Ken McClure: Tangled Web

‘God Almighty,’ said Gordon. ‘How could that happen?’

‘Some screw-up in Pathology. The baby got mixed up with a biological waste bag.’

‘Jesus,’ said Gordon. ‘Someone’ll pick up their jotters for that.’

Julie smiled at Gordon suddenly sounding very Scottish. ‘They still don’t know the full facts yet,’ she said. ‘The discovery was made when an undertaker opened up the coffin for some reason. If it hadn’t been for that, no one would have been any the wiser.’

‘Makes you wonder if that might not have been better, given the circumstances,’ said Gordon.

‘Absolutely,’ said Julie. ‘But it gets worse; the baby’s father was present when the coffin was opened.’

Gordon rolled his eyes and let out his breath in a long low whistle. ‘What a nightmare.’

‘Trool says that an immediate internal inquiry has failed to uncover the reason for the mix-up so he wants to set up an informal ad hoc external inquiry as quickly as possible. He was wondering if one of us would serve on it.’

‘Informal?’ said Gordon. ‘Sounds like a PR move to me. If an internal investigation didn’t come up with anything what reason is there to believe that a bunch of strangers would do any better?’

‘I think they’re desperate to show that they’re doing everything possible to find out what happened,’ said Julie.

‘I’m not surprised,’ said Gordon. ‘This is exactly the kind of story that the press are going to make a meal of.’ ‘Another one,’ said Julie meaningfully. Gordon knew she was referring to the Palmer baby but he let it go for the moment. ‘They’ll whip up public opinion against the hospital until the truth of the affair no longer matters to anyone,’ he said, making it clear with a look that the latter part of his comment was meant for her. In turn, Julie let that go. ‘Would you be prepared to sit on the inquiry?’ she asked.

‘If you like,’ said Gordon. ‘What do I have to do?’

‘They’re going to hold a preliminary meeting at the hospital tonight if everyone concerned agrees; it’s to be at 7.30. James Trool will give a background talk and establish terms of reference for the committee.’

‘I’ll be there,’ said Gordon.

‘Thanks,’ said Julie. ‘I’d go myself but it’s parents’ night at Owen’s school and I missed the last one.’

‘No problem,’ said Gordon. ‘But I’d like to take tomorrow afternoon off. I’ve got an appointment to see John Palmer’s lawyer in Bangor. I’ll be back for evening surgery.’

‘Of course,’ said Julie without further comment, but the coldness in her voice was evident. She looked at her watch. ‘Time we were out and about or they’ll think we’ve stopped doing house calls altogether.’

‘I wish.’

Gordon went out on his rounds, calling last at Lucy’s sister’s house in Bangor to see how Lucy was bearing up. ‘How is she?’ he asked when Gina opened the door to him.

Gina shrugged her shoulders and said quietly so that she wouldn’t be overheard, ‘I thought she was much better this morning so we went shopping. Some stupid woman made a comment in the check-out queue at the supermarket and that was that. We had to come straight back.’

‘I think there might be quite a lot of that judging by what I saw in Caernarfon yesterday,’ said Gordon.

‘I saw pictures on the news,’ said Gina. ‘Lucy was devastated. She’d been thinking about going back home.’

Gordon screwed up his face and said, ‘It would do her more good to get away from here completely for a little while. Do you have any other relatives that might put her up for the time being?’

‘She wouldn’t go,’ said Gina. ‘She wants to be near John.’

Gordon nodded and asked, ‘What exactly did the woman in the supermarket say?’

‘She said to her friend, “That’s the murdering bastard’s wife.”’

Apart from Gordon, the independent inquiry team was to comprise two staff doctors from Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, Caernarfon’s director of Public Health, Dr Liam Swanson, Lady Arabella Paget, patron of the Anglesey based medical charity, Med-Menai and Christine Williams, a JP from Bangor. They were welcomed individually by James Trool as they arrived and offered coffee.

‘Thank you for coming,’ said Trool, raising his voice to be heard above the general chatter. ‘We appear to be one short but time’s getting on and I feel I should begin...’

He had hardly said the words when the door opened and an attractive woman in her early thirties entered. She smiled and apologised for her lateness before saying, ‘I’m Dr Mary Hallam from A&E at Ysbyty Gwynedd.’

‘Good of you to come, Doctor,’ said Trool. ‘Anyone working in A&E need offer no further explanation.’

Mary gave a half smile and sat down. It struck Gordon as being just the right response. She clearly didn’t see any need milk the sympathy usually on offer to those working in front line medicine and the smile suggested that she didn’t take herself too seriously — a fault common enough in people at the cutting edges in many professions. She sat almost opposite Gordon in the semicircle that had formed round Trool so he was able to look at her from time to time without appearing rude. Her dark hair and olive skin made her an extremely attractive woman but it was her eyes that really caught his attention. They seemed to say so much about her. She was confident, intelligent, and analytical but not, he sensed, without humour. For some reason he couldn’t quite fathom he felt that he wanted to see her smile properly, without inhibition, but their current circumstances made that event seem a little unlikely.

Trool cleared his throat and continued his welcome, assuring them that they would be given every assistance by the hospital staff in their inquiry just as if they were conduction an official investigation. ‘You may go where you like and interview anyone you wish.’ Trool held up a slim blue folder and said, ‘An information file has been prepared for you and individual copies are available. Unfortunately our own internal inquiry has not been successful...’

‘Why not?’ interrupted Liam Swanson, surprising Trool and interrupting the smooth flow of his delivery. ‘I’m sorry?’ he said.

‘Why was it unsuccessful?’

Trool smiled but it was an uneasy, embarrassed little smile. ‘I think we reached an impasse when it was widely rumoured that, once found, the people responsible would be sacked on the spot.’

‘Rumour or fact?’ asked Swanson.

‘Fact,’ admitted Trool.

‘So you were met with a wall of silence?’

‘More a wall of strident denial,’ said Trool.

‘Presumably we’ll meet the same wall?’

‘That is entirely possible,’ agreed Trool.

Gordon suspected that Swanson was thinking along the same lines as he himself. The unofficial independent inquiry was not really expected to get anywhere: it was a PR exercise.

‘Well, we can but try,’ said Swanson, letting Trool off the hook.

Trool recovered his early composure. ‘I’ve asked Dr Peter Sepp, our consultant pathologist and the man in charge of the department from which Megan’s body was taken, to say a few words to you; he’s waiting outside. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me before I invite him in?’

‘Does Dr Sepp accept responsibility for what’s happened?’ asked Lady Arabella. She spoke with an incredibly cut-glass accent that made Gordon put his hand to his mouth to cover a slight smile. He caught Mary Hallam’s eye and saw that she was thinking the same thing. They had to diver their eyes to avoid making matters worse.

‘Dr Sepp offered his resignation as soon as the mix-up was exposed,’ said Trool. ‘The Trust, however, has seen fit to decline it. I’ll ask him to come in.’