a normal man, therefore I think it's obscene."
His view was shared by most of the others including the
matron who said that no normal man would agree to posing in
the outdoors with no clothes on.
"The magazine is called Health and Efficiency" said Martin.
"And it's on open sale just across the road."
"Opposite this courtroom?" cut in the matron in surprise.
"Yes. On the top row of their magazine section, along with
Playboy, Penthouse and Club International -- so they're out of
reach of children I suppose. This one was the only one I had
enough money on me for. The point is, that they're a respected
nationwide chain who must have a large legal department to vet
what they put on sale, but it boils down to guesswork because
there's no sensible definition of what is obscene and what
isn't."
"But at least they're not doing anything in this magazine,"
said the bank clerk while pretending to glance disinterestedly
through the glossy pages.
"That's right," Martin agreed. "I picked that magazine because
most sensible people regard it as inoffensive and because
it's been going for a long time. I remember it when I was a kid
and I don't think it did me any harm. But there was a continental
film review magazine on the shelf that left little to the
imagination."
He smiled at the bank clerk. "It's next to Stern and Paris Match
if you're interested."
"Got nothing to do with this case," the foreman muttered.
Martin sat back. "Except if we did find Dawson guilty and he
goes down for two years or whatever, then we've got a personal
duty - everyone of us, to complain to the police about every
newsagent in this town."
There was a long silence. The foreman turned his sheet of
paper over and drew a line down the middle.
"Shall I go round again?" he asked.
Page 48
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Martin dropped the magazine in the car park litterbin. The bank
clerk, who was just getting into his car, called out to Martin
and pointed to Charlie Dawson cramming himself into a white
Lamborghini.
Martin straightened from tucking his trousers into his
socks and watched the sleek car glide out of the car park.
The bank clerk left his car and walked over to Martin. "Doesn't
make sense,' he commented, watching expensive sports car
blend with the evening traffic. "Me with a mortgage that's
crippling
me. You with your window cleaning ..."
Martin exchanged "goodnights" and rode towards the car park
exit - the little wooden sidecar bumping along at his side. While
waiting for a break in the traffic, he glanced back at the rows
of cars in time to see the bank clerk rescue the magazine from the
litterbin and slip it into his briefcase.
"I'm afraid she's sleeping," said the ward sister. "We've given
her a heavy sedative because she's to be kept as still as
possible before tomorrow's examination."
"But it's only six-thirty," Martin protested.
"It was a heavy sedative," stressed the nurse. "Now please
don't worry, Mr. Janssen. We know you're in court tomorrow
and will be able to get a message to you if necessary."
Martin felt panic closing in. "What do you mean, if necessary?"
"Please don't worry. We're doing all we can."
"Let me see her, please," Martin begged. "Just for a minute.
I won't want to wake her."
The nurse hesitated. There were screens round his wife's bed
that might alarm him. "All right," she said at length.
She remained at Martin's side as he stared down at Carrie. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]