The Aladdin Trial

by Abi Silver

  Mrs Qabbani glided up the stairs, tapped on Shaza’s bedroom door and beckoned her daughter to come down. Shaza stood before them in the lounge, twisting her hands. Her hair was neatly plaited down her back.

  ‘Wow, your hair is beautiful,’ Constance started. ‘Do you do that yourself?’

  ‘Mum does it,’ she replied, touching it lightly with the fingers of one hand.

  ‘And sometimes Lottie does it for you at the hospital, but probably not as good as Mum, eh?’

  Shaza nodded her agreement. Aisha took a step forward but Judith deliberately moved between her and her daughter and blocked her way.

  ‘Do you like it when you go to the hospital with your father?’

  ‘It’s OK. Sometimes it’s a very long time and I get tired.’

  ‘But you take things with you to do?’

  ‘I take colouring and books, and sometimes Lottie gives me chocolate when Dad isn’t there.’

  ‘Are you not supposed to have chocolate?’

  ‘Dad says it’s a “luxury”,’ she drew the word out into three long syllables, ‘and that English children eat too much chocolate.’

  ‘I see. He’s a wise man, your father. Do you ever go to talk to some of the patients?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘So, just one or two of them?’

  ‘I’m not supposed to.’

  ‘Not supposed to talk to them?’

  ‘Lottie lets me go with her sometimes, but said not to tell Daddy.’

  ‘Why does she let you go with her?’

  ‘When it gets dark I don’t like being on my own in that room.’

  ‘Quite right. I’m not big on the dark either. And do you remember a lady called Mrs Hennessy, Barbara, with orange hair? You met her on your last visit to the hospital. I can show you her photo if you like.’

  Shaza stiffened. She looked away.

  ‘Do you think you spoke to this lady?’ Constance removed the photo of Barbara Hennessy from her pocket and showed it to Shaza.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ she replied.

  ‘What kind of things did you talk to the patients about?’

  ‘About school and home and pictures.’

  ‘Pictures? Did she ask you about pictures?’

  ‘Yes, she asked if I liked painting.’

  ‘Who did?’

  A pause.

  ‘The lady in the photo.’

  ‘So, you do remember her?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Do you like pretty things?’

  The girl’s face lit up.

  ‘I love pretty things.’

  ‘Like flowers?’

  ‘I like flowers.’

  ‘What’s your favourite colour?’

  ‘Pink and purple.’

  ‘Those are really lovely vibrant colours. You know when the police came here – it was a few weeks ago – I was here that day too. Do you remember?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Shaza mumbled.

  ‘They found something in your bedroom?’

  Now Shaza shook her head very slowly from side to side but it was clear she did remember.

  ‘It was a pink purse with beads and sequins. It was very beautiful.’

  ‘I remember the purse.’

  ‘Ah, great. Clever girl.’

  ‘Did you see that purse in one of the rooms at the hospital?’

  Shaza’s cheeks flushed and she puffed them out wide. Then she folded her arms in front of her and lowered her head. Her mother moved sideways but Judith barred her way a second time.

  ‘Mrs Qabbani, please. This is so important. One more minute.’

  ‘Did you take the purse from the hospital and bring it home?’ Constance asked.

  ‘It was so pretty and the lady said I could have it. She showed it to me when she asked me about painting.’

  ‘She said you could have it?’

  ‘I said it was pretty and she smiled and said “it was only a cheap purse”.’ Shaza imitated Barbara. ‘She said she found it in a market and if I liked it I could have it.’

  ‘Was there anything inside the purse?’

  ‘I thought it was just a purse but when I was back in the staff room I opened it.’

  ‘What did you find?’

  ‘I found two big rings. Magic ones. Like in Aladdin.’

  ‘What did you do then?’

  ‘I ran back to the lady’s room to give them back but she wasn’t there any more.’

  ‘So what happened then?’

