It was the ending everyone was waiting for; the story about who would stay and who would go. There had been alleged threats and betrayals. Professors claimed they were under attack. There was the ministry, with its 'king' and loyal deputy. Finally it was published, revealing one of the characters to have been found wanting. She went.
Sitting in the snug of the Foreign Correspondents' Club bar on Harry Potter weekend, former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) Paul Morris smiled at the thought that the report of the 39-day, HK$25 million commission of inquiry into allegations of government interference in the institute's affairs had the hallmark of a great work of fiction.
Nursing a pint of beer, Professor Morris, 56, was looking relaxed for the first time in months. 'Well, it's probably an illustration of that adage that real life is sort of stranger than fiction,' he said.
Barely a week after he resigned as HKIEd president, Professor Morris was reflecting for the first time on the events that led to the inquiry, his gruelling seven days on the witness stand and the outcome.
All four key players in the inquiry have now left the posts they held during the hearings.
Former secretary for education and manpower Arthur Li Kwok-cheung ('King Arthur' as he was described at one time in the hearings) was cleared of two of the inquiry's three allegations - that he tried to force the institute to merge with Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and that he warned former institute academic vice-president Bernard Luk Hung-kay that the institute would have 'to pay' for failing to condemn teacher protests.