nine others at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital. Clothier trenchantly refused to hold a public inquiry, earning him vociferous hostility from both the victims' families and widespread criticism from the media. Clothier reasoned that people were capable of telling blatant lies under oath. In the absence of friends, colleagues, parents and the press, witnesses could speak with "a frankness which can be startling". Clothier continued that "if you really want to know what people are thinking in an extremely delicate matter, you need to see them in circumstances when they do not feel threatened." Clothier was asked about the similar case of Dr Harold Shipman in 2000 and explained that few people could be found to criticise colleagues with whom they had to work the next day, let alone voice suspicions about them committing very grave crimes. "Most witnesses at a public inquiry say as little as possible and do their best to withhold their innermost thoughts", Clothier remarked. "At an inquiry held in private people gradually relax and unburden themselves of a truth which may have been tormenting them for years." Retirement and personal life Clothier gradually became detached from public affairs, although he did occasionally write letters to newspapers. To the Daily Telegraph he criticised the phrase 'shoot-to-kill' on the basis that implied that it was possible to 'shoot-to-wing', an idea only applicable to the Wild West. Medicine was important to Clothier both professionally and personally. He was elected an Honorary Anesthetist, Honorary Pharmacist and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He prefaced the third edition of The Oxford Textbook of Medicine, which became the first chapter of the fourth edition. The heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub first operated on Clothier in 1976 and continued to care for him over many years. Clothier supported Harefield Hospital at which Yacoub practised and even occasionally acted as a theatre attendant. He drafted papers which saved the hospital from closure. New research laboratories at the hospital were opened in 2002 by Prince Michael of Kent and named in Clothier's honour. Clothier retained a love of flying, taking up gliding after he gained his pilot's licence. He was also an enthusiastic sailor and enjoyed reading the novels of Joseph Conrad. Clothier's musical abilities ranged beyond playing the piano: he constructed a clavichord and a bentside spinet and played both. Clothier was fluent in French, Italian and also spoke German, making