Even the Dogs: A Novel

by Jon McGregor

  coroner: . . . is to ensure that the deceased person is granted a full and open hearing of the facts in a public manner. You may note the absence of journalists or members of the public in court this morning; nevertheless, this is a public court, and what we say here today will be a matter of public record. [Could I just ask, Ms Radcliffe: do you have any objection to me calling you Laura? (Inaudible response.) Thank you.]

  We have a responsibility towards the deceased, and I trust that as his daughter, Laura, you will feel that we at the coroner’s court are doing our utmost to uphold that.

  I might also add, of course, that whilst we are here to perform an important task we are doing so in the context of the sadness of Mr Radcliffe’s death, and I would like to extend the sympathies of the court to you, Laura, and to thank you for being here at what I know must be a difficult and distressing time.

  What do we do now. Where do we go. We sit at the back of the court and we listen to everything they say. We sit in the cold dark room and we wait until someone comes back for his body. They will come back. They have to. Someone has to do something with him now. Take him away. Now they know. We read the reports and we look at the notes and the photographs and we read the transcript of the inquest tucked away in the files. We sit and we look at Laura. In the court. In the front row of these soft blue chairs. Sitting with her hands pressed into her lap, leaning forward to look at the judge. Coroner, judge, whatever. We hear more footsteps in the long corridor outside. Voices. Keys. The door being unlocked. A long metal trolley is pushed into the room and the men who drove the darkened van away from Robert’s flat come to take him away again. Rolling him out from behind the heavy doors and sliding him on to the trolley and signing more forms before they push him out down the corridor to the shuttered doorway and the new day’s sunlight pouring in down the long concrete ramp. We go with them. What else can we do.

  coroner: . . . on to the first of our four questions: who has died? I quote here from a report prepared by one of my officers.

  The identity of the deceased was not immediately apparent upon the discovery of the body: although he was found in his own flat, there was nothing to confirm that he was the listed tenant, nor were any identifying documents found on his body. A number of papers were found in an envelope under the mattress in one of the bedrooms, principally documents connected with the claiming of benefits; however, as they were in more than one person’s name they were of little immediate value.

  The next-door neighbour said that she didn’t know any of the names of the people who lived or congregated at the flat, and declined to identify the body. The council housing department stated that the flat was unoccupied and awaiting repairs, the last tenant having been evicted some years previously. The name of this supposedly evicted tenant matched the name on one of the benefits claims documents which had been found in the flat, that of Robert John Radcliffe.

  At this point my officers sought the dental records of said Robert Radcliffe, which proved to be unobtainable. Meanwhile, a matching set of fingerprints had been found on the criminal records database, but under another name; a name similar but not identical to another of the names on the benefits claims forms found in the flat.

  It was beginning to appear that whilst dying without an identity in a modern bureaucratic country such as ours is exceedingly difficult, dying with multiple identities is all too easy, and equally problematic.

  However, further enquiries did eventually lead us to make contact with Laura Radcliffe, who was at that time attending a residential drug rehabilitation centre, and Laura was then able to attend the public mortuary and identify her father’s body, for which difficult duty the court now thanks you, Laura.

  So we have the answer to our first question: the deceased’s full name was Robert John Radcliffe, and he was resident at Flat 1, Riverview Gardens, and he was born, according to his birth certificate, on November 12th 1961, in Leeds.

