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Rumpole fans have long awaited the story of his most famous case (at least in his own eyes), one alluded to in almost all subsequent monologues, and finally, it is now here. When in London, I have often been tempted to get on a bus marked PENGE, just to see the place. I'd sooner do that than trust my key-making to Timpson and Son, Locksmiths, located on Westbourne Grove. Speaking of whom, Rumpole also defends his first Timson in this book. It is the early 1950s. Rumpole, after having served as ground crew during the war, has finished his degree. His fiancee, the daughter of his tutor, has died, and his tutor has found Horace a place in the chambers of CH Wystan, QC (Hilda's daddy). Rumpole's pupil master is TC Rowley (Uncle Tom) who spends more time practising his putting than seeking briefs. Sometime between the wars, Denis 'Jerry' Jerold, a bank clerk, married Yvonne and they had a son, Simon, who is now 21. Yvonne was killed by a buzz bomb toward the end of the war, so it is now just Simon and Jerry who live in the bungalow in Penge. Jerry had been a pilot during the war. His neighbor Charlie Weston was his rear gunner. The third member of the crew never made it back, after a crash in occupied France. After a night of carousing, a group of veterans from the same squadron come to Jerry's house to continue drinking. Jerry wakes up Simon to tend bar, but rags him unmercifully. Finally, Simon has had enough, and threatens Jerry with a Luger, kept on the mantelpiece with all the other souvenirs of the war accumulated by Jerry. Later that night, Jerry and Charlie are both found dead of gunshot wounds in their homes, both executed in an identical manner. Jerry is found sitting in his armchair in the lounge and Charlie is found sprawled in the entryway of his house. Simon is the obvious suspect and he is indicted and jailed. Head of chambers, CH Wystan, is asked to be the senior barrister in the case and, with Hilda's urging, he asks Rumpole to be his junior. Hilda, meanwhile, is spinning her web, which will soon entangle Horace Rumpole, QC. It's up to Horace to tell you the rest of the tale in his own words, looking back fondly from today to those more innocent days. It's too bad that Leo McKern is dead. He WAS Rumpole. But who would play the younger one?
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, November 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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