Crown Prosecution Service
Down Cemetery RoadThe Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the authority named as deciding whether Sarah Trafford’s case will be prosecuted once it has been referred. In the novel, that procedural role turns a police investigation into a looming question of prosecution, but the evidence does not disclose the CPS’s eventual decision.
Role in the Prosecution Process
Simon Smith explains that Sarah’s case will be referred to the CPS, which decides whether to bring a prosecution. The distinction is important: the police discovery of drugs in Sarah’s bathroom has led to a case, but referral alone does not establish that charges will follow. The CPS occupies the next decision point in the process described to her.
Sarah Trafford’s Case
When Simon arrives at eleven, Sarah is struggling to concentrate. He responds to a call from his beeper, and the exchange that follows makes clear that the drugs found in her bathroom have become a formal matter. Sarah asks what happens next and then whether the CPS will prosecute. Simon does not give her a definite answer; instead, he asks whether she knows Lizbeth Moss, a thirteen-year-old who died the previous weekend after taking Ecstasy.
Narrative Significance
The CPS is presented through Sarah’s uncertainty about what the referral will mean for her, rather than through a direct appearance by the institution or an account of its deliberations. Simon’s reference to Lizbeth Moss supplies the immediate context for Sarah’s question, but does not confirm what decision the CPS will make. Its role therefore marks a consequential threshold in Sarah’s case while leaving the outcome unresolved.
