I take my seat next to Asante, open my file and go through the requisite procedural box-ticking. And I mean that literally: Kennedy sits there marking off the list of PACE requirements as we go, and makes sure I see her doing it. After all that, finally, we can begin.
I sit back. ‘OK, Professor, perhaps you could talk us through your version of last night’s events.’
The answer is quick; she was expecting this.
‘Caleb had offered to babysit for me while I was at the dinner at Balliol.’
‘Offered, or you asked?’
She blinks. ‘OK, I asked.’
‘And he’s done that before – yes?’
She glances away. ‘A few times.’
She’s not meeting my eye; she knows she’s on thin ice here, but I have fatter fish to fry than minor infractions of college procedures.
‘What time did you get back after the dinner?’
She shrugs. ‘Eleven fifteen? Something like that.’
‘And you’d been drinking?’
She looks at me now. There are two spots of colour in her cheeks. ‘Of course I’d been drinking. It was an eight-course dinner. Everyone was drinking. I admit I had a lot more than I normally would, but I wasn’t drunk. Absolutely not.’
‘So what happened when you got home?’
‘I went downstairs to the kitchen. I could hear Caleb down there. He had some music on and he’d been working on his laptop at the kitchen table. We chatted for a bit.’
‘About his research?’
‘No, not really.’
The colour on her cheeks is deepening. I sense Asante shifting next to me. Kennedy reaches across and touches Fisher lightly on the arm. ‘It’s OK, you can say.’
‘Look,’ she says, ‘he was flirting with me, all right? He does it a lot. It doesn’t mean anything.’
‘And were you flirting back? I mean, he’s an attractive lad –’
She stares at me now. ‘A lot of men flirt with me, Inspector, and a fair number of women too. Other academics, students, university administrators; chancers in all three of those categories and chancers in general. I don’t take any of it seriously.’
I nod slowly. ‘So then what?’
‘He said we should have a drink. To celebrate my so-called “triumph”.’ There’s a bitter note in her voice.
‘So-called? I thought you’d secured a big-cheese donor – isn’t that worth celebrating? Hilary Reynolds gave me the impression it was a tour de force.’
She gives an acid little sigh. ‘Funnily enough, it doesn’t feel much like that any more.’
‘But it would have done last night, surely? Before all this happened?’
She sits back. ‘He said we should celebrate. He got the champagne out of the fridge. He opened it. OK?’
‘So the two of you had a drink together. Just the one glass?’
She flushes again. ‘I think so.’
‘You think? You don’t remember?’
‘I remember I spilt some – on my dress. I remember him filling my glass again.’
She glances at Kennedy, and then at me. Evidently something else they’ve already discussed.
She takes a deep breath. ‘After that, it gets a bit hazy.’
* * *
VE: Mr Morgan?
CM: [fidgeting with his water bottle]
VE: I know this is tough –
CM: She started coming on to me, all right? I was leaning back against the worktop and she came up really close. Like, pressing her body against me. She started asking me if I fancied her.
VE: And do you – did you?
CM: [flushing]
Kind of. I mean, she’s a lot older than me but she’s pretty hot. All the postgrads think so. And she looked amazing in that dress – anyone would have thought she looked sexy –
VE: It’s not a crime to find her attractive, Mr Morgan.
CM: Caleb. You can call me Caleb.
VE: So what happened next?
CM: [takes a deep breath]
Well, she was definitely drunk by then. She’d kicked off the stilettos but she was still swaying, like she couldn’t stand up straight. And she was slurring her words. Even if I’d wanted to – there’s no way I’d have done anything about it with her in that state.
VE: But you might – under other circumstances? If you thought she knew what she was doing?
CM: [pause]
In theory, perhaps. But only in theory – it’d have been a complete nightmare in practice. For my research, I mean. And anyway, I’ve got a girlfriend. It just wouldn’t be worth the colossal amount of shit it would’ve caused.
VE: What happened next?
CM: She started touching me – through my clothes. My shorts. She said, you know, that it proved I did fancy her.
VE: [softly]
You had an erection.
CM: [nods]
But that didn’t mean –
VE: It’s just a physical reaction, Caleb. It’s not something you can necessarily control. It doesn’t mean that any of this is your fault, and it certainly doesn’t mean you weren’t assaulted.
CM: [pause]
VE: Can you go on?
CM: [looks away, nods]
* * *
Adam Fawley
7 July 2018
19.47
‘You’re saying you don’t remember what happened next?’
Fisher shakes her head.
Kennedy leans forward. ‘Look, what exactly is this Caleb Morgan alleging?’
‘He says Professor Fisher made physical sexual advances, and continued to do so even when he made it clear that he was saying no. Intercourse did not take place, but she did touch him in the groin area.’
Fisher is shaking her head. ‘This is some terrible, ghastly misunderstanding. There is no way –’
She looks down, puts a hand to her lips, breathes. Then she looks up again. ‘Is Caleb OK? I mean, that’s the only explanation – he must have had some sort of breakdown –’ Her voice falters. ‘Look, he’s been under a lot of pressure lately. His research –’
‘So, to be clear, you’re telling us you don’t remember any physical contact with Mr Morgan?’
‘No.’
‘And the bruising on your wrist – how did that come about?’
She tugs at her sleeve, then realizes she’s doing it and lays her hands flat on the table. ‘As I told your technician, it was probably my son. Children are surprisingly strong and don’t always know what they’re doing.’
If she’s aware of the
