(Jonathan Roper Investigates Boxset Page 7

  Roper made the call only to be told that Dr. Paul Humbert would have to call him back. His secretary said he might be able to ring around mid-afternoon. No longer distracted by his attempt to speak to the doctor he realised it was already 1.30pm and asked Hooley if he wanted something to eat.

  “I’ll go,” said the DCI. “I’ve decided that I need to start eating a bit more salad and bit less bread so I want to see what my options are.”

  “Sprouting crimson lentils,” said Roper.

  Hooley looked at Roper as if he had just ‘sprouted’ a pair of horns. “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said sprouting crimson lentils. Very good for you, especially in a salad. Some people call it a super-food although that’s not true, but it does fill you up. You should also try a kale smoothie, full of vitamins and minerals.”

  Hooley sighed heavily.

  “Thanks for the motivational chat. I can’t wait to try it. The Kale smoothie sounds a particularly horrid invention. I’ll bet that becomes a real favourite of mine.”

  He brightened up as a thought hit him. “What about those root vegetable crisps? Those must be good for you.”

  “No. Full of fat. You’ll never get rid of that stomach if you eat things like that, and think what the salt will do to your blood pressure.”

  Fortunately for Roper he missed the signal that showed he had gone too far as the DCI restrained an impulse to flip the finger. He took a calming breath; something he was getting plenty of practise at. “Well, I’m going out to get something. What can I get for you?”

  Roper rubbed his hands eagerly.

  “I’d like one egg mayo on brown bread, a prawn mayonnaise on brown bread, one chocolate muffin and one blueberry muffin. Actually, make that one chocolate muffin and two blueberry muffins.”

  Hooley stood up, shaking his head.

  “Anything else?”

  “They do a really good vanilla milk-shake with organic ice cream but I’ll go and get one of those later. Be good to stretch my legs a bit.”

  ◆◆◆

  Roper put the phone down. Dr Humbert had been polite and answered his questions but it hadn’t added anything. Hooley looked over. “Any use?”

  “I don’t think so. He said there was nothing about Sir James’s health that warranted any treatment and he was in very good shape.”

  “Shame,” said Hooley. “It would have been nice if there had been something we could look into. Still, at least now you can focus on drawing up a plan for talking to the bio-tech firms.”

  Roper nodded. “I’ve started researching what they do so will be ready by tomorrow.”

  They sat in silence for a minute, then Hooley stood up.

  “Come on. We’ve had a long day. Let’s get off home then start early tomorrow.”

  Looking out of the window he noticed the sun was shining.

  “Seems quite nice out there. Why don’t you walk home? You always say that walking lets you think about things.”

  Chapter 19

  Roper had pushed himself hard on his walk and was breathing heavily as the entrance to his block came into view. He slowed down and started to imagine the sensation of stepping under a hot shower when he was struck by a fierce blow from behind. Before he could react a second one landed and then strong hands grabbed him, throwing him to the pavement. Already winded, hitting the ground left him stunned and he didn’t move as a hard kick to his stomach was followed by blows raining down on his face, body and legs. Then it was over and he was throwing up violently before blacking out, blood pouring from a cut to his head.

  When he came to he was lying in a strange bed and felt as though he was floating. The light was harsh and everything seemed white. Part of his mind wondered if he was dead. Gradually the room came into view along with the faces of Julie Mayweather and Brian Hooley. Unless they had died too; then it was unlikely they were all in the afterlife. He tried to struggle up but a gentle hand from Mayweather pushed him back on to the hospital bed.

  She spoke to him. “You’ve been hurt, Jonathan, but it’s going to be OK. The doctors are coming to look at you again but they reckon you’re a tough old bugger.”

  He tried to speak but his lips stuck together. Just at that moment a male nurse loomed into view and gently wiped his mouth with a damp cloth. It let him part his lips and he tried again to sit up, but this time the room spun and he sank back without anyone needing to stop him.

  “Steady there,” said the nurse. “You’ve been in the wars. The doctor hadn’t expected to see you come around quite so soon.”

  Two minutes later a tired looking man walked in and stood at the end of the bed studying Roper.

  “My name is John Moore,” he said. “I’m an A&E consultant here at Guy’s. We’ve got you in one our side rooms for the moment and will move you up to a ward as soon as we’re happy that you’re in a nice stable condition.”

  He carried on looking at him and then checked the monitors he was attached to.

  “That’s good,” he pointed at one of the displays. “When you came in here your blood pressure was spiking a bit but you’re already heading back down to normal. You must be fit. That’s good, it will help you. I just need to have a quick look and then we can think about moving you.”

  With that he carried out a slow examination including shining a torch in his eyes. He nodded, seemingly pleased by what he saw. Then he held up three fingers.

  “Not the most scientific of test but sometimes the old techniques work best. Could you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?”

  “Three,” croaked Roper.

  “Good.” He held up a single finger. “How many now?”

  “One,” although it came out sounding like “on.”

