A Deadly Imperfection: Calladine & Bayliss 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

have an elderly mother in Pakistan but I imagine she’s dead by now.’
    ‘Did anyone give him any grief recently - was there any arguments or other altercations between staff or patients?  In short, did the doctor have any enemies that you know of?
    ‘No, of course not,’ she frowned at them.  ‘Doctor Ahmed was an eminent Oncologist, first class in his field.  He’ll be greatly missed by the profession.’
    ‘A nice guy then?’  Ruth chipped in.
    ‘Nice…,’ Celia Downs thought for a moment then shook her head.  ‘No, I don’t think so - that’s not the adjective I’d use to describe him,’ she decided.   ‘He might not have had enemies, but Doctor Ahmed wasn’t easy to get on with, not easy at all.  He was a hard man.  He could deliver the worst possible news to his patients without any emotion at all.  The man was completely lacking in empathy, you see.’
    ‘And there’d be a lot of bad news, I take it?’  Calladine surmised.
    ‘Greater Manchester has a large number of cancer patients and the fact of the matter is, they don’t get picked up soon enough and so they die,’ she told him soberly.  ‘Doctor Ahmed worked hard, he did what he could - whatever was possible for all his patients, but, I’m afraid, the personal touch was absent.’
    ‘Any of his patients take the bad news particularly hard lately,’ Ruth asked?
    ‘As his secretary, it’s difficult to say.  You’ll need to talk to his clinical staff.’
    ‘I intend to,’ Calladine confirmed.  ‘Back to the question about friends, as his secretary you must have had to arrange things for him from time to time.  He had no wife to do it.’
    ‘He had little social life to speak of, Inspector.  Drinks at Christmas with the staff, and then only the one, and I’ve no idea about anything else.’
    ‘Are you sure there is no one in his circle who might be jealous of the doctor, bare a grudge and act on it?’
    ‘I can’t answer that – I’ve no idea what goes on in people’s heads.  The people Doctor Ahmed met were mostly patients.  They were very sick, Inspector, even if they didn’t like him much, it’s unlikely they’d have the energy or the will to do much about it.’
    ‘Okay then, clinical staff – can you arrange for us to talk to them?’
    ‘Certainly – you need Doctors Hurst and Hussain.  Both are on the wards or in theatre at present.  If you leave your card I’ll get them to come in and see you.’
    ‘In my opinion, Inspector, whoever did this will be someone nearer to home.  I doubt it will turn out to have anything to do with this hospital.’
 
    ***
 
    Albert North wasn’t very good on his feet these days.  But the dog needed walking and that waster of a nephew of his hadn’t shown his face all day.  It wasn’t late, just gone six and ordinarily he’d be making his way to the pub about now for a pint and a chinwag with his mates. Now he’d have to forgo that and take the damn dog out himself.  He’d give Jayden a clip around the ear when he did eventually turn up, inconsiderate bastard.
    He grunted at the animal and reached up for its lead, taking it from a coat hook.  He’d walk him over the common and make it back before it got too dark.  Not that Albert North was afraid of the dark – Albert North was afraid of nothing.  Time was when most of the folk living around here – on the Hobfield Estate, was afraid of him.  He’d been the man – the man with drugs to sell, and the man you didn’t cross.  He sighed wearily, that was a lifetime ago, and those passing years hadn’t gone easy on him. 
    These days he was old and infirm.  He’d had one stroke and that had left him unsteady.  He didn’t like to stray too far from his flat – the pub, the Post Office and occasionally the doctors and that was about it. Rarely did he venture out to walk the dog – that was supposed to be Jayden’s job.
    He pulled his stocky frame into his coat and whistled the mutt.  The