Addenda to 'Lingering Questions...'

1. When writing the previous entry, I did not know the size of the Duke of Westminster's Reay Forest estate, only that Ben Stack was within it.  Well, according to this website, Who Owns Scotland, the estate comprises 94,817 acres (38,371 hectares).  Here's a map showing its extent.  There may be bigger privately owned estates in Scotland, but there would be few, if any, so large and remote.

2. I had understood that the Cooks were ascending Ben Stack when whatever happened happened.  Now I'm not so sure - I had forgotten what had been said at Robin Cook's funeral.  This is from the Scotsman:

Opening the service, Bishop [Richard] Holloway told mourners how Mr Cook's son Christopher had received a text message from his father just an hour before he died.

The text read:  "Am at top of Ben Stack, view of Arkle and Foinaven can't be seen for mist - weather foul.  Wish you were here."

Note that the time of death here cannot be the official time of 4.05pm, so must be the 2.20pm time instead.  Therefore Cook, presumably with his wife (but note the 'am'), was on the summit of Ben Stack around 1.20pm.  It would be pertinent to know how long it would take to get from the summit to the ridge where he died. 

3. Cook's text to his son, a racing journalist, mentions two neighbouring mountains, (Ben) Arkle and Foinaven.  Two famous racehorses were named after the mountains, so Cook's message may have been referencing the horses as well as the mountains.  Therefore, his next words, "can't be seen for mist - weather foul", may have nothing to do with the weather; for all I know, it could be another racing reference.  But if his words can be taken at face value, then they conflict with media reports of the weather on the mountain that day.  This from the Daily Mail:

Ray Fish, of the Rhiconich Hotel, where many of the walkers stay, has been climbing in the area for 30 years.  He said:  "I don't think I've ever heard of a fatality or serious accident on Ben Stack. (...)  "It was a really bright day and not very windy, but if you are not careful it can be dangerous and lead to falls of several hundred feet."

The Sunday Mirror reported,

Conditions on Ben Stack were good at the time Mr Cook fell ill.

Whereas the Mail had:

The rescue was co-ordinated by the RAF air rescue centre at Kinloss.  A spokesman there said conditions were clear at the time.

And the Times said:

The father-of-two’s second wife, Gaynor, was at his side when he collapsed near the peak of the 2,365ft mountain in near-perfect weather.

I'm puzzled as to how to reconcile the text message sent from Cook's mobile saying 'weather foul', with these other, seemingly independent sources saying 'weather fine'.  Any ideas?

4.  Major-General Grosvenor, aka the Duke of Westminster, owns, as we know, much prime land in London, including the eponymous Grosvenor Square.  That makes him the US Embassy's landlord. That would mean there would be a special relationship, within the special relationship, between him and the American government.

5. The previous post on Robin Cook's death got many readers, mainly thanks (if that's the word) to it being linked to by Paul Linford and Iain Dale.  If more information comes to light which shows my theorizing to be ill-judged, I apologise now for having cast any suspicion where it was not due.  But, until such time, my conscience tells me to raise these questions, even at the risk of being wrong.

Comments

[Mark Sugrue]

I've done a bit of hillwalking in Scotland and elsewhere - I think that you can dismiss the newspapers' reports of the weather. Scottish mountains are highly unpredicable and the weather can change from awful, wet and fog to sunny and fine, and back again, in a few minutes. It could well have been foggy when Cook stood on the summit and have cleared by the time he had his accident. As for the mobile phone issue, coverage is patchy in the mountains - maybe Cook's phone had no coverage at the spot where he fell, rendering it useless. That might explain the conflicting reports.

[Billy Evmur]

I have always believed Robin Cook was on the verge of disclosing information regarding Bush/Blair talks and that he was murdered.

[Jerry Stevens]

Robin Cook was a good man, with a good heart and a conscious, and is missed by many. I am still baffled to this very day of the supposed circumstances of his death. In a nutshell: he died of some mysterious illness after hiking in the middle of nowhere in Scotland? The man had no alcohol or drug problems unlike some politicians, and apparently there were no signs of physical injury which prompted the police to say 'case closed' shortly after investigating. I just don't get it. Today we really do live in times of more uncertainty, and it must be recognised that we really do poke our nose where it does not belong abroad instead dealing with domestic issues. I'd hate to think that there was foul play involved in the former foreign minister's death because of his views - as that would really jeopardise all this country really should be standing for. It does somewhat upset still how our media fails to even remember Cook and what he stood for especially after the Iraq war. On a final note, my thoughts go out to his family and all those who value standing up for what is right - and not what appears to be 'made right'.

[Another intrigued person]

Re the 'conflicting' fine/foul weather, some food for thought: I think it's fairly safe to assume that as Mr Cook was in such an area, and supposedly enjoyed such climbs and outdoor pursuits, he wasn't exactly adverse to the wet, foggy, dark and cold. I myself would take that kind of weather over glaring sunshine with no hesitation, any day of the week. Therefore, the apparently conflicting "good" weather as reported in the press, and the "foul" weather as noted in the text message, could be describing precisely the same thing, but from different viewpoints. And Cook's observation that "Arkle and Foinaven can't be seen for mist" could refer to the weather at the respective peaks, rather than the weather where Cook was himself, as has been presumed. So from that interpretation, the text message could be read thus: "Am at the top of Ben Stack. Arkle and Foinaven surrounded by mist and cannot be seen - but weather clear and sunny here: foul!" Indeed, the commenter claiming to be the 'Mystery Walker' on the original blog entry alludes to this being the case - it may not be of course, but it's entirely possible, and would explain this (tiny) part of the puzzle.

[alun]

The only thing that confuses me is why they didn't take him to the fully equipped A&E at Caithness General in Wick. It's closer to the mountain than Raigmore and surely able to deal with a mere 'heart attack'. After they've stabilised him, THEN go to Raigmore, sure! When every second counts the nearest main hospital should be the destination, not the biggest.