Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

“Ah, that’s where we’re hoping you come in.”

“I don’t understand…no, you don’t think I had anything to do with their deaths, do you?” Nadia sat forward. Her head swivelled between Katy and the solicitor. “She can’t put me in the frame, can she?”

The solicitor shrugged, dipped her head and continued to take notes.

“We’ll be asking you to verify where you were on certain dates. Of course, we’ll need to confirm your alibis, especially as some other interesting news has materialised overnight.”

“Are you going to tell me what that is?”

“Not yet.” Katy then ran through the approximate times of death and asked Nadia where she was on each occasion.

“Most of those murders took place during my shifts at work. I have a rota to back me up on that, too. I swear, I had nothing to do with these deaths. I’m devastated that you should be trying to put me in the frame for these murders, especially after losing my father recently. Are you determined to push me over the edge, is that it?”

“Not at all. Talking of which, have you had any form of psychiatric evaluation done in the past?”

“I think you must be the crazy one for suggesting such a thing. No, I haven’t. Do you seriously think I would be a nurse if I had mental issues?”

“It’s been known in the past. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the Beverley Allitt case. She was a nurse on the prowl, wasn’t she?”

“She may well have been, but you’re forgetting one thing, Inspector.” Katy tilted her head. “She killed the patients in her care.”

“Fair enough. What I was referring to was the fact that she had a mental instability and yet she fooled those around her, her work colleagues and her superiors, in order to murder those poor children.”

Nadia shook her head slowly, her gaze dropping to the table. “You’re wrong.” A tear dripped and spread across the Formica surface.

“Am I? What really happened with your father the night of his death?”

“I found him like that. He was barely conscious. I did all I could to try to save him, that’s why I was covered in his blood, no other reason, I swear that’s the truth. You’re letting the killer get away, questioning me when they’re still on the loose out there. Why aren’t you listening to me? I’m innocent.”

“Either you or your sister, I can’t remember which of you, told me that your mother was dead. How did she die?”

“I don’t remember,” she muttered, her head still low.

“You must know. I remember a lot of insignificant things which happened in my life as a four-year-old. Are you telling me you’re unable to recollect a significant detail such as how your mother died?”

“I can’t. Father refused to talk about it. If you don’t believe me, ask Penny, she’ll tell you. Penny, yes, ring her, she’ll verify what I’ve told you, I’m sure she will.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be contacting your sister soon enough.”

Nadia glanced up. “Good. Maybe you’ll believe her, if you’re not prepared to believe what I’m telling you.”

“What sort of upbringing did you have with your father?”

“Why?”

“I need to get some sort of background knowledge of your relationship. If I recall rightly, your sister had a fraught one with him, and she left home at the age of sixteen, and yet you remained in the house, why?”

“I had nowhere else to go.”

“It didn’t stop your sister from leaving.”

“She’s a stronger character than me.”

“Why do you perceive yourself as being a weak character, Nadia?”

“I just am.”

“Why? What happened twenty-four years ago?”

She shook her head, and another couple of tears dripped onto the table. “I can’t…don’t force me.”

Katy faced Charlie and raised an eyebrow. She turned back to Nadia and said quietly, “What happened?”

“I can’t…remember.”

Katy slammed a fist onto the table, scaring everyone, including herself. “Tell me. I know you’re keeping something from us.”

“I’m not…I don’t want to revisit…that time.”

“Your father has abused you throughout your life, hasn’t he?”

She nodded. “Yes. I had to do what he said, if I didn’t…”

“What? What would he have done to you, Nadia?”

She sighed, and her head collapsed onto her arms. “I don’t want to…please stop this…I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m being punished for his mistake. Please, don’t do this.”

“His mistake? Which was what?”

Nadia sobbed and ignored any further questions Katy put to her for the next five minutes. In the end, the solicitor called a halt to the interview.

“She needs a break. You’re browbeating her. What good will that do, Inspector?”

“I need answers. Four men are residing in the mortuary fridge because of her. I need to find out why.”

Nadia sat up and glared at Katy. Suddenly, she stood, tipped her chair back and flew at Katy, striking her in the face with her fist and clawing at her neck. Charlie raced around the desk and grappled with Nadia to restrain her. She slapped the cuffs on and righted the woman’s seat then thrust Nadia in it.

“Sit down and don’t move. Are you all right, boss?”

Katy took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her neck. “I’m fine. That attack was uncalled for, Miss Crawford. All you’ve succeeded in doing is proving that you have a violent nature and are capable of going on the attack when pushed into a corner.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“Words are cheap. This interview will continue, I have no intention of drawing it to a conclusion, not yet.”

“Okay by me,” the female solicitor agreed, glancing sideways and giving her client a judgemental glare.

“No, I can’t take any more. I’m sorry for lashing out, but you pushed me. You’re not listening to me. I’m confused, that’s why I went on the attack. No other reason, you have to believe me,” Nadia said for what seemed to be the tenth time that morning.

“It’s my job to get to the truth during an investigation, Nadia. Now, tell me what happened twenty-four years ago. For your information, I’m already aware. I need to hear it from you, though.”

Her eyes