  “Excellent,” the consultant smiled at him. “We’ll keep an eye on you for a bit longer but I think everything is going to be fine.”

  He turned to Mayweather and Hooley and indicated they follow him through the curtains.

  “Is he really going to be OK?” said an anxious Hooley as they stepped outside. Before the consultant could reply they had to step back as an ambulance crew wheeled a trolley past with a pale looking old lady sucking oxygen from a mask, followed by an orderly pushing a chair with a young boy sporting an enormous bandage on his head.

  The consultant shrugged. “Good job it’s not Friday or Saturday night. Can be a bit chaotic in here.”

  “But you want to know about your man. I do think he will be fine. In a way this is one of the more unusual things I have seen. When the ambulance brought him in he was unconscious and covered in blood. A lot of that was from a head wound and they can bleed for Britain.”

  “At first, I thought he must have been hit by a car, even a bus, but the more I examined him the odder it was. He’s been beaten all over his body and head but nothing seems to be broken and there don’t appear to be any internal injuries, apart from some nasty bruising. He’s also going to have a bit of concussion but the signs are reasonably hopeful that it will be fairly minor. Time will tell of course. We haven’t been able to get him in for a CAT scan yet but he’s passed the initial checks.

  “He’s taken a beating for sure, and we need to check his kidney function but with luck he will be out of here in a couple of days, three at the most. As I say, quite remarkable. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some other patients to see to.”

  The two officers watched him walk away.

  Hooley spoke first. “Am I the only one thinking he was beaten by a professional who knew exactly what he was doing?”

  Mayweather’s expression was grave. “You’re not. But I also think we need to be very careful before we jump to conclusions. Over the years how many odd things have we seen? People killed with one punch while someone else gets run over and walks away with just scratches.”

  She stopped talking and a more troubled expression crossed her face. Hooley recognised it for what it was.

  “You’re worried he might have got himself tangled up in something. Well
the good news is that all we need to do is ask him. He’s quite incapable of telling a lie so will tell us if he has.”

  Mayweather looked dubious.

  “No, really,” said Hooley. “And it is classic Roper. When he was a boy his grandmother told him that he should never tell a lie because his nose would grow bigger, like Pinocchio. He was so worried about it he never has.”

  Mayweather was smiling now, the first time she’d relaxed since getting the news about Roper being hurt. “Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what our man is like. Once a promise is given it can never be broken.” She thought for a moment. “How do you think he is going to cope with it though?”

  Hooley looked at the curtains closing off the cubicle. “I really don’t know. Tell you what, why don’t I stay with him until they take him up to the ward? You’re going to have a lot of people to talk to about this, and I’ll let you know how he is and then check on him first thing in the morning. I’d normally leave that to his family or friends, but we’re it basically.”

  Mayweather watched her deputy push his way back through the curtain and then made her way out of the hospital. Her first call was to arrange for a police guard. If in doubt, plan for the worst. Then she needed to talk to the Commissioner.

  An hour later Hooley, who had somehow managed to fall asleep on an uncomfortable chair, was woken by a gentle prod. He opened his eyes and saw the consultant.

  “We’re just going to take him up to the ward, Chief Inspector. And there is a very large policeman outside who says he will make sure Mr. Roper stays safe. My advice to you is to get home and into bed. He is fine now so you can relax.”

  Hooley stood up gingerly. Judging by the protest coming from his back he was going to regret nodding off. He stepped outside and was immediately impressed by the guard his boss had arranged. The uniformed PC was seriously large and had the sort of forbidding expression that would make most people think twice.

  He nodded at the policeman and set off for the exit.

  “Good night Sir. I’ll keep an eye on him,” the officer said as he walked past.

  Chapter 20

  The enormous policeman was grinning broadly as Hooley endured a grilling from the sister in charge. The DCI had come back to the hospital just after 6am and made his way up to the ward where he found the officer still looking as fresh as he had the previous evening. He had been about to speak to him when he was stopped in his tracks by the nurse.

  “I presume you are yet another police officer. It’s bad enough that we had that big lump hanging around all night, but I take it you have heard of visiting hours, haven’t you?”

  Before he could get a word in she continued.

  “The patients in here are my responsibility and what Mr. Roper needs now is rest, not lots of people disturbing him.”

  He noticed that he was getting amused looks from two other nursing staff who were busy checking blood pressures and dishing out pills as part of their morning round. He held his hands up in what he hoped was a suitably placatory gesture.

  “I know it’s very early but the thing is that Jonathan isn’t just a victim here, he’s a witness. We haven’t been able to establish exactly what happened and the more information we can get, and the sooner we do it, will help us catch whoever did this.”

  “Humph,” the woman’s expression said she seriously doubted that. “Well you’re going to have to wait. We’re just doing the morning checks and he’s due his latest medication, so it will be another 10 minutes yet.”

  With that she was off. Despite the telling-off he couldn’t help think that in other circumstances he would have found her quite attractive. She was about 40, slim, with short black hair. But there was a look in her eye that made him realise she was not to be trifled with. He decided to keep his head down and talk to the officer.