  Where did she go. Why did she never go back to the flat when she knew he was waiting. How could she just forget. How could she just let someone else. Was she trying to. Was she making him. We sit and look at his body in the back of the van. We want to ask him but we can’t. Did she go back. Did she see him again. Did she climb in through the window one more time and say Dad I’m back but I didn’t bring nothing I aint got nothing for you. You’ll have to wait for someone else. Is that it. Is that what happened. Did he look up at her and plead with her and say Laura, what the bloody hell is wrong with you I need you to help me. Did she what. Did she look at him for as long as she could bear and say Dad I needed you for a long time didn’t I and where were you. What were you doing. You were just sitting here feeling sorry for yourself and drinking yourself to death with your so-called fucking mates. Or did she only wish she had said that. Is she glad now she didn’t. Did he say Laura love I aint dead yet. Did he say Laura don’t go. Did he say You watch I’ll stop drinking right now. I’ve done it before. If it bothers you that much I’ll stop right now. You watch. Did he. Did she climb back out the window while he still said Laura don’t go what you doing. Was that the last thing she ever saw ever heard him say. Is that it. Can she get that out of her mind now. Can she ever get that out of her.

  coroner: . . . that his body was discovered in the sitting room of Flat 1, Riverview Gardens, as we shall be hearing from PC Nelson in due course, and that the only door to the flat was bolted from the inside. This might suggest that Mr Radcliffe could only have died in the flat.

  However, we’ll also hear that the kitchen window, which overlooks the roof of some garages at the side of the flats, was ajar, and that it would have been possible for someone to enter or exit the flat by that route. And in fact we’ll hear from Laura that she herself had done just that prior to Mr Radcliffe’s death.

  So it’s possible that someone could have brought Mr Radcliffe’s body into the flat, bolted the door from the inside, and left via the kitchen window. However, the evidence from the scene supports the suggestion that Mr Radcliffe came by his death in the location where his body was found: there were no inconsistencies between the pattern of decomposition and the position of the body, for example, and there were no marks or bruises on his clothing or body which suggested he had been dragged or carried anywhere after his death.

  Furthermore, as Mr Radcliffe was a very substantially built man, it would have been a significant task to have carried or dragged his body any distance following his death; and any suggestion of his body being moved following death would imply foul play, and no evidence of foul play as a cause of death has been found either during post-mortem examination or in the course of the police investigation.

  I therefore find that Robert John Radcliffe did in fact come by his death in the sitting room of Flat 1, Riverview Gardens.

  Laura sitting in the court trying to listen. Her skin itching and burning. Her hands squeezed between her thighs because once she starts scratching she knows she won’t be able to stop. She should have stayed in the rehab. But there was too much going on. Her dad and everyone else. It was too much to deal with. It weren’t the right time. Be a long time before they let her back in now she’s signed herself out like that. But maybe they. She’s got what mitigating circumstances or something. It’ll be a while but she will. She has to. What else can she do. Can’t keep on like this for ever. Her bones creaking when she shifts in her chair. Did she think when she started it would be like this. Did we. When we all started. Did she see herself here. Did any of us. Did we think ourselves what like blessed like we might just slip through the net. Or what damned and there weren’t no point trying. Was it that. And when her and Danny were lying on the bed together that one time that last time, did she really think she was getting out. Did she think she could sign up for a year in the country and that would be it. She’d be like healed and cleansed and her tears all like wiped away or something more or less like that. That’s what Danny meant was it, when he laughed at her like that, like Laura mate it aint that simple. Takes more than
fresh air and talking to get clean and stay clean. Lying on the bed together. Did she even know what he wanted from her all that time. Was it what she liked him but she never. Didn’t they come close once or twice like a bit of messing around but they never. Was it she wouldn’t have minded only it weren’t a priority. Was he on her list of things to do once she was clean. Like college, flat, cup of tea in the morning, Danny. Was it like that. Or was Mike right what he thought. Had she been waiting for Mike all this time. Is she still waiting for him now. All that with the clean white sheets and the smell of coffee and the postman whistling and the big empty house and the cars in the drive. Or was that all Danny and his.

  Coroner: . . . that the last time she saw her father alive was on the afternoon of the 22nd December, and we will hear from PC Nelson that Mr Radcliffe’s body was discovered on the 31st December.

  We can conclude therefore that he came by his death during this nine-day period. The Home Office pathologist has stated that death is likely to have occurred between five and nine days before his body was discovered.