  Shaza hung her head. ‘I was going to ask Lottie what to do, if she could give the rings back to the lady, but she suddenly came running and said that Suzy was here and she was in a hurry and where had I been and I had to go straight away.’

  ‘You didn’t tell her?’

  ‘Daddy was there too, and he was cross I wasn’t in the staff room. I didn’t want to say. I thought the next time I went to the hospital I could give them back to the lady.’

  ‘What did you do with the purse when you got home?’

  ‘I put it in my drawer. To keep it safe.’

  ‘Did you tell mum or dad about it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Shaza. You are a very grown up and brave girl telling me all these things. No one is cross with you. Do you understand?’

  Shaza brightened up.

  ‘Where’s Daddy? Is he in Hampstead?’ she said.

  ‘Yes. He is.’

  ‘Can we see Daddy now?’

  ‘I hope very soon.’

  ‘Is Daddy coming home then?’ she asked. ‘Is he still famous?’

  ‘Famous?’

  ‘Yes, on the television.’

  Aisha gasped.

  ‘Well done, you,’ Judith whispered to Constance, as she stood back and allowed Aisha to run to her daughter and clasp her to her chest.

  ‘Mrs Qabbani.’ Judith spoke after allowing mother and daughter a brief moment together. ‘Can I talk to you now please, alone? Constance will stay with Shaza.’

  Aisha stroked her daughter’s hair, then released her with a further squeeze and led Judith into the kitchen.

  ‘The trial is going well, as I said, but we still have some way to go and there have been some difficult questions. I know you want to help your husband,’ Judith explained.

  Aisha did not respond and Judith wondered if she should ask Constance to come and join them; Aisha clearly trusted her more. But there was so little time, she decided to plough on.

  ‘So here’s what we need to do,’ she advised. ‘First, Constance is going to type up a statement of what your daughter just told us. She took the rings, and not your husband. We are going to send it to the police and the people prosecuting your husband and the judge. If they won’t accept it is true, we will ask for your daughter to be allowed to give her evidence in person.’

  Judith heard Aisha’s sharp intake of breath.

  ‘Don’t panic. We will record a session – a bit like the one we just did with Shaza – and we will blur out her face. We can ask for the court to be cleared, so just the jury and the judge will hear. Do you understand? But we’re worried that won’t be enough, not with the huge media interest. The case has made it onto national news. We need you to come to court tomorrow.’

  Aisha shook her head over and over and began to moan low in her throat.

  ‘We know something bad happened to you in the past. Ahmad won’t tell us what it was. It must have been something terrible; I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it was, because I’m lucky enough never to have been exposed to some of the things you must have seen. But Constance says you can speak; you just prefer to be silent.’

  Aisha turned her head away.

  ‘Ahmad needs you to do this for him. I’m worried that we don’t have enough yet to
convince the jury that he’s innocent. That he may go to jail for a long time. And that he’ll never be a doctor again.’

  Aisha covered her face with both hands.

  ‘I won’t pretend. He is desperate. He is even thinking of saying he’s guilty so this will all end now. I think it would really help if you came to court tomorrow to give evidence on your husband’s behalf. It might save him. We will be with you all the time. Do you think you can do it?’

  Aisha lowered her hands and gazed out of the window at the play kitchen which had blown over in the wind. She folded her arms around her body. Then she turned back towards Judith and straightened up.

  ‘Yes,’ she said softly.

  ‘Thank you,’ Judith replied. Then she shuddered. Some of Constance’s influence must be rubbing off; she wasn’t usually so soft-hearted.

  ‘And are you able to tell me why you and Ahmad are so sad, what happened to you? Then I can decide how best to use it tomorrow,’ she added.

  Aisha stood in silence for a full minute before heading for a drawer to the right of the sink. She took out a faded photograph and handed it to Judith. Judith studied the photograph carefully.

  ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘Let’s talk about tomorrow.’

