by Mark Stanley
He closed the door and sat down.
“Well?”
“Talk to me about Melissa…” But before he could do so my mobile phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Are you alone?”
I signalled to Ludo to leave and waited until the door shut behind him. “I am now.”
“I’ve been making enquires and it seems that the strongest candidate is Patricia. From the information that I have it appears that whilst she doesn’t have enough supporters to get the majority she needs immediately she will have enough by the third ballot and on that basis I don’t want you to be involved. James Edwards will be her running mate and after that…well it seems that she’s intending culling Christopher’s team.”
“All of them?”
“Apparently so, Henry won’t be offered a place, she’s bringing in the three oafs, Devlin, Patterson and Childs so God help the country and poor, bland, depressing Patricia will try and become a stateswoman which beggar’s belief. How the public have been duped and her own party betrayed by this infernal woman is quite staggering. Not only is she the most boring of any of the candidates, she’s hardly covered herself in glory at the Ministry of Education and now this ye Gods…”
Melissa’s rant continued for quite some time, long enough for me to feel my equilibrium returning.
“…so when they ask you the questions, be concerned at the turn of events. Take the moral high ground; say that you couldn’t be part of any pact that doesn’t have the support of the people. That you believe in democracy and that in your view the incoming PM should be aligned to the Leave campaign and as you stood by the Remain campaign you feel that it would be difficult to work to leave the EU when it was against your wishes and beliefs.”
“It is and so that won’t be difficult. When will you be over?”
“I’m coming across on Thursday for the inquest. How’s Victoria?”
I paused before answering. “Behaving more bereft than I would of imagined.”
“I’ll see you Thursday.”
Chapter - July
"Are you ready?"
Victoria gave me a nod and we left the bedroom and made our way downstairs. The children had gone to school as they wouldn't be required at the Inquest and it would be better without the distraction. Victoria had said that she wanted to be present and there was nothing that I could say that would prevent her. We left the house and walked the short distance to the cars as everyone loaded up. It would only be a half hour journey to the Court in Reading, where I hoped the inquest would be concluded in a day.
The journey passed in total silence, both consumed by our own thoughts. On arrival, I was shown into a small anteroom as Victoria was led into the Court. It was a small group of witnesses. Tom was to be called first, then Tony, the guy from the ticket office, the train driver, a woman who had been on the opposite platform, Danny's doctor, me, then Melissa and finally some train expert. It was late morning before I was called and I left my lonely room as we had all been separated on arrival. As I walked into the Courtroom I immediately saw that it was packed with press and members of the public. Making my way to the front I was asked to mount a small dais from which I would give my evidence.
"Good morning Lord Stanley, I'm the Court appointed Coroner and I'm looking into the death of your father-in-law, Lord Brompton of Belgravia? Lord Stanley, might I take you back to Friday 17th June and the time prior to you leaving for the station? How was Lord Brompton's demeanour that day?"
"He was in a very good mood, he and his wife Lady Brompton, had had a very good three days at Royal Ascot, we had had breakfast with the children and after they had left we had retired to the sitting room to read the newspapers and to peruse the runners for that days racing. He told me, how he had won a lot of money when I was fortunate enough to have three winners on Wednesday."
The Coroner looked across. "Indeed, I think, if reports are to be believed, that a good many people had a successful day, if they followed you and your wife's lead. Moving on Lord Stanley, at what stage did you decide to go by train?"
“Earlier in the week, I usually travel up by helicopter, but on that Friday, my wife was taking her Mother and the younger children to visit my parents in Wiltshire, so she was naturally taking it? I had an important afternoon meeting and I had arranged with Victoria, Lady Stanley, that she would be back in time to send the helicopter on so that I could return promptly afterwards."
"And at what stage did Lord Brompton decide to join you?"
"He was keen to see some of the properties and in particular a project that had been recently completed in South Audley Street. It seemed to be a spur of the moment decision but I don't know he may have discussed it with his wife?"
I turned and looked at Victoria who was staring back at me, continually, unblinking; as if she did she might miss the smallest nuance.
"I will make enquiries of Lady Brompton later. Lord Stanley, why did you choose Sunningdale Station?"
"From where our house is located, its equal distance between Sunningdale and Virginia Water and the head of my close protection detail Tom Wilson, made that decision."
"So we have already established. On arrival at the station, can you tell me how you proceeded?"
I was a little confused by the question and sought clarity. "Are you referring to Lord Brompton's outburst?"
"I am indeed Lord Stanley."
"On arrival, Tom went to get four first class singles and was quoted three hundred pounds? Danny took umbrage at this and spoke loudly, voicing his disgust."
"To anyone in particular?"
"No, although I think the guy issuing the tickets thought it was aimed at him, I didn't draw that inference, but Danny, Lord Brompton, was outraged at what he perceived to be over-charging and spoke a number of expletives."
"Expletives? Such as?"
"I think, if I recall correctly, it was something along the lines of 'three hundred fucking pounds to London fucking Waterloo are you fucking mad?’ I'm not certain that this is verbatim but you get the gist."
