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

floor beside her. “Thank you. Again, I apologise if I’ve come across obstructive and unhelpful. I have truly told you everything I know about what happened tonight.”

“We’ll leave you to it and be in touch soon. Sorry, would it be okay if we get a contact number for you?”

Nadia reeled off her mobile number, and Charlie jotted it down in her notebook. “It’s mostly turned off because of the length of time I’m at work, so please be patient if you try to contact me and there’s a delay in me getting back to you. It won’t be intentional, I swear.”

“I have no reason to doubt you. We’re sorry for your loss, you have our sincere condolences. Take care of yourself. We’ll be in touch soon.”

“Thank you for being so understanding, both of you.”

Katy and Charlie left the room.

Outside, Katy exhaled a large breath. “Shit! I hate dealing with grieving relatives.” She raised a hand to prevent Charlie from answering. “I know what you’re about to say, most of our job entails just that…well, I’m stating, here and now, that I categorically abhor that side of our job.”

“It’s not easy, I grant you. But you handled yourself well in there, just saying.”

“Charlie Simpkins, are you sucking up to me?”

Charlie placed a hand over her chest. “Would I? By the way, I thought it was very magnanimous of you to offer to pay for a hotel room.”

“Ooo, such a big word for this early in the morning.” She glanced at her watch to check the time and nodded. “Jesus, it’s almost two, hardly worth going home, is it? Oh, and for your information, I wouldn’t have footed the bill personally, I would have taken it out of the petty cash tin.”

“Ah, thought it sounded too good to be true.”

Katy swiped at Charlie’s arm. “Sodding cheek. Okay, let’s call it a day and get home. I’ll drop you back at the station first.”

“We should have thought about that and brought both cars. You’re not going out of your way, are you? If you are, I can grab a taxi from the rank, there’s sure to be a few outside.”

“Now you’re being downright silly. Come on.”

They set off back to the car, neither of them choosing to speak about the case on the way.

Once they were in the car Katy asked, “What did you make of her?”

“Nadia? Why, don’t tell me you have suspicions about her?”

Katy waggled her hand in front of her and then slipped the key into the ignition. “I’m not sure about her. Yes, I felt sorry for her for losing her father, but did you see the state of her clothes?”

“About that…shouldn’t we have taken them for analysis?”

“You’re right, I didn’t have the heart to ask her to strip off while we were there. My mistake. I’ll take the rap for that with Patti in the morning. I’ll get SOCO to contact her and ask for her clothes. Come on, what’s your gut telling you?”

Charlie puffed out her cheeks then chewed on her lip for a few moments. “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. She’s a nurse, so her story about trying to save him is plausible, I suppose.”

“If you found a member of your family bleeding out like that, I’m guessing you’d react in the same way, right?”

“Without a doubt. Not everyone has the time to stop and think about their dubious actions, do they?”

“True enough. It’s going to add to SOCO’s burden, there’s no doubt about that.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. However, the fact she still lives with her father struck me as strange. What about you?”

“Yes and no. She has a point, property prices are the pits in the London area. It’s the same for everyone, young and old.”

“We’ll discuss it more in the morning. I’m shagged and need some kip.”

Ten minutes later, after dropping Charlie off, Katy was heading in the opposite direction towards home. She parked the car and snuck into the house. A light was on, seeping under the lounge door, and she eased it open to find AJ fast asleep on the couch. She ran a hand down his cheek. His eyelids flickered.

“Hello, you. What are you doing up?”

“Silly question. What time is it?”

“I stopped looking at the clock around two, it was depressing me. Come on, let’s go to bed. I need a cuddle.”

He gathered the quilt and pillow and followed her upstairs. When she came out of the en suite, he was fast asleep again. She refused to wake him a second time so crept in beside him and drifted off to sleep as soon as she was warm and cosy.

2

As soon as Katy arrived at the station, she arranged for SOCO to contact Nadia about her clothes. She gave James the young woman’s number and warned him to be gentle with her.

“What do you take me for? Of course I’ll be gentle. Is she a suspect?”

“Good, and no, not at this point. I’m inclined to think she was acting on second nature, what with her being a full-time nurse.”

“Ah, I’m with you. Okay, leave it with me.”

“Thanks.”

She ended the call, and before she got stuck into tackling the daily grind of sorting through the morning post, she called a meeting with the team. “Right, guys, this is what we have so far. According to the victim’s daughter, Nadia Crawford, she came home from work to find her father lying in a pool of blood on the living room floor. His throat had been cut. She’s a nurse, so her first instinct was to try and save him. Her second was to call for an ambulance. Charlie and I were with her until gone two this morning. She was traumatised by the events, which is totally understandable. However, me being cautious to cover every angle, I think we should begin background checks on the father and the daughter.”

Katy wrote both names on the whiteboard. “I want a couple of you to go out there and conduct house-to-house