Things settled down for a few days at the MCU. Carson held a triumphant press conference about Diana’s arrest and her subsequently being charged with twenty-two counts of murder. This in itself was unsurprising; what was surprising was that he insisted on having Ottey at his side. Cross had declined. Ottey wasn’t oblivious to the fact, of course, that the force was doing as much as it could to present itself as being diverse, and this was probably in Carson’s thinking.
The case went national in both print and TV media. It also, as Diana had predicted, brought the assisted dying debate to the fore. Depending where the various media outlets sat on the issue, they either used the case to demonstrate why assisted dying should be brought into law with all the appropriate safeguards in place, or why it shouldn’t, as it would be open to abuse by people like Diana and, by implication, Sutton. Carson, it had to be said, was generous in his praise of the team led by Ottey and Cross – this despite the fact that he hadn’t really considered it to be a legitimate case at the outset.
This lull in things also meant that Cross could no longer avoid the Campbell enquiry. He was duly summoned for an interview. He sat before a panel of three senior officers and listened as the list of Campbell’s grievances – examples of Cross’s disrespect, dissent and disregard for Campbell’s rank and authority – was read out. As Cross listened, he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t argue with the factual basis of the complaint. It was all completely accurate. Campbell hadn’t actually fabricated anything or even greatly exaggerated. His interpretation of the facts and his perceived slights could all be taken issue with, but Cross found himself curiously indifferent to arguing the case. He thought the whole exercise was a complete waste of time.
If the board looked at the results of any of the cases Campbell had cited as involving Cross’s supposed malfeasance, where he had countermanded Campbell – not the least Flick’s case, which had led to Cross uncovering the worst serial killer the south-west had ever had – they would see that he, Cross, was right in every instance to take the action, or say what he said to Campbell.
After he’d finished reading out the litany of complaints, the head of the board looked up at Cross.
‘How do you respond, Sergeant?’ he said.
‘I don’t,’ replied Cross.
‘What does that mean?’ the officer asked.
‘I have nothing to say.’
‘Nothing at all?’
‘No. The facts, as laid out, are all correct, as far as my recollection goes.’
‘Do you have nothing to say in mitigation or in your defence?’ the head of the board asked.
‘I do not. The facts are mitigation in themselves, and the results of my actions are my defence. Was there anything else, or can I get back to work?’ Cross asked.
‘I really would advise you to have something on record,’ another board member said.
‘I believe I just did,’ Cross replied, and with that it was over as he immediately left the room.
The head of the panel was perplexed, but the other two officers were quietly thinking to themselves how impressive Cross’s candour was. He thought he had no case to answer and so he wasn’t going to be coerced into doing so.