As unpleasant as this all was, it was also crucial to Miles’s defence. In cross-examination of these witnesses, Eleanor had established that whoever killed Caira must have spent at least twenty minutes inside her flat. And that detail would be vital when it came to the testimony of the defence’s most important witness: Elis.
It was the second Thursday of the trial when Elis appeared to give evidence. He looked nervous, rubbing the back of his neck as he approached the witness box.
As Elis was appearing as a witness for the defence, Eleanor went first, gently questioning him. She began by asking Elis about his friendship with Miles, how they’d got to know each other, then moved on to what he was doing on the day of Miles’s date with Caira. Elis explained that he’d spent most of the day on a location shoot at a country house in Gloucestershire. The job – a two-line part as a footman in a period drama – finished late, and it was gone nine by the time he’d driven back to Bristol. Even so, he’d still managed to summon the energy to get himself down to the gym after work.
‘Mr Pritchard-Jones, do you remember what sort of exercise you did in the gym that evening?’
Elis considered this for a moment. ‘It was leg day, so I did squats, Romanian deadlifts, walking lunges, and calf raises.’
Eleanor nodded. ‘You seem very certain about that. Would you describe yourself as someone who has a good memory?’
‘I would, yes. Very much so.’
‘And do you remember what you had for dinner that night?’
‘I do. I had chicken thighs with broccoli and sweet potato.’
‘Thank you, Mr Pritchard-Jones. And what did you do after you had your dinner that night?’
‘It was late, so I just put my feet up and watched some TV.’
‘And do you remember what you watched?’
Elis scratched his head. ‘I remember I was flicking through the apps and not really feeling inspired by any of it, so I switched to theterrestrial channels. My favourite film was coming on, so I thought I’d watch a bit of that before I went to bed.’
‘And what’s the title of that film?’
‘Chinatown.’
Eleanor retrieved a print copy of theRadio Timesfrom a file and opened it to a page marked with a blue tab. ‘Mr Pritchard-Jones, I’m going to ask you to look at an exhibit, now. Do you have a bundle in front of you?’
Elis confirmed that he did.
‘If you could turn to page twenty-three, you should see a photocopy of a page from theRadio Times, which published a timetable of television programmes scheduled for broadcast on the third of December last year. Members of the jury, you’ll find the exhibit at the same place in your bundle.’
There was a pause while everyone flicked through the documents to locate the right page. Eleanor bit her lip as one man appeared flustered and took a little longer than the others.
She turned back to Elis. ‘As you can see, according to the TV listings,Chinatowncame on at precisely twelve-thirty a.m. Does that sound correct to you?’
‘It does.’
‘Thank you, Mr Pritchard-Jones. So, at twelve-thirty a.m., you began to watchChinatownby yourself, is that right?’
‘Actually, no. Just as it was about to start, there was a tap at my window.’
‘And were you expecting a visitor?’
‘No, I wasn’t. But there’s only one person who taps on my window like that’ – Elis pointed at Miles – ‘and that’s him.’
For a moment, every member of the jury turned to look at Miles, before switching their attention back to Elis and Eleanor.
‘Thank you, Mr Pritchard-Jones. And when Miles turned up at your flat, did you let him in?’
‘I did.’
‘And how would you describe Miles’s appearance at this point? Did he seem in any way agitated, stressed, on edge, out of breath, anything like that?’
Elis shook his head. ‘No, not at all. He was calm, totally normal. It was clear he’d had a bit to drink, but otherwise he was just his regular, happy self.’
