The Winslow Boy Page #10

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Well, sir, does your decision still stand?

The decision, sir, is no longer mine.

- You must ask my daughter.

- What are my instructions, Miss Winslow.?

Do you need my instructions, Sir Robert?

Aren't they already on the Petition?

Doesn't it say...:..

Let Right Be Done.?

Kate!

Very well, then.

We must endeavour to see

that it right is done.

Silence!

- Who's that?

- That's the new Lord Chief Justice.

Winslow against the King.

If it please your lordship,

and members of the jury.

This is a bill of rights brought

by Mr. Arthur Winslow...

of Balmoral Avenue, Wimbledon...

claiming damages for the

unlawful expulsion of his son...

Ronald Arthur Winslow, from the

Royal Naval College, Osborne...

and breach of contract by the Admiralty.

In their defence, the defendants

deny any breach of contract.

They contend that they had a

discretion in the matter...

which has been duly exercised...

that the supplicant's son had

been guilty of misconduct...

and also demurred to

the Petition of Right...

which has been granted, and

is now before this Court.

May it please your lordship,

and members of the jury...

in this case, in which my learned junior,

Mr. Saunders has openly issued to you...

I appear with him and

Mr. Harris, for the plaintiff...

and defence is represented by the learned friend

the Attorney General, Mr. Simmons and Mr. Burns.

Before I begin, I think I

should tell your Lordship...

in view of the very exacting

nature of this case...

and the fact that it is, I understand, likely

to last as many as four or more days...

that it is possible that I may, at some later

stage, have to beg for an adjournment.

Indeed, Sir Robert, and why, sir?

I have not been in the best

of health, lately, my Lord...

and although I do cannot expect my health be a

matter of urgent moment to my learned friend...

I may have to beg his kind consideration

should it, at a later stage, fail.

Milord and gentlemen of the Jury,

Nearly two years ago...

on December 17,

Cadet Ronald Arthur Winslow was summoned

to his commanding officer's room.

Hold the Testament in your right

hand and repeat after me:

I swear by almighty God, that the evidence I shall give shall

be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You said, I think, that your relations

with the boy Elliot were very friendly.

Yes, sir, they were.

- Now at dinner time, you sat

next to Elliot. - Yes, sir.

- What did you talk about? - Well,

Elliot was telling me how old Fluffy...

I mean, Captain Flower...

had given him an awful time in

navigation class that morning.

Winslow Boy in Witness Box!

Winslow case! Read all about it!

- Here you are, Kate.

- Thank you, mother.

No coffee for you, Ronnie. Violet is going

to bring you up some nice hot milk.

- And off to bed with you, my boy.

- Not yet, father.

Certainly. You face the Attorney

General again tomorrow.

You'll need all your wits about you.

Such as they are.

Oh that's all right. The old

boy can't crack a ' ...'.

Don't '... ' until

you're out of the woods.

- Take him to bed, Grace.

- Come on, darling.

Good evening, Father.

Have you seen the Times today

about John's engagement, father?

Yes, Kate, I'd hoped you hadn't seen it.

Oh. It was to be expected, you know.

As Desmond would say, half expected.

Still, seeing it like that in

cold print, it was rather...

I'm sorry, Kate.

I met her once, as a matter of fact.

She is a general's daughter.

Most suitable.

- Come on, father up to bed, too.

- Ah, wait a minute.

I think Ronnie did well today, don't you?

Yes, but I'm not quite as content as the

Attorney General appeared yesterday.

So you admit at last for at least half an

hour, on December 17, two years ago...

you were entirely alone in the locker room.

I don't know if it was a half hour.

I would say it was more like ten minutes.

Perhaps your arithmetic isn't

as good as it should be.

What is 15 from 45?

15 from 45...

15 from 45...

Yes, 15 from 45.

I would be interested how you make it 10.

Come now, what is it?

- My lord - - I must protest about

these constant interruptions.

My learned friend seems remarkably impatient with witness this morning. Perhaps

the heat in the courtroom is partly responsible. I find it rather t

No doubt we all do, Sir Robert.

What do you wish to say?

Merely that the relevance of my learned

friend's last question is a little disputable.

I feel fairly confident that this court

will be prepared to accept the fact...

that 15 from 45 is 30 and not 10.

But my client's skill, or lack of it, at arithmetic

seems to me to have very little bearing...

on whether or not he

stole five shillings.

My lord, it must be plain to the meanest

intelligence what the purpose of my question was.

As the possessor of that meanest intelligence

to which my learned friend referred...

may I say that the purpose of the

question was as clear to me as daylight!

It was to browbeat my client...

by introducing to this court the

atmosphere of a viva voce examination!

Milord, I most emphatically protest!

Sir Robert, that observation

was certainly uncalled for.

You are prejudicing your

case by these interruptions.

Oh... Do you really think so, my lord?

As your Lordship pleases.

Continued.

Thank you, Milord. I am nearly finished.

Now young man. At 1:15 you went

into the locker room alone.

At 1:
45 you went to ask permission

to go down to the village.

- Is that right?

- Yes, sir.

- That leaves half an hour. Doesn't it?

- Yes, sir.

Plenty of time to break open a

locker and rifle its contents.

- I didn't do that! - Plenty of time

to forge a name on a postal order.

- I do not... - A name that you

had already practised forging.

- I didn't -. - Plenty of time

to slip it in your pocket...

and go brazenly to your C.O and ask for

permission to go down to the village and cash it.

- That isn't true!

- And if it isn't true...

why did you lie to the captain about the

time you spent alone in the locker room?

All right. Thank you Ronnie. That is all.

Now Ronnie. You've had quite an ordeal

the past few days, haven't you?

- Yes, sir.

- Well I won't keep you much longer.

I just want to ask you one more question.

Only one.

When you'd finished your smoke,

What did you do with your cigarette end?

- Put it into your pocket?

- No. On top of the locker... Oh!

- I see...

Thank you, Ronnie.

That's all.

The court is adjourned.

The court is adjourned until

10:
30 tomorrow morning.

Gosh, how did you know that?

It's my business to know these things.

Sir Robert, this will make all the

difference to the case, won't it?

On the contrary. I didn't want to bring it up

at all if I could possibly have avoided it.

The Attorney General will say that a boy who is capable of

breaking one of the strictest college rules by smoking...

is more likely than not to have broken

another by stealing five shillings.

- But the jury, surely...

- If I know the Attorney General at all...

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