  “Have you been put through the wringer as well?”

  “Only a bit Sir. She turned up about an hour ago. Told me off and then went to see her patients. I gather your bloke is doing OK. The night nurse kept me informed. I stayed here but they’ve got him in a room down there,” he pointed to the far end of the ward. “This is the only way in so it seemed the best option.”

  He looked over Hooley’s shoulder and smiled. “I think that’s my relief. I’ll be off and I hope you get whoever did it.”

  The DCI was just starting to talk to the new arrival when the sister returned. “You can go in now. But no longer than 10 minutes, and I’m keeping an eye on the clock,” she said, with a meaningful look.

  Hooley made his escape and went off to find Roper who, all things considered, was looking reasonably well, just a little battered. He was sitting up in bed wearing a hospital gown and gingerly sipping a glass of water. His left temple was a livid red and there were red marks on his left arm.

  “I ache everywhere,” he announced.

  “I’m not surprised. It seems you took quite a thumping. Can you remember anything about it?”

  Roper went to shake his head and then groaned, clearly thinking better of it.

  “Not really. I was about to walk into my building when I was hit from behind, after that it’s a bit of a blur. I can remember being hit a few more times and then the next thing I knew I was in this room. Were you and Julie here at some point, or did I dream that?”

  He watched the younger man gingerly flex his left arm before replying.

  “Yes, but not in this room. We saw you in Accident and Emergency last night. It was about 8pm. You did wake up for bit, but that was it. Once the doctor said you were going to be OK we left you to it.”

  A worried expression appeared on Roper’s face. “How did I get to the hospital? I don’t remember that at all.”

  “Someone saw you being attacked and called 999. When the hospital people found your ID, they called us. Apparently, you were drifting in and out of consciousness so that’s probably why you can’t recall it. We’ve got a vague description of a man, shorter than you, wearing jeans and a leather jacket. But the witness said it all happened so fast they couldn’t quite work out what they were looking at. The witness also said the attacker ran off towards the river. We will have people there tonight, see if we can find anyone else who saw something, and we’ll be trawling CCTV.”

  Hooley hesitated over asking the next question, he didn’t want to push him too soon, but the need to know won out. “I’m sorry to ask this, but have you been in an argument with anyone recently? Anything at all no matter how minor?”

  Roper shook his head then winced and gave Hooley a weak smile. “I need to keep my head still. But to answer your question, no, nothing like that. The truth is that until I came back to work I hadn’t really spoken to anyone at all; in fact, I’ve only spoken to you and the ADC in that time. Why? Did you think it might have been someone I know?”

  Now it was Hooley’s turn to shake his head. “I just wanted to be certain and ask straight away. But my gut instinct is that it won’t be anyone you know. I also doubt it was a mugging because otherwise you would have lost your wallet and phone.”

  Roper grimaced as he tried to gingerly haul himself into a more comfortable position. “So, what are you saying was the reason then?”

  Hooley took a deep breath. “I think we have to consider that what triggered this is you finding that secret room. If the people who killed Sir James are willing to mutilate his corpse to cover their tracks then why not attack an investigator?”

  Roper closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillows. “Yes. I can see the logic.” He opened his eyes again and glanced at the DCI. “Thinking about my wallet, do you know where it is?”

  Hooley reached into his jacket. “Sorry Jonathan, I’d forget my own head if it wasn’t attached to me. I took it and the phone home for safe keeping. I’ve got them with me.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket.

  Roper managed to gesture at the side table unit. “There’s a drawer in there you can put them in, otherwise you keep them for now.”

  “Again, just for t
he record. Can you check your wallet to make sure nothing has been taken?”

  He opened it carefully and held it so Roper could see.

  “All my cards are present and I can see the £100 I had in there.”

  At that point the Sister appeared in the doorway. It was time to go and she was pointing at the exit to make the point.

  “I’ll be back later. You keep taking the pills.” He stopped in the doorway. “We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible. My granny always used to say, ‘the best way to keep well is stay out of hospital.’ He suddenly realised he had forgotten who else was present and cast a nervous glance at the fearsome sister, but if she’d heard she wasn’t reacting.

  Chapter 21

  Brian Hooley had a plan and was trying to convince his boss. “I think he should stay with me once he gets out. He hasn’t got anyone else to keep an eye on him.” Mayweather had her doubts because she was worried that her deputy was taking on too much responsibility for Roper and that would impact the investigation.

  “Don’t you think it will get a bit much? You’ve already got him camping in your office and now you will have no escape.”

  Hooley laughed. “He’s not that bad. Most of the time he hardly says a word. Then you have short bursts of conversation you can’t quite understand, followed by even shorter bursts of things you do understand.

  “I think the biggest problem is making sure I have enough food in. The last time I saw anyone packing it away like that was when my son was 11-years-old. He was always emptying the fridge. It used to get him a right earful from his mother because he never told her when he’d finished something off.”