The Devil's Due: A Cooper and McCall Scottish Crime Thriller by Ramsay Sinclair (nonfiction book recommendations TXT) 📕

for affection? Do you use her fondness for your daughter to keep her around? To make your life less miserable?” Finlay prompted, snarling, waiting for some mud to stick to Jack Harper. Finlay imagined his sister in the same position as Catherine, and that infuriated him.

Catherine Jones had now reached over the legal age limit and was more than capable of running her own life.

“No. We hug, at the very most. Not that our private lives are any of your business.” Jack seemed traumatized at Finlay’s intrusion. “She wanted to hug me, not the other way around. She’s like a second daughter to me. Not that anyone could ever replace Emily.”

“And what about the medication?” Finlay cut off Jack’s heartfelt speech, cursing at the thought of them two embracing in any kind of way.

Jack paused, mentally gathering his story into order. “Catherine felt a lot of grief, but she didn’t want to upset her parents. They’re not emotional people, and she didn’t want them to know how much she was struggling. Catherine was already registered with the medical centre I worked for at the time, and all she had to do was ask for me. It was kept between us, patient confidentiality, so her parents never found out.”

“How so? If she were under eighteen at the time, they would've had to sign forms allowing Catherine to visit you in the first place,” I recalled.

“I kept it all off the record. No agreements, nothing to sign--”

“And then you stole the pills,” I said, filling in the blanks.

“A few boxes of antidepressants here and there. Not too regularly, but that didn’t matter because the boss still found us out after checking lack of inventory,” Jack relaxed, a weight taken off of his shoulders. This was the first time he’d openly admitted it. “They told Catherine’s parents about the pills she had been taking, and Catherine begged with her life to not press charges. Her parents agreed, thinking it was their fault for Catherine not opening up to them about her struggles.”

“Didn’t her parents teach you a lesson? Warn you to stay away from their daughter. A late father doting after their daughter poses a few uncertainties for them, surely?” Finlay couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“They did. They moved to the other end of town, and her father threatened me a couple of times.” Jack touched his side as though he was punched at some point.

“But we found you at Catherine’s house.” Finlay couldn’t fathom why, after all this, Jack disobeyed his warnings.

“Her parents were away, and they couldn’t do anything about it. Catherine invited me over. She wanted to make sure I was safe. I’d phoned her and told her about your visit.” Jack looked me directly in the eyes, being brutally honest this time around. “It was one time we didn’t have to sneak around.”

“What were you doing? Catherine was in her nightgown,” Finlay scowled, sure Jack was still covering up the other part to their ‘relationship’.

“We celebrated Emily’s life. Wrote poems for her, went through photographs. Honoured her spirit.” Jack breathed shakily, threatening to cry again. The solicitor sat back in shock, not realising the extent of her client’s rigorous life.

“None of that explains the scalpel,” Finlay was quick to point out.

“It happened a few days ago, possibly a week. Catherine snuck out to come and see me. I gave her a drink, and she dropped the glass. A piece embedded into her hand, so I used whatever was around to help loosen it. By the time I’d sorted her out, it was early in the morning, and Catherine had to rush home.” Jack recollected, flapping his shirt to cool down.

“I went to bed, and then I woke up to your officers knocking on my door. I assumed Catherine's parents had called them or found out what was going on, so I stashed it all. But then you informed me about Gavin’s death, and all this escalated from there.” Jack almost couldn’t believe the challenges he’d faced these past few weeks.

“You’ve protected Catherine from her parents’ judgement all along,” I concluded, rounding up recent events. “Coincidences can happen,” I hinted at the woods located so near to Catherine’s home.

“You can’t tell Catherine’s parents. Promise me you won't. She’ll have no one to talk to--” Jack whipped himself into a nervous frenzy.

“And neither will you,” Finlay grimaced. “It’s in your own interests that we don’t tell Catherine’s family. You can’t stand to be alone,” Finlay derived. “You’re a broken man, Jack Harper. If you cared about Catherine in the long run, as you so abundantly claim to now, you’d stop hindering her future.” Finlay cautioned Jack Harper and pursed his lips tightly, fist clenched in revulsion.

“Then, clearly, DI Cooper, you haven’t cared for anyone. I know this would ruin Catherine’s life if we were found out, but I can’t stop myself. She’s the only thing left of Emily that hasn’t walked away from me. I’m not letting go so easily,” Jack told us sincerely, begging me especially.

I couldn’t help them now.

“I think we’re done here. Interview terminated at six forty-five.” Finlay switched off the recording and huffed. The solicitor was already on her feet.

“You’re free to go, Jack,” I broke the news, seeing relief written all over his aged face. He didn’t know what to say, sore from being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. His footsteps followed his solicitor out of the interviewing room, leaving Finlay and me in stone-cold silence.

“Trauma bond, in a way. Your instincts were right though, he was sketchy,” I assured Finlay. He sat frozen in place, tensing all of his muscles. A blood vessel stood out on his blotched forehead, willing itself to explode.

18

A pit of fire raged in my stomach. Not at Jack Harper, who had squirmed his way out of my grasp, oh no. But the fact that McCall didn’t debrief me or share her uncovered information. I looked like a fool during that interview, and it was all caught