Chapter 16

It’s up to you now Andrew,’ George said as they left Arthur Hughes’ office.

The whole thing took no more than ten minutes. Lisa was right. As soon as he was confronted with the evidence, Arthur caved. Having George Edwards there certainly helped. Arthur had always been a little afraid of George for some reason and with him being there backing Andrew up, Arthur confessed. Once he started, it was almost impossible to stop him talking.

Of the twenty patients who were enrolled in the study towards the end, fifteen were faked. The other five were real, all referred from the Royal Melbourne Hospital and all had gliomas.

Arthur told them that Jeffrey had put pressure on him to cooperate and he provided the false pathology reports on the fifteen healthy subjects who had been subjected to unnecessary surgery and then cured with Amaradine of gliomas they did not actually have.

When he finished talking, Arthur looked relieved, as if a weight had been lifted. He readily agreed to sign a statement detailing everything that he had told them in exchange for George promising that his role in the whole affair would be kept secret.

‘I’m still not sure why you promised Arthur to keep his part in this a secret,’ said Andrew as he and George left the Pathology Department.

‘There is nothing to be gained by ruining the man Andrew. He’s just a pathetic pawn in all this. He owes Jeffrey his job and there was no way he could have said no to him.’

‘Fair enough,’ said Andrew.

Andrew still had the three identical biopsy reports in his hand and also Arthur Hughes’ written confession which George had handed him.

‘You’ve got all the evidence you need now Andrew. What you do with it is for you to decide. I’ve already told you what I think. From here on it’s your call. I’m out of it.’

‘Thanks for all your help George. Really, I couldn’t have done it without you. What am I going to do with this? To be honest, I don’t know.’

Andrew paused. ‘What I do know is that Lisa and I are taking a week off. We’re going to drive to the Yarra Valley, spend the time touring the wineries and then I’m going to ask Lisa to marry me. She doesn’t know yet, so please keep this to yourself George.’

‘Good for you Andrew. Not before time. I never understood why you two didn’t get married three years ago. Have some time to yourselves. There’s no rush for you to make a decision. Get in touch when you get back.’

They shook hands and parted company.

It was just after nine and Andrew would have been due in his rooms but he had cancelled the consulting session for that morning and had cancelled the whole of the next week. He headed home to put away the papers he was still holding. He wanted Arthur’s statement in a safe place. Lisa was at home having started the week off already. Andrew filled her in on what had transpired. Lisa smiled as if to say, I told you so.

She then said ‘Go and pack Andrew. I’m already packed. I want to get out of here within the hour. Andrew,’ she said putting her right index finger to her lips, ‘From this minutes on and until we are back here in seven days time, there will be no talk of drug trials, biopsy reports or fake patients and most of all, no talk about what you are going to do about it. Not a word. We’re having a week off from the real world.’

Andrew said nothing. He smiled, nodded in agreement and headed off to the bedroom to pack. He had prepared everything he needed the night before they were pulling out of their driveway thirty-five minutes later to start the one and a half hour journey to the Yarra Valley.

Andrew had booked accommodation at the Chateau Yering Hotel. He had not told Lisa. It was to be a surprise. Lisa had asked him where they were staying a few times but gave up when she realised Andrew would not tell her. The other reason that Andrew did not tell Lisa was that Chateau Yering was incredibly expensive. He had never spent that much money on a hotel before and had she known in advance, Lisa would have no doubt made him change the booking to somewhere cheaper.

The drive was uneventful. Andrew had put a Rolling Stones CD into the player and they chatted and sang along with the Stones all the way. When they arrived, Andrew parked the car and they walked the short distance to the hotel.

From the outside the hotel looked like an old homestead but once inside, the old world charm and luxury took their breath away.

‘This must have…’ Lisa started to say. This time it was Andrew’s turn to put his finger to his lips. ‘Shooosh. I know what you’re going to say, so don’t. We’re going to indulge ourselves this week and hang the expense.’

