all the studios I could find. There seems to be one on every street corner these days.'
'Have you spoken to him?'
'Only briefly. He said she was very quiet. She came in knowing what she wanted, lay back and let him get on with it.'
'Is that all?'
'He said she seemed subdued, not down, but as if she were preoccupied with something.'
The phone rang. Alison checked the caller display. 'It's Moreton again.'
Jenny hurried through to her office.
'I'll see you on Monday, Mrs Cooper,' Alison called after her. 'I'm off now.'
'Have fun.'
Jenny snatched up the receiver with a sense of dread. 'Hello, Simon. I've been wondering where you'd been.'
'It's Amanda Cramer,' a humourless voice replied. 'You may have seen the circular; I was recently appointed assistant director for coroners. Simon's concentrating more on strategy. From now on operations and personnel will be chiefly my responsibility.'
'Oh, I see,' Jenny said, taking an instant dislike to Amanda Cramer. 'I don't think we've met.'
'Briefly, at the Christmas drinks.'
Jenny cast her mind back to the tedious evening in Gray's Inn Hall spent sipping orange juice amidst a sea of anonymous, suited officials getting drunk on cheap wine. Oh God. Now she remembered. Moreton, who for all his conformism was good fun at parties, and Jenny had been laughing at one of his suggestive jokes, when a joyless young woman with bad skin and flat shoes stepped between them. 'Dear God,' Moreton said when Amanda Cramer had finally taken the hint and moved on. 'I've never said it about any woman I've worked with, but I just couldn't, not even with Viagra.'
'Of course, I remember,' Jenny said. 'How can I help you?'
'Two things. Firstly, we've received a complaint about your handling of the death of Eva Donaldson. We understand there's no reason cause of death couldn't have been formally recorded after the verdict in the criminal trial, but for some reason you've neglected to do so.'
'That would be because I'm conducting an inquest.'
'Why would you do that? The superior tribunal has reached its decision. There's no possible justification for more public money to be spent on a needless formality.'
'With respect, Ms Cramer, that is a matter in my discretion. And the Crown Court is not a superior tribunal. It has an entirely separate function.'
'But you have no power to contradict its verdict.'
'I'm well aware of my powers.'
'Then I would advise you to exercise them appropriately. You could start by releasing the body. This should have been done immediately after the Home Office post-mortem.'
'The release form is on my desk ready to sign at the appropriate moment. Is that all?'
'No. We'd like your assurance that Mr Donaldson and his family won't be caused any more distress.'
Jenny felt her fragile patience ready to snap. Civil servants had a flimsy grasp on the concept of judicial independence at the best of times. Simon Moreton would at least have tacitly acknowledged that he was merely playing the part expected of him; Cramer was a straightforward bully, unafraid to do the Minister's dirty work. The morning newspapers had reported that the Decency Bill was on the brink of winning government support. That meant Michael Turn- bull and his new political allies would be desperate to avoid any hint of negative press surrounding the final surge of their campaign.
Jenny couldn't resist a retaliatory blow. 'You're surely not attempting to influence the judicial process, Ms Cramer?'
'Not at all, Mrs Cooper, but if you won't abide by your wider responsibilities, we can't be expected to abide by ours.'
'And what does that mean?'
'Let me put it this way: you'll be sailing into this particular storm without a lifeboat.'
'I can't say I haven't been warned,' Jenny said sarcastically. 'You said there was a second matter.'
'Yes: your erroneous verdict in the Alan Jacobs case. Bristol CID is furious. Your local paper is running a story saying they failed to investigate the possibility of murder.'
'I said nothing of the sort.'
'Then I suggest you issue a press release and clarify the situation. Coroners can hardly be effective without the support of the police. Goodbye, Mrs Cooper.'
Jenny collapsed into her chair. She felt shaken without knowing precisely why. There had been several run-ins with the Ministry over the past year, and each time she had been vindicated. Perhaps that was the problem: she had proved rather too good at unearthing the truth.
'Hello?'
She jumped at the sound of the voice in reception. Forcing a breath past her racing heart, she stepped out to see Father Starr standing in the middle of the room