  This would put the date of his death at somewhere between the 22nd of December, when he was last seen, and the 26th.

  This is as accurate as we are able to be, and this is my finding today.

  We look at Robert. We listen to the coroner and we look at the policeman and we stand outside the flat waiting for someone to come and kick down the door. And we want to ask. What was it what happened. What was the last thing you saw. Was it Laura climbing back out the window. Or someone else. Was there. Did Mike come back. Did he bring you anything. Did he try and get. Did he start going on about where you kept your money how you owed him a piece of. And now it’s payback time pal. Is that what. Did he. Not raising his voice or nothing but. Looking you in the eye. Pulling you up to your feet and. Smacking you one in the face and. Was that what. Always seemed like he might do something. Always on the edge that one but it was all. Did he. Did you even have money to give him we want to ask. All the fury and panic in his voice. And his skinny fists. Someone going Do him now get it over with do him now. Was it that. Was it Mike. All those things he says when he gets on one. I will switch on you. I will take you down. If it comes down to it la I will cut out your heart. Clenching his fists and all fucking trembling. Many have tried and many have failed you know what I’m saying I will outwit you all I will outwit you all. All that. I will keep on la if you push me down I will get up again I will keep on getting up again you watch me pal I will rise I will rise I will. All that. Did he say all. Did he climb in the flat and. Was he talking on the phone taking instructions and. But Mike never done nothing like. He talked but he never. Only grievous bodily harm he ever done was on himself. Knives and needles and cigarettes. Cutting and piercing and burning like. But these things he comes out with. Could have been but. Was it. And what did Robert say. If Mike was stood over him like. Was it.

  Coroner: . . . in answering this question will come from the pathologist’s report, to which I shall refer in due course. Before that, though, I would like to go through, firstly, the circumstances surrounding the discovery of Mr Radcliffe’s body and, secondly, the circumstances of his life in the days and weeks leading up to his death. I therefore call upon our first witness today to come forward.

  Court Usher: PC Nelson, please.

  Place your left hand on the Bible and repeat the words written on the card.

  Pc Nelson: I do solemnly swear that I shall tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

  Court Usher: Thank you. Please be seated.

  Coroner: Thank you. Could you first state your full name and position?

  pc Nelson: Thomas Craig Nelson, Police Constable.

  Coroner: Thank you. Now, I understand that you were the first officer attending when Mr Radcliffe’s body was discovered on the 31st December of last year?

  pc Nelson: That is correct, ma’am. There were two of us attending the property, myself and Sergeant Forbes, but as I was the first to locate the body of the deceased I was given the role of first officer attending.

  Coroner: Which is a formal role with certain responsibilities.

  pc Nelson: That’s correct.

  Coroner: Now, I have in front of me a copy of the report which is based upon your notes from the scene. Perhaps you could read the relevant section of that to the court? From the beginning until the arrival of the SOC officers?

  pc Nelson: Certainly. Sergeant Forbes and myself were requested to attend the property at Flat 1, Riverview Gardens, and if necessary to effect an entrance. This followed a report by a neighbour that the residents had not been seen or heard for a period of approximately one week and that other neighbours had commented on a noticeable smell. Upon arrival at the property we knocked repeatedly at the door, without response. We spoke briefly to the neighbour, who made a number of assertions about the resident and his associates, namely that drugs were used at the property and that noise was a frequent problem. We effected an entry via the front door, and commenced an inspection of the property.

