Part Twenty-Five
As Tom and Zubin drove towards George's office, Tom was forced to admit to a growing sense of curiosity. Zubin had filled him in on the facts of the case as far as possible, and now Tom was eager to get involved. He still wasn't entirely convinced of Barbara Mills' innocence, but he supposed that neither were her lawyers at this stage. He had also met Kay Scarpetta at the end of last week, just before her return to Virginia, and couldn't help but think that involvement with this case might just provide him with some delightfully exciting female company, should he decide to play his cards right. When they drew up in the car park, Tom's comment of, "Very nice," seemed to sum up the situation perfectly. George's office was in the fashionable area of Knightsbridge, right in the very heart of high class shopping territory. "This beats working for the NHS any day," Tom observed dryly. "I don't suspect that Mrs. Channing has ever done any work for the state in her life," Zubin suggested as they walked inside.
After the introductions had been made, and coffee had been served, Tom broke the silence with, "You know, Zubin was absolutely right about you two." Then, after taking a sip of his coffee, he elaborated. "When he filled me in as to some of the facts, he told me that there were two of you, and that you could probably win this case on female beauty alone." George laughed, Jo smiled, and Zubin looked highly embarrassed. "Well, I'm sure we both appreciate the compliment," George told him kindly. "Though I would like to think that we could win this case on an awful lot more. Now, Mr. Campbell-Gore, could you fill us in as to your exact position at St. Mary's?" "For a start, call me Tom," He said with a smile. "Mr. Campbell-Gore becomes a bit of a mouthful after a while. It's funny, but I think my own name was the one thing I could never quite say when I was drunk." "Tom then," George corrected herself. "We need to have some idea as to your professional status in relation to Connie Beauchamp, as it appears she will be the prosecution's main witness." "Then feel free to relax," Tom assured them. "Both myself and Connie Beauchamp are cardio thoracic surgeons, though she has the unenviable task of Medical Director, a position I also had at one time. However, being at least ten years older than Mrs. Beauchamp, I've been in the cardio thoracic ball game a lot longer than she has." "Is there any possibility," Jo asked. "That she could have wrongly diagnosed Henry Mills as being inoperable?" "Anything's possible," Tom mused in reply. "But I doubt it. Connie Beauchamp might stamp on everything that gets in her path, but she's good at her job." "Something Connie doesn't do," Zubin further clarified. "Is to take a risk with someone's life if she can possibly help it. If she hadn't been absolutely certain with something like lung cancer, she would definitely have asked for a second opinion, even if it would have shattered her pride to do so." "Other than the state pathologist," Jo put in. "We don't know who the other prosecution witnesses are yet, if any have been found. What we also don't know, and which from your point of view is far more important, is who will be prosecuting this case. Until we know that, we can't possibly predict just how rough a ride you might have." "Yes, we do know," Tom told her. "Does the name Brian Cantwell ring any bells?" "Oh, marvellous," George said disgustedly. "I might have known he'd jump at this case," Jo agreed gloomily. "How did you know?" George asked. "Connie got a phone call from him when we were in theatre on Friday morning," Zubin filled in. "Arranging a time to meet with her, presumably for the same reason that you two are now meeting with us." "Well now, that is a nice little bonus," George said unexpectedly, the slight gleam of deviousness in her eyes. "To have what amounts to two spies in the camp of the main prosecution witness, couldn't be better." "Is that how you work all your cases?" Zubin asked a little pompously. "Where necessary, yes," George told him without a flicker. "Surely you would use every method at your disposal to achieve the desired results?" "However, what you must remember," Jo told them firmly, clearly acting the stern parent in this case. "Is that both of you are far more likely to unwittingly give away information to the opposition than Mrs. Beauchamp is, for the simple fact that there are two of you, and only one of her, so please be careful."