"And then what happened?"
"After Tom had paid and got the tickets we needed to walk over the footbridge and wait on the London bound platform."
"Was it still raining?"
"Yes it was."
"How was Lord Brompton after the altercation?"
"I'm not sure that one could describe it as an altercation, it was just Danny blowing off some steam, something that he would do from time to time, often at no one in particular, it was just his way."
"Indeed. So, you walked over the footbridge and then by-passed the waiting room, why was that?"
"Because of the rain, it was very busy and for security reasons, my CPO's try to keep me out of busy, confined spaces."
"Cpo's?"
"Close protection officers."
"Thank you. So you then stood on the platform…harmoniously?"
"Yes, Danny was still going on about the ticket prices and had, I think, moved on to the rail companies, profiteering, his words, not mine."
"Quite. Then Lord Stanley, can you tell me what happened?"
"I heard an automated announcement about a train approaching that wasn't due to stop and we were asked to stand well back."
"And did you, stand well back?"
"We didn't move. I don't think that Danny heard it; he was still incensed by the earlier incident. I remember looking at our position on the platform but didn't consider it was dangerous."
"So, you had heard the announcement and had taken no action?"
"That's correct."
"Please continue."
"I was aware of the approaching train and Danny still going on about the price of the darn tickets. And then..." I paused as I remembered back.
"Would you like some water Lord Stanley?"
"Yes please." I had rehearsed this part endlessly and this was exactly as I'd imagined the scenario. A Court Attendant, got a glass from the table and poured some water from the adjacent jug prior t
o passing it too me.
"Thank you." I sipped the water and began again. "As I was saying, Danny was still going on about the price of the tickets and was becoming quite animated, lifting his arms and gesticulating. I instinctively moved back as I thought that he might, accidentally, catch me with one of his arms. I'm not sure if it was this movement that caused him to slightly stumble, but he did so, at the exact same moment as the train drew level and Danny was sucked under the wheels."
"Thank you Lord Stanley, I think this is an appropriate juncture to which to adjourn for lunch, the Court will retire and return at 2pm."
"All rise."
I rejoined Victoria who was her normal distant self and had been the same since the accident. We sat in the Court cafeteria, drinking coffee and not eating as the CPO’s ensured that we weren't bothered by people wanting infernal selfies.
"When do you think that they'll release the body?"
"If the Court are satisfied, I think a death certificate is issued immediately to allow the funeral to take place."
"And why wouldn't they be satisfied Mark?".
"Lord Stanley, before the recess, you were describing the time leading up to Lord Brompton's death and the actual death itself? In the absence of any corroborating CCTV footage, we the Court are limited to eye-witness recollections and therefore Lord Stanley, can I ask you to continue from when Lord Brompton was, I think you said sucked under the wheels?"
"I was shocked and was aware that the train suddenly began decelerating as the train driver reacted more quickly than me. I think I called out to Tom and he turned and ran over to me. We stood and looked down at the track, but there was nothing to be seen. The train was stopping but by now it was out of our sight and I understand it eventually stopped some considerable distance away. I'm afraid that's all I know."
"Lord Stanley, how would you describe, your relationship with your father-in-law?"
"We're both successful people and we have independent ideas which are not always compatible but I think that we are mature enough to know when to leave something and not to pursue it."
"I'm not entirely sure that I know what you mean; can you elaborate for the Court?"
"Danny was a very successful businessman and as such he had very entrenched views, not always compatible with my own."
"Can you give me an idea of one of your incompatible views?"
"Yes, although his daughter, my wife, is a superlative business woman and has qualifications and deeds to prove the fact, he was generally dismissive of women in the boardroom whereas I actively encourage their participation. We had had a number of spirited discussions and I think we had decided to avoid the question as lots of son-in-law versus father-in-laws do."
The Coroner smiled at my description. "Finally Lord Stanley, I must ask you the same question that I've posed of everyone else. Do you know of any reason why Lord Brompton would have wished to have taken his own life?"
"None whatsoever, he had everything to live for, a loving wife, daughter and new grandchildren whom he loved, I can't imagine a person less likely to commit suicide."
"Lord Stanley, for now thank you. If you can remain in the confines of the Court, I may require you to return?"
"Of course."
And with that I stepped down and walked across to sit with Victoria.
Melissa came onto the stand next and was treated with the utmost respect. She hadn't been in the house or at the station and so the questions were brief and she answered them fully. The Coroner mainly confined his questions to Danny's state of mind, if there were any issues in his business or private life that were weighing heavily on him? Melissa answered everything that was asked of her and in much less time than me, she was dismissed with the same request to stay, she joined us, sitting on the other side of her daughter. Finally, a Professor Stuart Bridge was called.
After confirming his name and profession The Coroner asked him a number of questions pertaining to his competency in answering questions. Satisfied he asked him to explain, if possible, my assertion that Danny had been sucked under the train.
"Fast trains can create a vacuum, which some call a 'back draft', this can either blow or suck you under a train and it is my belief that this was what Lord Brompton sadly experienced."
