The Thirteenth Juror

By Annette Siketa

Even the judge thought the accused man was innocent, but one of the jurors knew differently.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005970826

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.

Book preview

THE THIRTEENTH JUROR

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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The Thirteenth Juror.

Before I begin, it is important that I establish several facts. Firstly, I am neither psychic nor clairvoyant. I know of only one case of a spectral appearance within my circle of friends, but even then, the gentleman concerned was suffering a fever at the time.

Secondly, I am a bachelor, and my valet and his wife, a Mr and Mrs Foster, constitute my entire household. Both are in their early 50’s and have worked for me for over six years. They are loyal and kind and I am very fond of them.

Thirdly, my occupation is that of a senior bank clerk, and apart from a little arthritis in my left knee, my health is good. I am not what might be called 'atheletic', however, I enjoy fishing and horseracing and the occasional game of cards.

If I have created the impression that I am a normal man living a normal life, then my object has been achieved. There is nothing ‘special’ about me, which makes what happened to me all the more mysterious.

It began with the gruesome murder of Walter Keegan, and whilst many of the more intricate details had not yet been released by the police, the newspapers were rife with speculation. Who was the killer? What was the motive? Where was the murder weapon?

After reading several accounts during breakfast, I went to the window and looked into the street. On the opposite side, two men were walking in an easterly direction. I would not have paid them any attention had they not been behaving strangely.

About thirty yards apart, the first man kept glancing over his shoulder, and every time he did, the second man raised a fist and shook it at him. The first man was rather stocky and had not shaved that morning. The second man was slender with a pale, sickly face.

I shrugged and prepared for work, not giving the incident any more thought, and a few days later, the newspapers announced that John Dixon had been arrested for the murder of Walter Keegan. At the subsequent committal hearing, a verdict of ‘wilful murder’ was found against Dixon, who was then sent for trial.

All this took several months, and my part in the drama began late one night when I was in my bedroom giving some instructions to Foster for the following day. I was facing the dressing room door, which was closed. Foster was standing in front of me with his back towards the same door.

Suddenly and silently, the door opened and a man