Anna had washed her shirt front, and her face and hands, but the smell persisted. The doctor had examined Emily and sedated her, as she had become hysterical. Anna had a few words with the doctor who was, if anything, even younger than the one who had attended to Emily the previous night; he too, however, was very concerned about her. Emily was very dehydrated and undernourished and her blood pressure was fluctuating. It was a comfort to Anna that they were not about to release the girl.
It was less reassuring that Justine Wickenham had been allowed in with her sister. The officer they had asked to guard Emily was very much on the defensive.
'I couldn't do anything: she's family; she's got a big mouth on her and she was very aggressive. I was outside the door and I didn't hear much dialogue; the patient looked pretty sick and I monitored them every ten minutes or so. Which was all I was told to do.'
'Right yeah, sorry if I sounded off.' Anna was just glad she hadn't had to confront Justine; the previous evening had been enough to last her for a long time. She thanked the officer and released her.
The doctor had Emily's medical records; he glanced down and then looked back to Anna. 'How well do you know Miss Wickenham?'
'I am with a murder team. Miss Wickenham is just someone we need to talk to. I happened to be there when she attempted to kill herself
'Well, she has tried a few times.'
He stared at the document, and then back to Anna. 'She should be transferred to a different unit, whether or not we can arrange it… She's only seventeen years old, so we would need parental permission. We tried to get some previous medical history but nothing has come in yet.'
Anna asked if it was all right for her to see Emily and he said it was fine, but if she was sleeping, not to waken her. He passed the clipboard with Emily's notes to the same nurse who had taken her blood pressure earlier.
Anna followed the nurse into Emily's room, and waited as she placed the clipboard on the end of the bed.
The nurse bent over Emily, who was lying curled up like a small child. 'Hi, Emily, would you like a cup of tea?'
There was no answer, and after checking the drip and straightening the bedclothes she turned to Anna.
'I think she should be left to rest. She was sedated, and she needs to get some strength back.'
Anna decided she'd go home to shower and change before going into the station. She bleeped the car open and drove away, unaware she had been watched and was now being followed.
In the small car park of her block of flats, Anna grabbed her handbag from the car in a hurry; she didn't bother to close the garage doors, as she would be leaving shortly. As she walked up the first flight of stairs, she heard the door from the garage bang open and shut. She paused for a moment, then continued, turning into the corridor on the first floor and up the stairs to her second-floor landing. She paused as she heard footsteps, but when she stopped, so did the footsteps. She listened. Silence.
'Hello? Is someone there? Hello?'
Silence.
Uneasy, Anna took out her flat keys in readiness. As she stopped at her front door, she sensed that someone was behind her and she whipped round.
Justine Wickenham was just walking out from the stairwell.
'What are you doing here?' Anna asked, keeping her voice steady as she turned the first lock. She wished she didn't have the additional security lock, because she had to use another key. Justine was coming closer and closer. She turned, keeping her voice calm and steady. 'I said, what are you doing here?'
Her hands shook and she couldn't insert the second key. At last, it slotted in the lock and she turned it fast.
'I hope you are fucking satisfied, you cunt!'
Anna pushed open the door ready to get inside before Justine could reach her, but she was too late. Justine gripped Anna's right arm so hard it hurt.
'They'll take her away this time, and that's your fault!'
'Just let go of my arm, Justine.'
'I'd only just got her straightened out and now you've fucking destroyed all that, but you wouldn't listen to me!'
'Let go of me!'
'I'd like to smash your face against the wall!'
Anna jerked her arm up with all her strength, hitting Justine in the face; Justine lost her balance and stepped back, but it still didn't give Anna time to make it inside and to safety.
'Didn't you hear what I just said?' Justine's face was twisted in anger.
'I heard you, Justine. You had better just step back and away from me. Get away from the door!'
Justine slammed her fists against the door and it opened wide. 'How's that? Go on, get in. Get in!'
Anna was desperate to avoid being trapped inside the flat with Justine. 'What do you want?'
Justine pushed her face close, flushed with anger. 'I'd like you to know what you've fucking done to my sister.'
Anna was fast: she gripped hold of Justine's left arm and twisted it up behind her back then, with her other hand, yanked her thumb almost out of its socket. Justine screamed in pain; she crumpled and howled.
'Why did you do that? What did you do that for?'
Anna pushed Justine clear of her, but it wasn't necessary: she leaned against the wall and started to cry.
'That hurt! You hurt me.'
'You had better leave, Justine. I mean it, get out. Go on, go away.'
'No, I won't.'
Anna knew she had the upper hand, and her fear subsided. 'What do you want?'
Justine covered her face with her hands and started to sob. 'You don't know what you've done, you don't know!'
Anna watched as she slid down the wall and sat hunched up on the floor, crying.
'Why don't you tell me what I'm supposed to have done?'
Langton was having a heavy session with the Commander. As it was now twenty-eight days without an arrest, she had been considering bringing in the Murder Review team; Langton argued that since he now had a prime suspect, that was unnecessary. The Commander said it was impossible to arrange everything he requested for the following morning. She felt he should wait out the twenty-four hours to gain the results from the blood tests.
Langton did, however, get the backup he wanted and it was agreed the extra teams would all gather at the Richmond Hotel. They would all be briefed in the Incident Room, and then move in convoy. When he passed on the details to Lewis, he was taken aback.
'Jesus Christ, they've agreed to all this? That's one hell of a manoeuvre!'
'Lot of arm twisting but yes, like I said, we are going to have this one big hit, so let's hope to God we come away with something that will prove it was worth it.' He sighed. 'Truth is, we need the time, so let's get cracking and use every minute. We have to get this so well organised they'll not scream at the cost. Has Travis called in yet?'
Lewis was heading out of his office. 'Nope, lemme call the hospital and check; she might have gone back there.'
'Okay, let me know what she's up to.'
This time, Langton did unscrew the bottle cap. This was indeed one hell of a manoeuvre and he just hoped to God he wasn't going to come up empty-handed.
Justine sat on Anna's bed; she took the glass of water gratefully.
