Laboured Justice

By Annette Siketa

A humble carpenter, orphaned as a boy, discovers that his parents are stil alive...and he doesn't like it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Nov 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005550783

Annette Siketa

For those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance, my name is Annette Siketa, and I am totally blind. Were you aware that most blind and visually impaired people are extraordinarily perceptive? To sighted people, this ability must seem like ESP, and I suppose to a certain extent, it is. (I'm referring to the literal meaning of Extra Sensory Perception, not the spooky interpretation.) To compensate for the lack of vision, the brain and the other four senses become sharper, so that we can discern a smell or the identity of an object. I promise you there's no trickery involved. It's simply a matter of adapting the body to ‘think’ in another way.Being blind is no barrier to creativity. Like most things in this world, life is what you make of it, and after losing my sight due to an eye operation that went terribly wrong, I became a writer, and have now produced a wide variety of books and short stories, primarily of the ghost/supernatural/things that go bump in the night genre.So, how does a blind person write a book? On the practical side, I use a text-to-speech program called ‘Jaws’, which enables me to use and navigate around a computer, including the Internet, with considerable ease. Information on Jaws can be found at www.freedomscientific.comOn the creative side...well, that’s a little more difficult to explain. Try this experiment. Put on your favourite movie and watch it blindfolded. As you already ‘know’ the movie – who does what where & when etc, your mind compensates for the lack of visualisation by filling in the ‘blanks’. Now try it with something you’ve never seen before, even the six o'clock news. Not so easy to fill in the blanks now is it?By this point you’re probably going bonkers with frustration – hee hee, welcome to my world! Do not remove the blindfold. Instead, allow your imagination to compensate for the lack of visualization, and this will give you an idea of how I create my stories. Oh, if only Steven Spielberg could read my mind.

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LABOURED JUSTICE

By Annette Siketa

Copyright © 2021 Annette Siketa.

No part of this book may be manipulated, transmitted, or altered by any method or manner whatsoever. All rights reserved. Please respect the authors’ rights. Only through honesty can the insidious practice of illegal copying be curbed.

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Laboured Justice.

From the evening edition of The Daily Sketch, 10th March, 1899.

A sensational development occurred earlier today in the murder trial of Mr George Scott. In his summation, the accused’s lawyer, Sir Tristan Bancroft Q.C, argued a defence of insanity, which to judge from the reaction, the spectators in the gallery whole heartedly agreed. After all, how could a quiet, mild mannered man commit such a heinous crime?

Three months ago, the bodies of Mr and Mrs Walter Claxton were found stabbed to death on a grassy embankment near the Naval College at Greenwich. Mr Claxton was a well-respected civil engineer, and Mrs Claxton was renowned for her charity work.

The subsequent investigation elicited no suspect or motive, and the matter was about to be designated ‘unsolved’ when a carpenter, George Scott, walked into the Greenwich Police Station and gave himself up.

As the double murder had already received much publicity, the police were understandably cautious, after all, it is not uncommon for people to confess to crimes they did not commit. However, when Mr Scott produced bloodstained clothing and a knife, there seemed little doubt of his guilt.

Mr Scott stated that he had known the couple for six months, and when asked why he had killed them, his answer was to say the least, enigmatic. I killed them because I had a right to do so. After that, he remained silent and refused to provide a motive.

The investigation revealed that Mr Scott had been abandoned at an early age, and through the intercession of a priest, had been placed with a couple who raised him as their own. At the age of fourteen, he took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter – a profession at which he soon excelled, and by the age of twenty-two, had established his own business.

There are no accounts of him being wayward or reckless, nor did he have a criminal record. Altogether, he was a bright man living a satisfactory life, and there is nothing in his background to suggest that he would become a cold-blooded killer.

The judge asked the accused if there was anything he wished to add, to which Mr Scott stood up and said, "Your honour, I thank my esteemed counsel for his effort, but I do not belong in an asylum. I will now tell you