something,' he said. 'He's a right crafty devil.'
'And pissed himself into the bargain?'
'Never does things by halves, does our Mac,' said the Chief Warder. All right, stand clear of the door in there. We're coming in.' A moment later the cell was filled with prison officers and in the melee that followed, the late McCullum received some post mortem injuries which did nothing to improve his appearance. But there was no doubt he was dead. It hardly needed the prison doctor to diagnose death as due to acute barbiturate poisoning.
'Well, how was I to know that the Bull and the Bear were going to give him their cups of cocoa?' said the Chief Warder plaintively, at a meeting held in the Governor's office to discuss the crisis.
'That's something you're going to have to explain to the Home Office enquiry,' said the Governor.
They were interrupted by a prison officer who announced that a cache of drugs had been found in McCullum's sodden mattress. The Governor looked out at the dawn sky and groaned.
'Oh, and one other thing, sir,' said the warder. 'Mr Coven in the office has remembered where he heard that voice on the telephone. He thought he recognized it at the time. Says it was Mr Wilt.'
'Mr Wilt?' said the Governor. 'Who the hell's Mr Wilt?'
'A lecturer from the Tech or something who's been teaching McCullum English. Comes every Monday.'
'McCullum? Teaching McCullum English? And Coven's certain he was the one who phoned?' In spite of his fatigue, the Governor was wide awake now.
'Definitely, sir. Says he thought it was familiar and naturally when he heard 'Fireworks' Harry'd snuffed it, he made the connection.'
So had the Governor. With his career in jeopardy he was prepared to act decisively. 'Right,' he said, casting discretion to the draught that blew under the door. 'McCullum died of food poisoning. That's the official line. Next...'
'What do you mean, 'food poisoning'?' asked the prison doctor. 'Death was due to an overdose of phenobarbitone and I'm not going on record as saying'
'And where was the poison? In his cocoa, of course,' snapped the Governor. 'And if cocoa isn't food, I don't know what is. So we put it out as food poisoning.' He paused and looked at the doctor. 'Unless you want to go down as the doctor who nearly poisoned thirty-six prisoners.'
'Me? I didn't have anything to do with it. That goon went and dosed the sods.' He pointed at Chief Warder Blaggs, but the Chief Warder had spotted the out.
'On your instructions,' he said with a meaningful glance at the Governor. 'I mean I couldn't have laid my hands on that stuff if you hadn't authorized it, could I now? You always keep the drugs cupboard in the dispensary locked, don't you? Be irresponsible not to, I'd have thought.'
'But I never did...' the doctor began, but the Governor stopped him.
'I'm afraid Mr Blaggs has a point there,' he said. 'Of course if you want to dispute the facts with the Board of Enquiry, that is your privilege. And doubtless the Press would make something of it. 'PRISON DOCTOR INVOLVED IN POISONING CONVICT' would look well in the Sun, don't you think?'
'If he had drugs in his cell, I suppose we could say he died of an overdose,' said the doctor.
Chapter 8
'There's no use in saying you didn't come home late last night because you did,' said Eva. It was breakfast, and, as usual, Wilt was being cross-examined by his nearest and dearest. On her other days, Eva left it to the quads to make the meal a misery for him by asking questions about
