ROGER SUMPTION QC

The witness’s background as a police officer, and her work on this investigation, make her opinion relevant.

JUDGE THOMAS

I tend to agree. Please answer the question, Ms Kealty.

HARRIET KEALTY

DS Khan and I worked on the assumption the device was some kind of jammer, something that could disable the camera. Twenty-two minutes after the camera went out, Ben Elmys and David Asha were picked up by another camera at the main entrance. I checked the distances and timing. They had long enough to have hidden Elizabeth Asha’s body somewhere in the hospital grounds.

GRACE OYEWOLE QC

Another speculative leap, my Lord. Hospital management still cannot say what happened to Elizabeth Asha’s body.

JUDGE THOMAS

But it is missing, is it not? And therefore it is appropriate to note who might have had the time to move it without detection.

HARRIET KEALTY

I believe they had time. I believe they could have moved Elizabeth Asha’s body.

Chapter 21

‘What’s she doing here?’

Harri was startled by the tone of her former boss. She looked up from the screen on Sabih’s desk as Detective Chief Inspector Lee Powell strode towards them. He was a strutting cockerel at the best of times, and never missed an opportunity to highlight another’s failings or broadcast his own successes. Harri was convinced the reason he’d pushed so hard for her dismissal was because he viewed a London high-flier as a threat to his job. He looked older than Harri remembered, like an aging soap star whose best days were behind him. His pressed white shirt shone, his black shoes gleamed, his creases were pin sharp, and his tie was held in perfect position by a silver clip. His shirtsleeves were rolled up, but Harri suspected this was for ‘man of the people’ effect, rather than comfort.

Harri flushed with shame when she saw him, and angry words bubbled in her throat. This was the man who’d abandoned her, betrayed her, failed her when she’d needed him most. She knew expressing her anger would be counterproductive, so she said, ‘I’m here to report an assault.’

Powell gestured at the monitor, which showed Ben Elmys and David Asha leaving Royal Stoke Hospital on the night of Elizabeth Asha’s death. ‘Is that the Asha investigation?’

Harri looked at Sabih. ‘You told him?’

‘I—’ Sabih began defensively, but Powell spoke for him.

‘Told me? Do you imagine any responsible police officer would let a potential murder investigation go unreported? Thank you for any help you’ve given, drawing this matter to police attention, but this is now an official investigation, and you will have nothing further to do with it.’

‘This is my case,’ Harri objected.

‘Your case?’ Powell replied. ‘Even if you were still on the force, you wouldn’t be anywhere near this investigation. Your prior involvement with the suspect excludes you.’

The way he said the word ‘involvement’ made it sound sordid, and Harri was wounded by the insinuation and Sabih’s betrayal. Her former partner couldn’t meet her gaze, which was probably just as well. She was furious with him.