Lisa knew better than to say anything more. She realised that she was excited by the prospect of staying in such a luxurious hotel. Andrew checked in and they were shown to their room. The first thing they saw was a four poster bed with its mahogany posts and gold coloured canopy and curtain. There was an open fireplace, around the table were three chairs and a wardrobe, all made of rich dark wood. The carpet had a subtle floral pattern, a grey green colour.

‘Enjoy your stay,’ said the bell boy, handing Andrew the keys. Both Andrew and Lisa stood at the door and stared into the room. Andrew managed to mumble ‘Thank you’ and handed the bell boy a five dollar tip.

‘Not too shabby,’ Lisa said. ‘Come on, let’s unpack. I want to explore the grounds.’

Twenty minutes later they were walking through the beautifully manicured lawns, hand in hand.

‘I’m hungry Lisa. I don’t know about you but I missed breakfast.’

After enquiring at the front desk, they were directed to the conservatory where a hot breakfast was being served at the Sweetwater Café.

‘I’m full,’ said Andrew, after they had both finished. ‘Where to now?’

‘I think the four poster bed. I don’t think I’ve ever been in one,’ was Lisa’s reply. Andrew just smiled.

‘Great idea Lisa. Lead on.’

They didn’t leave the room again that day. Dinner was a salad from the room service menu accompanied by a bottle of chardonnay from Chateau Yering. They made a half-hearted attempt at watching a movie on TV but soon fell into a deep sleep.

Their plan for the next six days was to visit as many of the local wineries as possible. Andrew had done his research and discovered one hundred and sixty-nine wineries were listed in the area. Clearly they could not cover even a fraction of those. The hotel concierge provided them with a map which had all the wineries marked on it, the time that the cellar doors were open and the ones that had a restaurant or café where meals could be purchased.

They set off with no particular destination in mind. They would stop at any winery that was on the road they were travelling. After a tasting they intended to purchase a bottle of white and a bottle of red from each winery. They managed four wineries on the first day. Andrew was careful not to overdo the tasting as he was driving. Lisa had no such inhibitions.

By day four they only managed one winery and days five and six were spent back at the hotel, mostly in the four poster bed.

For the last evening Andrew booked Eleanor’s for dinner. This was the hotel’s award winning restaurant and this was where Andrew planned to propose to Lisa.

They were shown to their table by the window. It was 7.30 and the restaurant was already almost full. Lisa looked quizzically when Andrew ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon. They toasted and as Lisa sipped her champagne, Andrew put his left hand in his jacket pocket, removed from it a Tiffany jewellery box and placed it in front of Lisa just as she was putting her champagne glass down.

‘Lisa Wallace. Will you marry me?’

‘Yes, I will, Andrew Marshall,’ was Lisa’s immediate reply.

There was applause from an adjoining table where the six diners obviously had seen and heard the proposal. Lisa opened the box and her eyes widened as she looked down at a sparkling brilliant cut diamond ring set in platinum. The diamond was spectacular and the salesman at Tiffany’s assured Andrew that his intended would not fail to be impressed.

Lisa’s hand trembled a little as she took the ring out and placed it on her finger. She held her left hand up to show Andrew who was beaming with pride. More applause, this time from three nearby tables.

‘Andrew Marshall, I love you very much,’ Lisa half stood, leant over to Andrew and kissed him. Yet more applause which now seemed to be coming from the whole restaurant.

Dinner was excellent and it was obvious to both Lisa and Andrew why Eleanor’s had won so many culinary awards. The food was accompanied by Chateau Yering’s own wine, a different wine for each course, finishing with a beautiful, sweet, sticky sauterne which accompanied dessert.

‘Andrew, this has been the perfect ending to a beautiful week,’ Lisa said, her eyes glistening and her speech a little slurred.

‘I’ve never been happier Lisa,’ was Andrew’s reply. As they weaved their way somewhat unsteadily back to their room, there was a nagging thought at the back of Andrew’s mind to stop. Now back to the real world.