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The afternoon session at the inquiry was now underway. Alice Stubbs, a carer who had worked with Jason Morley was being sworn in.
‘Mr Bretherton? Please proceed,’ instructed Dame Margaret.
Gina was pleased that during this afternoon’s session she could let Julius conduct the questioning of the witnesses. She needed to make sure that all the relevant information was being covered, but as he was proving to be so proficient, her mind began to wander. Something had just occurred to her as she remembered this morning’s flat tyre. Was the incident in any way connected to the mysterious items of post or was she being paranoid? She hadn’t had time to examine the car for more damage. Perhaps it had been scratched as well? If that were the case, she would need to report it to the police.
Words from Miss Stubbs and her colleague Julius filtered through her thoughts and she heard, “short-tempered, grabbing, dressings, rough,” and she was hauled back to the present moment. Gina scanned some papers in front of her. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
‘Thank you, Miss Stubbs. So it seems apparent that there was no effective whistle-blowing policy in place. The managers at the home and at SEKare were reluctant to listen to concerns about one of their employees and so abuses were allowed to carry on for longer than necessary. We can see that once more there was a failing of the management and no effective supervision of employees, thus allowing an unsafe environment to flourish at the expense of the most vulnerable.’
‘Thank you, Ms Overton. Mr Fairbrother?’
‘I don’t have any further questions, madam.’
‘Thank you, Miss Stubbs, you may sit down.’
‘I’m afraid I’ve just been passed a note to say that our next witness, Mr Keith Dennison, has been involved in a car accident on the way here and is unable to attend. Fortunately, he’s not seriously injured but has been taken to hospital as a precaution. I am going to end today’s session earlier than planned. We will reconvene tomorrow at 10 a.m. Counsel, before you leave, I should like a quick discussion in my office.’
Gina felt relieved that the session had ended. She still felt slightly unsettled by her latest item of mail, and it was praying on her mind. Nor had she mentioned the flat tyre to Will. Her usual analytical thought processes didn’t seem to be working efficiently at all. The trouble was that if it came to nothing, she would have worried him unduly but at the same time, if things got worse and she needed to involve the police, he would accuse her of being secretive. Besides, a card and a notebook were hardly a matter for the police. People did make mistakes and send items to the wrong address although, in the case of a work address that seemed unlikely. Troubling her husband at the moment seemed like a lose, lose situation and not worth the hassle.
She was aware of Julius speaking to her but had no idea of the question.
‘Sorry, Julius I was just thinking about something.’
‘I wondered whether the plan is for me to continue with the witnesses tomorrow?’
‘Er, yes, why shouldn’t it be?’
‘No reason. I was just checking,’ said Julius, defensively. His superior had seemed very tense this afternoon, quite different to her normal self.
‘Was there something else?’ she asked.
‘Er, no. Why?’
‘I wondered why you were still sitting there. I need to pass by you to go to Dame Margaret’s office.’
‘Julius stood without replying to her barbed comment, thus allowing her to pass and he hoped that tomorrow would signal an improvement in her mood.
**
After some time alone in her office, Gina felt calmer. She’d spent about an hour dealing with administrative tasks and catching up with messages which Carly had taken in her absence. Finally, having dictated some letters and signed the rest of her correspondence, she felt on top of things and actually ahead of where she had planned to be. The shorter inquiry session had been welcome and well-timed. She hoped that Carly hadn’t smelled her e-cigarette as she had naughtily vaped furiously whilst standing at the open window in her office. Perhaps that was the cause of her relaxed mood?
‘Will, hi, I’m sorry I was a bit terse with you at lunchtime.’
‘Oh, no problem, perhaps I shouldn’t have phoned. You sound better now.’
‘Yes, well, someone’s misfortune was my gain, so to speak. The last witness never made it to the inquiry, so we finished early. Let out of school for good behaviour, she joked.’
‘Well, I’m having a shit day, our IT systems have just gone down. Would you believe we’ve had one of those ransomware attacks?’
‘Oh, no! What a disaster! When will you be up and running again?’
‘Tomorrow, probably. Of course, it wouldn’t have happened if we had upgraded our Windows system and had better security. God the incompetence is quite unbelievable. They try to penny pinch and then it just costs more in the long run.’
‘Yes, it’s so frustrating when there doesn’t seem to be a long-term plan. Anyway, I had better go as I’m popping around to the estate agent to take in our documents and bank details etc.’
‘Oh, great. Augustine Avenue looks super. I’ve been looking at the street view, and it looks perfect, well, apart from the price.’
‘This is the south-east, not the north. Everything is more expensive.’
‘Yes, well we knew that. I’m just being a miser as usual!’
‘Look, I’d better go. Chat later.’
‘Bye, darling.’
Gina collected her bag and checked she had all her documents.
‘Bye Carly, I won’t be back again today. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Bye. Have a good evening,’ replied Carly in her sing-song voice.
Gina stepped outside and before setting out on her way, took out her e-cigarette. The comforting vapour suffused her lungs. She hoped she wasn’t becoming addicted, but it was definitely helping at this stressful time.
Gina made her way down to the main road and squinted against the strong late-afternoon sunlight whilst she waited for a gap in the traffic. Impatiently, she scurried across the road and strode out purposefully in the direction of the estate agent, completely unaware of the person who had been sitting for a while observing the door to her chambers. That person was now covertly following Gina at a distance of ten yards or so, masked by the crowds of tourists and shoppers in the centre of the city.
