Ric Griffin walked into the staff room. He went straight over to Clark and stuck his hand out in front of him. His jovial smile preceded him and Clark was immediately put at ease. Standing up Clark took Ric's hand and Shook it warmly. He indicated the seat on the opposite side of the table. He laid out his notes in front of him and smiled over at Ric.
"Mr Griffin, sorry for taking up your time, I know you're a busy man."
"Honestly, glad to help. Theatre lists can wait." Suddenly he looked sorrowful, his smile disappearing as he said "No Connie to complain any more is there?" He gave Clark a rueful smile before shrugging briefly. "But still life goes on I guess, much quieter already."
Clark nodded, silently agreeing with his comments. "SO you and Mrs Beauchamp got on well?"
"I wouldn't say that, we had our differences, but nothing major. We argued over beds, over patients on my ward who should have been on hers, we disagreed over the working time directive, we bickered like children. But it was superficial; there was never any real dislike or anything. I liked her. She was a good medical director, almost as good as the best." He broke his tirade with a snigger and a self-depreciating smile. "She took over from me y'see. And she was welcome to it. I hate paperwork. Guess that's something you would understand inspector?"
Clark smiled, feeling good about the interview, Ric was giving him all the information he needed and he'd hardly had to say a word. If only all witnesses were as forthcoming as Ric was, his job would be a breeze and there'd be so much of his dreaded paperwork.
"You said it, piles of the stuff. Takes me an age to get it done before I can even think of catching criminals. Absolute nightmare!" he concluded, returning Ric's smile. "So no recent disagreements between you and Mrs Beauchamp?"
Ric shook his head, twisting his face into what he hoped was an innocent, questioning look. Raising his eyebrows he began to speak again. "Not that I can recall, nothing stands out. We had words about a nurse who she wanted to mentor but who wasn't up to it. She's blinkered when she gets an idea in her head so we gave up in the end. She couldn't understand why Will and I didn't want Mickie cluttering up the wards, but she was adamant. Mickie was going to shadow her. Today in fact."
Clark flashed a look at Lois who had joined him for the interview. Reading his look she wrote down the name and rested forwards on her elbows towards Ric. "She got a surname?"
Ric turned around; startled by the newcomer he hadn't registered entering the room. He wrung his hands, "Um yeah I guess so, not sure what it is though, I've not had much to do with her to be honest. Will should know; he's spoken to her about it."
Clark nodded to Lois and carried on, his questions mirroring those he asked to Will just minutes earlier. "Were you and Mrs Beauchamp friends out of work?"
"Friends…" he smiled knowingly, his face glazing over. "Yeah we had our moments." He grinned coyly and looked down at his hands.
Clark looked over at Lois and saw her already scribbling down the word 'motive'. He looked back At Ric. "Moments?" he raised an eyebrow and curled his lip slightly.
"Well, more of a moment really. When she first joined we got close, but not since then and it was only the once. Not for the want of trying" he laughed softly again. "But we had a kind of understanding after that, we didn't clash as much again."
"But you were friends to the point where you invited her to your birthday party?"
"More of an open invite really, Juliet and Harper wards were invited plus friends. And of course it was my daughter's flat so her friends were there too."
"And you were annoyed when she went off with her registrar rather than you, the birthday boy." His questioning was becoming more forceful as he moved Ric further up his suspect list.
"Will?" he exclaimed incredulously. "Connie and Will? God." He shook his head in disbelief. "Well that's a turn up for the books, and all along I thought she genuinely hated him. Turns out she just wanted to get in his pants." He laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his neck in surprise. "Well, well, well…" he trailed off.
Clark snuck a sideways glance at Lois, unsure of whether he should have mentioned Connie and Will's close encounter; she smiled reassuringly at him, urging him on with the burning in her eyes. She nudged her shoulder towards him and tilted her head back at Ric. Taking over the questioning she looked back to Ric and flashed him her most dazzling smile, her eyes sparkling. It evidently caught Ric's attention as he shifted his whole body position around to her and smiled back at her, leaning in close to her.
"Were you in love with Connie Beauchamp?" she hit him hard, her smile not changing as she watched his eyes widen and his mouth open and close.
"No, I wasn't. Lust maybe; not love. I'm old enough not to make that mistake again; I'm not stupid, Detective Sergeant."
"Fair comment, but am I right in saying you wouldn't have turned her down if she offered it again?"
Ric shrugged, "She was a pretty lady, I'd be mad to say no."
Lois smiled and turned back to Clark, nodding she started to write notes on the open page of her notebook. A minute passed and she looked up at Ric. "That's all Mr Griffin, feel free to go. But don't leave the country; nothing gives away a guilty conscience like a vanishing act does."
As Ric stood up and thanked the officers, he smiled and straightened his tie. "Connie never liked it straight."
