Part 12: Persuasive Precedent
Returning to her office, Didi found a newly-delivered envelope. She slit it open and shook out its contents onto her desk blotter. It contained a thick beige-coloured file. She eagerly opened it, ignoring the faded red confidential stamps on its cover.
The first few pages were notes and letters printed on Markhem's letterhead. Next, a request for Roslin's medical records to be sent to CCF Hospital, care of Major Sherman Cottle.
There were mentions of biopsies, scans, and surgeries. One part caught her eye: a double mastectomy. There was no mention of diloxin, or the mysterious chamalla.
President Baltar, then still Doctor Baltar, was listed as a consulting specialist in attendance. He had been studying the genetic links of breast cancer, and so a series of notes followed with regards to Laura Roslin's mother: what operations she'd undergone, what doses of diloxin had been administered, the side effects she'd suffered through, her date of death.
Didi flicked back a few pages, checked the date Judith Roslin was diagnosed and quickly did the math. She then referenced the hospital admission dates. There were many long stretches.
"Hang on," she murmured before scrambling over to where Lampkin had dumped the pile of photographs and newspaper clippings. Eventually she found one with a full-faced woman standing beside her daughter. They both sparkled towards the camera.
"There would have been physical changes when she underwent diloxin treatment. Not to mention the mental and emotional changes..."
Didi pinned the mother/daughter photograph onto the board, next to the incriminating one of Roslin wearing the headscarf. Below there was a photo featuring a smiling Laura Roslin with Commander Adama by her side, gripping her arm possessively.
Didi folded her arms, took a step back and stared at the couple.
"Could it be as simple as that?"