"One possibility that I don't think either of you have considered," Tom said slowly, thinking that George was certainly going to be a lot of fun to work with. "Is the very outside chance that Henry Mills could have died from natural causes." "But how?" Jo asked incredulously. "The state pathologist's report and Kay Scarpetta's initial report say that he died from a morphine overdose." "I'm only floating it as a suggestion," Tom explained. "Because with a condition as chronically invasive as lung cancer, there is always the possibility of all the vital organs simply going into shock, mainly from a lack of oxygenated blood. The more lung cancer spreads, the less oxygen can get into the body, and the less oxygenated blood can reach organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys." "So, we now have four possible outcomes, not two," Jo clarified. "Murder, suicide, accidental overdose, or death by natural causes." "I'm guessing that's what Connie will be there for," Put in Tom. "To thoroughly discount the possibility of death by natural causes. She's determined to stick to the idea that Henry Mills was murdered, or at least she was in theatre last Friday." "Professor Khan," George said sternly. "Just what did we tell you about not using this case to settle any scores?" "Tell me, have you ever worked with Connie?" Zubin asked, not willing to go down without a fight in front of Tom. "That is hardly the point," George argued back. "Mrs. Beauchamp would argue with Dr. Crippen's defence lawyer if she thought she could get away with it," Zubin insisted, making Jo laugh. "Well, I'll be in good company then, won't I," George told him with the lust for battle clear for all to see. "But you must try not to give Mrs. Beauchamp, which in this case means the opposition, any fodder for mud slinging against defence witnesses." "I shall attempt to curb my tongue," Zubin promised her glibly. "Holier than thou intensions are all well and good, Zubin, but we all know that the road to hell was paved with them."
"Just how plausible," Jo broke in, wanting to change the subject fast. "Is the possibility that the overdose was accidental?" "Given that Henry's body was almost certainly going into medical stasis, which is where all the vital organs and processes begin to shut down, it is something that does need to be considered. Morphine metabolites can build up in the liver when this happens, meaning that the body doesn't process it at the expected speed. This therefore means that the tolerance level will gradually get lower, as more and more of the metabolites are stored in the liver. Hopefully the tests that Kay will run should give us more informed answers than we have at the moment."
A good while later, when Tom and Zubin had left, George reached over and briefly touched Jo's hand. "Well, I might not have met the dishonourable Mrs. Beauchamp, but I think I can safely say that we have the best of the witnesses." "We haven't found out what their particular hidden skeletons are yet," Jo said ruefully. "And Kay's were quite bad enough to be going on with." "I just hope they can keep their mouths shut," George replied, thinking this something of a tall order. "I like Tom," Jo said meditatively. "There's something really down to earth about him." "Whereas Professor Khan does get very hot under the collar," George added with a smile. "He's going to have to really toughen up his act before we get him in the witness box, or Brian Cantwell will have him flustered and floundering in the first five minutes." "Brian's done this because it's his turn to win a case against me," Jo said with utter certainty. "We slid into the score keeping thing a few years ago. We've been pretty even until now, but he probably sees this as a case he can win without any possible risk." "Jo, if I know anything about Brian Cantwell," George assured her. "It will be far more likely that he's found out who Barbara's team consists of, and can't quite forego the challenge of taking on the two of us in one fell swoop."
As Zubin parked the car, Tom walked back up to Darwin Ward, inwardly planning the operation he had to perform that afternoon. "Mr. Campbell-Gore," Connie said as she accosted him. "Nice to have you with us. Go anywhere nice?" "Nowhere you need to worry about," Tom told her blithely, remembering George's warning. "And I did ensure adequate cover before I left." "So I see," Connie said almost disappointedly, as though she badly wanted something to pin on him. "So, have a nice meeting with Barbara Mills' barristers, did you?" "A nicer one than I suspect you had last Friday with, now what was his name? Oh, Brian Cantwell, if I remember rightly." "At least I'm batting for the worthy cause of justice," Connie threw back disgustedly. "Is that right," Tom said carefully, trying to rein in his anger and not really succeeding. "I know she killed him," Connie said furiously, her voice taking on that quiet, venomous calm they all knew so well. "And I know she didn't," Tom replied firmly, his determination to beat her overriding his sense of danger. "Well, let the best man win," Connie told him almost sweetly. "At least I have righteous certainty, and a barrister who isn't afraid of tearing witnesses to shreds." "Connie, all you've got in your favour, is a pair of good legs," Tom told her smoothly. "Though I suppose they could come in handy, should you choose to fight this case by seducing the judge." Turning on his heel, he walked smartly away from her, thinking that keeping his opinions to himself was going to be nothing less than an uphill struggle.