A Fatal Verdict by Tim Vicary Read Free Book Online

Tracy, the uniformed constable, the doctor, the nurse - were struck dumb with shock, unable to move or respond to the appalling drama exploding in front of them. Then, as Jane Miller bent down over Kathryn, Terry Bateson sprang to life.
    ‘All right, son, that’s enough.’ He stepped forward and put his hand on David’s arm,  trying to guide him away from the woman. David gasped, and flailed at Terry with his other arm, but PC Newbolt caught that before it could do any harm, and the two of them frogmarched him out into the corridor, where they held him up against a wall.
    ‘Get off me, you fascist bastards! You can’t do this!’
    ‘All right, Nick, let him go.’ Terry and Nick slackened their hold but stood close enough to prevent him getting back into the room. Terry took a deep breath to keep his temper under control. ‘Look, sir. If the young woman’s dead we need to take a statement, and that has to be done at the station. I’ve got a car outside. We might as well go there now, and get it over with.’
    The two police officers towered over the young man, who was surprisingly short - only five foot six, eight perhaps. For a moment it looked as though he would put up a fight; then, like an irritated turkey cock, he shrugged and strutted to the door.
    ‘All right. There’s nothing left for me here anyway.’
    Nick escorted him out to the car, past nurses, patients on trolleys and those still waiting to be seen. Terry turned to Tracey who had followed them into the corridor. She looked shocked.
    ‘He’ll complain, sir, if you’re not careful,’ she said. ‘He’s just the sort who knows all his rights.’
    ‘Oh, sure. Rights and no responsibilities,’ said Terry, straightening his jacket. ‘No manners either. Christ, did you hear what he said to that woman?’
    Tracy nodded numbly. ‘What a way to learn a thing like that.’
    ‘There’s no good way,’ Terry said grimly. ‘But that was the worst I’ve ever seen.’ He walked away from the car to gather his thoughts, conscious of the ambulance drivers and an old man in a wheelchair watching him. Would nothing good ever happen in this place? He was conscious of a tide of anger surging through him - was it just because of the way the young man had behaved, or did it have something to do with Mary as well? He so wanted to avenge her, but this was not the way. If he was to do his job properly, he had to keep control.
    He drew a deep breath and smiled at Tracy apologetically. ‘All right, panic over. Look, Trace, go back inside and see if you can get that woman’s story, will you? She needs sympathy at the very least. You’re better at that than me. I’ll deal with this guy. If it is murder it must have been him. After all, she was alone with him in his flat, wasn’t she?’
    ‘Just her and him,’ Tracy nodded. ‘All right, sir, I’ll see what I can do.’
     
     
    ‘I’m so sorry, Mrs Walters,’ the young doctor said, when Kathryn had recovered. ‘I thought ... since he was her boyfriend ...’
    ‘I want to see my daughter,’ said Kathryn desperately, looking away from him to the nurse, Jane Miller. ‘Please, where is she? I need to know.’
    ‘Yes, of course.’ Tracy Litherland watched as the doctor led her out, across the corridor to the room with the medical machinery and the screened bed.  He drew back the screens, bent over the bed, and smoothed the sheets back gently around her daughter’s face, as though it could make any difference now. ‘Please, Mrs Walters, stay as long as you want. Nurse Miller will see that you’re not disturbed. I’m so sorry.’
    ‘Oh God.’ Kathryn bent to put her cheek across her daughter’s forehead, as though to warm it with her own blood. It was already cooler than a living person’s, and pale, too, when she drew back to look. Shelley’s skin was white, not like the sheet exactly, but like - tripe. She shuddered as the image flashed across her mind. This was dead flesh, meat that had been