  * * *

  Neither Constance nor Judith had much sleep that night. Constance typed up Shaza’s statement and sent it to Inspector Dawson, Andy Chambers and the judge. Dawson agreed to send a female officer to the Qabbanis’ home with strict instructions to bring Aisha to court at 9:30. Arrangements were made for Shaza to be brought to the court building and cared for by Suzy Douglas pending a decision on her evidence.

  Judith went to see Ahmad in the holding cells before court. He was very quiet and unkempt.

  ‘Don’t you have a clean shirt?’

  He turned his head away.

  ‘You think I care about how I look in the courtroom?’

  Judith was annoyed to find him still so despondent despite her pep talk of the previous night. ‘We have to counter the picture the prosecution wants to paint of you, the false picture. That you’re a rough character, with no morals, who will throw an old lady out of a window for a bit of stolen jewellery.’

  ‘I am wearing the suit, and you made me tell everyone I was a doctor.’

  ‘OK, forget the shirt. We have more important things to talk about.’

  ‘You talked to Shaza?’

  ‘Yes. She took the rings. She says Mrs Hennessy gave her the purse and she only found the rings inside later on. She went back to the room and Mrs Hennessy had gone, presumably for her operation.’

  He raised his eyes towards Judith, thoughtful and still.

  ‘You believe me now. I told you I am not a thief.’

  ‘Yes. I believe you.’

  ‘But I am not sure you did before. Why did Mrs Hennessy give her the purse if it had the rings inside?’

  ‘Maybe she just forgot. Her daughter has said she was confused. You said she hadn’t been eating for days.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right. Because they thought she would have the operation each day. And I put the rings in the purse.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘When I found them in the bathroom, she asked me to put them in the purse, but I’m not sure that is the place where she usually kept them. Maybe she didn’t see, or maybe, like you say, she forgot. What will happen now?’

  ‘We are trying to get the prosecution to accept it and drop the theft charge against you without pursuing Shaza or making her give evidence.’

  ‘But you must do that, you must. She’s just a child. If you don’t I will say I did it.’

  ‘I am trying very hard. But I may have to deal with it, with all of this phoney case against you, in an unexpected way.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m not going to tell you now. You have to trust me on this one.’

  Ahmad’s eye narrowed.

  ‘What are you going to do, Judith?’

  It was the first time he had used her first name and she understood why; he was asking her to trust him too.

  ‘I have thought long and hard, most of the night in fact, about whether it’s better for me to tell you. And I’ve decided not to tell you now. What you need to know and remember – promise me – is that whatever you think, if you are angry about what happens, you remain calm in court. Can you do that for me? I’m going to see the judge now in his room, so we may be a little delayed this morning.’

  ‘It’s hard for me to promise when I don’t know what you are going to do.’

  ‘I understand. But I want you to draw on that strength I know you have, the strength that has kept you going through darker times, and use it today.’

  ‘So I will try too. But so many things are still not clear.’

  ‘You’re right. But the only thing you need to remain clear on, the only thing the jury needs to know, is that you didn’t kill Mrs Hennessy. They don’t need the whole story, the whole One Thousand and One Nights.’

  ‘We know now, at least, why she asked me for that book,’ Ahmad added, almost smiling.

  ‘Yes,’ Judith replied. ‘Now we know.’

  56

  David Wolf and Jane Bridges parked in the bays opposite Hampstead police station. Dawson had asked them to come in as early as they could manage, and to come together. Suddenly Hani Mahmood’s distinctive Jaguar pulled out of the space two cars behind them, leaving in a hurry. He didn’t see them.

  ‘Shit!’ Jane sat down low in her seat, even though Hani had already disappeared down the hill.

  ‘What’s the matter, Jane? You said there was nothing to tell, nothing to worry about. Why was Hani here?’

  Jane allowed her seat belt to retract noisily and grabbed her handbag. Then she faced her husband.