  I found the body of Mr Radcliffe lying on the floor of what I took to be the living room, and informed my colleague. A preliminary inspection revealed a significant quantity of blood on the floor, and so we immediately retreated from the premises with the intention of preserving any evidence should it prove to be the scene of a crime. We called for a doctor to certify death and SOC officers to examine the scene. We secured the scene using cordon tape, and –

  Coroner: Thank you, I think I’ll stop you there. So, you entered the flat – you presumably had to break the door open?

  pc Nelson: That’s correct. The door was locked, and bolted from the inside, but it was in a state of some disrepair so was easily –

  All these questions we want to ask. But we can’t and. We say nothing. We sit in the van and wait. And the van drives through a gateway and into the backyard of the undertaker’s and they open the doors and carry Robert’s body away. We go with them. With him. What else can we do. They wash his body. Again. No one ever did that for him when he was alive and now. They bring in a coffin. A plain unvarnished plywood coffin. Nothing special. Nothing with trimmings and linings and a craftsman’s attention to. Nothing what no one’s been working on for days in the hot dusty sun with the snoring sound of the saw and the plane and the adze going chuck chuck chuck. Nothing like that for Robert now. Must be the biggest coffin they’ve got though but. With gloved hands they lay him in it. Lay him on the unlined wood. No pillow for his head. No funeral suit to cover his. What is it, shame. Misfortune. No one to pay for a suit he can wear in his. Environmental health paying for this but why would they pay for a suit. No one else. What about Laura. What money has she got anyway. She won’t want. Told them she’s said her goodbyes and all that and she don’t even. And what about Yvonne. Where is she anyway. We look at him in the coffin, his eyes closed and his hands folded awkwardly across his. There are more questions we want to. But we don’t. It’s too. We can’t and they put the lid over him and he’s gone. They screw the lid down and the sound of the electric screwdriver is loud in the room like the technician’s saw when she cut through his.

  Coroner: . . . report of his post-mortem examination, which I do not propose to disclose in its entirety in court today. Rather, I will pick out the most relevant points and then highlight the pathologist’s conclusion.

  Firstly, toxicology tests on blood samples show no significant levels of alcohol, suggesting that the deceased had not been drinking in the twenty-four to forty-eight hour period prior to his death. The blood tests also found no evidence of cocaine or heroin or other what we might call recreational drugs.

  Secondly and conversely, analysis of the liver itself shows extensive cirrhosis, which histological analysis shows to have been caused by alcohol; this indicates that the deceased had in general consumed excessive amounts of alcohol over a prolonged period of time. In the opinion of the pathologist, the blood found on the floor of the flat, and in the kit
chen sink, is most likely to have resulted from vomiting caused by the advanced cirrhosis. Blood was found in the trachea, large airways and lungs, showing that Mr Radcliffe probably aspirated blood and vomit into his lungs prior to death.

  Thirdly, examination of the lungs shows destruction of the airspaces, caused by prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke, which would have led to pronounced shortness of breath.

  Fourthly, the pathologist found evidence of advanced heart disease, and narrowing of the coronary arteries by approximately seventy to eighty per cent. In simple terms, this means that the arteries supplying blood to the heart had become narrowed by fatty deposits, greatly depriving the heart muscle of oxygen and nutrients, which may have contributed to his death.

  Fifthly, the pathologist found no food in Mr Radcliffe’s digestive system, suggesting that Mr Radcliffe hadn’t eaten anything for a period of approximately twenty-four to forty-eight hours before his death. This would not have been a cause of death – the human body can survive for much longer periods without food – but it’s quite possible that he had become weakened as a result.

  Sixthly, there was extensive bruising found to Mr Radcliffe’s body, and some to his face. In the pathologist’s opinion, this bruising is consistent with that caused by falls rather than with acts of violence against him. The pathologist also notes the lack of defence injuries, and notes that there is no evidence of violence or struggle at the scene of death.

  The final point made by the pathologist is something of an aside, in that there is no evidence of it being a contributory factor to Mr Radcliffe’s death. A fragment of metal was discovered in Mr Radcliffe’s skull, just behind his left ear. The pathologist also found what appeared to be an entry wound for this fragment, which was well healed and appeared to be a number of years old. Although the pathologist finds no evidence of this directly contributing to Mr Radcliffe’s death, he does note that a previous head injury can be a risk factor in alcohol withdrawal related seizure, which I’ll come on to in a moment.