“He’s… he was a doctor at the hospital. The A&E department. I’m a nurse there. We were about to set off for work when this happened.”
“Has Ross had any form of trouble in his life recently? Anyone had cause to have a go at him, possibly?”
“No. Never. He was a very friendly kind of bloke. Would rather help people than see them suffer. He was a doctor, for God’s sake, that should tell you everything you need to know.”
“I had to ask. I’m sorry. Can we call someone to come and sit with you?”
“The constable has rung my sister. She lives twenty minutes away, she should be here soon.”
Katy glanced over her shoulder at the crowd increasing before her eyes. It sickened her to think of them treating this as some kind of horror show, which of course it was, but Vicki still had a right to her privacy. “Okay, that’s good. Would you rather wait inside the house?”
“I’m not sure I can face going back in the house, the house I shared with Ross. All I want to do is curl up and die. The person who did this might as well have killed me as well, I can’t go on without him. We were getting married in two weeks…” She broke down again.
Katy swallowed down the lump in her throat. “That’s terrible, you have my condolences.”
“I don’t need them or want them. I want him…my Ross, the love of my life.” Her hand shook as she pointed at her deceased fiancé.
“We’ll get the justice you and Ross deserve, you have my word on that. Look, I really think you should go inside.”
“I can’t. I don’t ever want to step inside that house again. His smell will be in every room. Reminders of him will be everywhere, I can’t deal with any of this right now.”
“I understand.”
A car screeched to a halt, and a blonde-haired woman shot out of the vehicle and bent down in front of Vicki. She hugged her, and both women cried together while the three officers watched on. It was painful and tragic to witness.
Eventually, the newcomer released Vicki and got to her feet. “Who’s in charge here?”
“That would be me, DI Katy Foster, and you are?”
“Sharon Knolls. Vicki is my sister. Do you know what happened? This is supposed to be one of the best areas on this side of town. This shouldn’t have happened, not to Ross. This is too distressing for words.”
“I understand how upset you must be, Sharon, we’re doing our best to piece things together, but Vicki hasn’t really told us much yet.”
Vicki brushed the PC’s arm off her shoulders and jumped to her feet. “I know nothing. I didn’t see anything. What more can I tell you?”
Sharon hooked an arm around her sister’s waist. “All right, calm down, there’s no point in you upsetting yourself further, love.”
“I need her to get her finger out and do something. Whoever did this has, and is, getting away. All she’s intent on doing is standing around here asking dumb questions.”
Katy held up her hands and backed up two paces. “We’ll leave you to it. It wasn’t my intention to cause you even more angst at a time like this. I suggested your sister goes inside, away from the glare of the onlookers.”
“It’s okay. I’ll collect the cat and pack a bag for her and take her back to my place. Please, do what you can to ease her pain.”
“You have my word. We’ll ask the neighbours if they saw anything.”
“Very well. Good luck. Come on, sis, let’s get you in the car, and I’ll do what’s necessary inside the house.” Sharon led her sister away and deposited her in the passenger seat of her Mini. Then she flew past them and into the house.
“Jesus. I can’t deal with any more aggro. We need to frigging get these guys off the streets ASAP before I bloody lose my mind.”
“Want me to start asking the crowd if they saw anything?” Charlie suggested.
“If you would. I’ll try and hurry Patti along with the PM on this one, just to give Vicki a break.”
On her way back to Patti, Katy received a call from Graham. “Hi, how did it go?”
“Just checking in to tell you Steve and I have got the two women. We’re on our way back to the station.”
“All right. What was their reaction? Any form of trouble?”
“One of them, Katrina Banks, appears a little subdued, bewildered even, and the other one, Alison Temple, kicked up a right fuss. Steve had to restrain her with cuffs.”
“Damn, I really didn’t want it to go down like that. They could be completely innocent in this. Never mind, what’s done is done. Charlie and I are at another murder scene. A doctor was killed, and his Aston Martin was stolen.”
“Shit! That’s five bodies now.”
“Seven counting our two guys, all in the space of a few days. This has to be the last one, we’re going to have to up our game.”
“We’ll do our very best, boss. Are you going to be delayed?”
“Maybe. Get the women settled in an interview room, I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’re just finishing up here. See you soon.” She ended the call and wound her way back to Patti. “The crowd is growing. Are you any closer to getting out of here?”
“Should be able to move in the next ten minutes or so. What is wrong with people? You’d think they’d show someone grieving more consideration, wouldn’t you? Gawping twats. Excuse my aggression.”
“That’s not like you, Patti. I can understand you being pissed off, though. Sick shits. I’ll see if uniform can disperse them, if not, I’ll get them to move the cordon back several feet, if that will help.”
“Great. As it stands, I’m feeling more than a little claustrophobic.”
Katy marched over to the officer who had greeted her upon their arrival. “Let’s see if we can move them back,