  ‘I deleted the form,’ she said. ‘The Aladdin Trial consent form. I’ll tell the police if that’s what you want.’

  ‘What? It was you?’

  ‘Oh for God’s sake, David. It’s hardly a crime.’

  ‘I thought it was just a mistake, a photocopying error. How could you think I would want you to take the blame? I’ve been trying to protect you, especially with the promotion coming up.’

  ‘I don’t need you to protect me. Christ! This is so like you. I don’t need you to tell me how to do my job, or how to make sure the notes I prepare are accurate, either. I have done my job for eleven years now and I am good at it. Your brand of chivalry would have been sweet in the eighteenth century but frankly now it’s stifling and insulting.’

  She got out of the car and slammed the door. David followed her.

  ‘How could you delete the form, when we were in the middle of a hospital investigation and a murder enquiry?’

  ‘I just did, OK. That’s all.’

  ‘And how could you think that I’m trying to trip you up? Look. I’ll say it was me and I forgot. No need for you to get into any trouble.’

  ‘Don’t you listen to anything I say? I don’t need you to lie for me. I will tell them I did it.’

  ‘But why? Please tell me. I think I deserve an explanation.’

  ‘Hani asked me to.’ She walked two car lengths down to locate a safe place to cross the road.

  ‘What? Why?’ David stepped out into the road then retreated as a passing Range Rover hooted.

  ‘When Lucy stayed on at the end of the review meeting she told Hani that the Trust didn’t want any discussion of Aladdin in the public eye. She said it was “sensitive information” and that it was a legal minefield if the robot was to blame in any way. Apparently, there are law suits involving Da Vinci all over the USA and Aladdin is a cheaper version. You can imagine the headlines, especially when everyone’s already saying we’re a second-rate country and the NHS is in crisis.’

  ‘I still don’t see the connection to Mrs
Hennessy.’

  ‘Lucy asked Hani to make sure there was no mention of Aladdin in the report into Mrs Hennessy’s treatment. She said that the Trust wanted another year of positive results from the trial before going fully public. Hani asked me to ensure the Aladdin consent forms disappeared from the hospital records for Mrs Hennessy.’

  ‘Well that’s all messed up now, isn’t it, now I’ve blabbed about it all in court. Why didn’t you tell me before?’

  ‘Oh come on, David! This is hardly the time to start worrying about what you said in court, given the lies you told in there willingly, to protect yourself.’

  ‘That’s not fair.’

  ‘Anyway, Hani asked me not to. And you couldn’t avoid answering the questions about Aladdin, once that lawyer got started. They can’t blame you for that.’

  ‘But why did Hani agree to any of this? He hates Aladdin, says he likes to “feel his way” inside the patients. And, for his faults, he hates capitulation.’

  ‘They bullied him. They reminded him that he’s not meeting his targets for number of operations completed. Lucy said she would give him another chance to catch up if he helped the Trust out this time around, kept quiet about Aladdin. There’s no reason to think Mrs Hennessy’s death was anything to do with her operation – we both know that – so I didn’t feel I was doing anything wrong.’

  Dr Wolf stared out across the road at the doors of the police station.

  ‘Oh God. What a mess.’

  ‘David. I will do whatever needs to be done to get you off the hook. Anyway, you’re a terrible liar so there’s no point trying to pretend to the police that it was you.’

  David nodded resignedly.

  ‘We don’t know what Hani told them, that’s the only problem,’ Jane lamented as a break in the traffic finally allowed them to cross the road.

  ‘We just tell it as it is,’ David replied. ‘Come on, let’s get it done.’

  57

  ‘Your honour, I provided you and my learned friend with some new evidence last night in the form of a witness statement from a child, the defendant’s daughter. It’s not signed but it’s verified by my instructing solicitor. And the nurse on the ward, Nurse Li, will corroborate that the child was at the hospital that day. Can you confirm you received it?’ Judith and Andy Chambers sat opposite Mr Justice Seymour in his room.