59

Inspector Dawson sat in his office with the blinds down. Constance and Judith sat opposite him. He had invited them in without giving any reason.

‘Thank you both for coming. You know, Judith, I didn’t think your guy did it. But there were no other suspects.’

Judith and Constance waited. They knew Dawson would get to the point eventually and Judith didn’t want to embark on a conversation based on recriminations.

‘The mayor has asked for a formal apology to be made to your client,’ he said.

‘I see.’

‘He wants me, as the officer leading the investigation, to make a statement on television. I have written something out. Would you take a shufty at what I prepared?’

He handed a piece of paper to Judith who read it quickly and handed it back.

‘Make whatever statement you like. I’m sure you know what to say. Are you any closer to finding out what really happened?’

‘I can’t say.’

Judith leaned forward. ‘Charlie. This investigation was flawed from the start. We helped you save an innocent man from a grave miscarriage of justice. Now, we do want to feel reassured that the investigation is progressing expeditiously and along the right lines.’

‘Dr Mahmood, Dr Wolf and Dr Bridges have fully cooperated with the police.’

‘Oh come on, spill the beans Charlie.’

‘All right. Just high level. Wolf didn’t erase the consent form. Dr Bridges did. The Trust didn’t want it to come out that St Marks was trialling the robot.’

‘Why?’

‘They were worried about a law suit and how complicated it might be if it involved new technology.’

‘Ha! Hilarious!’ Judith quipped. ‘They don’t mind throwing their human employees to the lions but they want to protect their robots. That’s loyalty for you.’

‘But why did Dr Bridges do it?’ Constance asked.

‘She says she was instructed to ensure that any evidence mentioning Aladdin should disappear. She felt comfortable that Aladdin was nothing to do with Mrs Hennessy’s death, so she did as she was told. Her log-in was down so she used her husband’s.’

‘Hmm. All this anonymous ‘Trust’ stuff is very convenient,’ Judith complained.

‘And Dr Mahmood?’ Constance asked.

‘He is the one who asked Dr Bridges to delete the form. A Ms Lucy Farmer in the Risk team instructed him as head of the team. He then instructed Dr Bridges. Dr Wolf didn’t know about it, which I am told is what he said in court. The evidence of the three doctors ties up.’

‘And…’

‘And what?’

Constance pouted. ‘So we know why the consent form was deleted. To hide the fact that Aladdin was involved in Mrs Hennessy’s operation. Big deal. Dr Wolf told us in court that it was involved. I thought you were going to say you knew who killed Mrs Hennessy. The killer may still be out there.’

‘We have all we need, Connie,’ Judith said. ‘We had it the moment Ahmad walked free. We can’t help everyone. She was probably depressed; lived alone, couldn’t paint any more, husband getting remarried to a younger woman, estranged from her son. Maybe, like Charlie said to you at the beginning, she decided to end it all. Let me know when you’re going to be broadcasting the apology, Charlie, so we can make sure everyone sees it.’