"Forgive me Professor, but how does that work? It is my understanding that the volume of air displaced by a moving object, in this case a train, would act contrary to what you are promoting, in so far that it would push one away from a train?"
The Professor smiled as he warmed to his task.
"Sir, like any object moving through a fluid, a high-speed train distorts the air as it moves through it? Broadly speaking there are three main regions of flow structure around a high-speed train; the upstream distortion, the boundary layer and the wake? These can be collectively referred to as the slipstream. The effects of the slipstream on a static observer, in this case Lord Brompton standing on a platform; vary depending what part of the train is passing, if I may Sir?"
The Professor indicated a flip-chart that had been placed onto a tripod to the left hand side of the stand. The Coroner indicated his consent and the Professor stepped down and began, what was probably a fairly standard lecture. There were titles written onto the board and as the Court watched he pointed to each in turn.
"The first I shall call the head or nose passage. As the train approaches, air accelerates immediately before it does so, followed by a sudden deceleration or what a layperson would describe as a gust?" He turned the pages to reveal another heading.
"Following the head or nose passage, comes the body, after the initial gust, slipstream velocity begins to increase again as a boundary layer grows on the side wall of the train or and carriages. This is going to be a relatively steady build-up but carriages, undercarriage etc. will impact this. Please stop me if you have any questions?"
"No Professor, it's very clear, even for someone who didn't excel at school in physics."
The Professor smiled and nodded as he turned the page and resumed his pointing at the parts of the drawings most relevant.
"Immediately after the tail passes the wake is already being generated. There is another big velocity spike here as the wake meets the observer. In addition, the exact structure of the wake depends on the train geometry, but it may have; a separation bubble, recirculation region where the flow detaches from the train body or perhaps it could be likened to shedding vortices."
"Can you explain this a little bit Professor?"
"Of course, generally a wake is going to be lower-than-ambient pressure, but in the case of vortices, they can actually result in air being accelerated down behind the tail, creating a low pressure region and sucking air in."
"And it's this combination that creates a back-draft?"
"In my humble opinion it's a misleading descriptive term, but anyway, it's possible a push-pull type of effect may occur in the situation where there is indeed a low pressure region behind the train actually sucking air in and the gust hits, then the suction. Additionally, the closer you get to the train body the higher the slipstream velocity. Although this will produce a force in the direction of motion, if the slipstream sweeps an object up it may effectively get sucked in and behind? It's very much not about volume of air displaced, but rather how it's displaced. I would recommend the Court look at a paper submitted by a much esteemed colleague of mine, Tomas W. Muld of the Linne Flow Centre, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He describes in deep technical data, the exact effects that I've tried to describe here, but in his paper he describes the exact cause and effect of aerodynamic drag?"
"Thank you Professor and for forwarding me the paper, although I must confess that I found some of the detail went over my head, the actual mechanics I did understand and you have explained them with a great degree of clarity."
"Thank you Sir."
"May I ask you Professor? In your opinion, after hearing Lord Stanley's evidence and that of the other witnesses today, is it
likely that Lord Brompton, suffered and if you'll forgive me for using terminology that you wouldn't use but is recognisable to the Court, a back-draft and this sucked him under the train?"
"Very much so, I would say that what happened, whilst tragic, was exactly the cause and effect that I and Mister Muld have described."
"Professor, thank you very much. You have been most helpful."
"...And so, it is the verdict of this Court that Lord Daniel Brompton of Belgravia, died as the result of a tragic and preventable accident. I would encourage the train regulator to look into ways of preventing similar accidents happening in the future but I and the Court are satisfied that Lord Brompton died by misadventure and that the death certificate should reflect this."
A week later, Danny was cremated and his ashes were taken to be scattered at his beloved South of France home by his grieving widow. We returned home, the second significant funeral in a few months. The evening had been as expected, subdued and Victoria retired to bed a little before 10pm. I worked on in my study for another hour before I went up to bed. As I entered I was surprised to see Victoria sat upright in bed as if she was waiting for my arrival, which is exactly what she was doing for as I closed the door she spoke.
"Before you use the bathroom, come and sit on the bed please?"
I walked over and sat down, next to her. She took my right hand in hers and then spoke.
"I've listened to your explanation both before and during the Inquest. I've also listened today to your Eulogy and I've been impressed Mark. Impressed by the way that you have maintained, not only your composure but also not deviated from your story. I say story, because the important part has been fabricated, don't deny it. I know that the Coroner had some doubts but that they were dispelled by the very credible Professor, after which he was convinced, convinced enough to sign a death certificate. I want to say one more thing on the subject and then it will be closed forever and you and I shall move on. I know you killed him Mark. I know that there was no back-draft, you pushed him under the train, whether through luck or circumstance, whether premeditated or by chance, you chose a station that was quiet but also had no CCTV. You pushed him Mark which was without doubt a horrid death even for the despicable man that my Father was. I know you had your reasons but it was the wrong thing to do."