* * *
“Dan… Shit! Bloody voicemail. Dan, I need you! Please call me when you can.” I threw the phone down before putting my head in my hands.
“Amanda, are you okay?”
“Inspector Simmonds, Oh goodness, I’m sorry.”
“Amanda, please, I’ve told you before. Please, call me Adele. Now, what’s up? You look upset.”
“Oh Inspector, sorry, Adele, I’ve just had a call from my sister-in-law. My brother’s been arrested.”
“Oh goodness, on what charge?”
“Murder.”
“What? Oh, Amanda!
“I don’t know what to do. Adam wouldn’t do anything like this and Kate, that’s his wife was so upset. What can I do?”
“Okay Amanda, calm down.” She sat down opposite me. “Would you like me to find out what’s happening for you? Sure, okay. Now, dry your eyes. What is his full name?” She pulled out her notebook.
I told Adele what I knew and she promised to find out what she could. She told me to take a break and held my hand telling me to be strong which had made me bawl more than ever. I didn’t want to go to the break room or canteen so I walked to the fodder shed and sat down on a bale. Taking out my phone I called Kate.
“Kate… No, I know I can’t stop crying either. My Inspector is going to try and find something more out for me, I’ll tell you as soon as I know. Sure… I don’t know what to say…”
* * *
The cell door opened and I was asked to follow the officer. We walked down long corridors until I was led into a tiny room with a table, chairs and the sort of tape recorder I’d only seen on TV cop shows before.
I sat down; the policeman who had escorted me waited in the corner of the room before the door opened. A man and woman stepped in. She reached over, pressed a button on the machine before speaking.
“Interview with Adam Bishop, commencing at fifteen twenty-four, attending are DCI Jarvis and DCI Vance. Now, Mr Bishop, you are under arrest for the murder of Olivia Wright-Turner. Her body was discovered this morning at the stables you worked at. So, tell me, what have you got to say about that?”
“What?” I looked at both the officers. What were they telling me? I stared at the two of them, wide-eyed in fear.
“I said, Miss Wright-Turner was found this morning, she had been viciously attacked and her body dumped in the muck heap. Now, I want to ask you some questions, starting with where you were last night?”
“Last night? I had a discussion with Hilary and Sally before going back to my caravan, I stayed there overnight and then left the stables this morning to go home.”
“So, you were in your caravan. I am guessing you were alone during that time?”
“Yes, it was only me.”
“And you left very early in the morning. Why was that?”
“I work four days a week for Hilary, I was due to go home. I was going to go home on Thursday night but I was exhausted and we had been drinking wine. I couldn’t drive. It had been a rough day so I decided to leave early in the morning instead.”
“So, you had a rough day you say?” The female officer held my gaze. “Why was that?”
“I’d worked hard, there had been a lot to do and I’d been riding for several hours.”
“Is that all?”
“What do you mean?” She was clearly waiting for me to say something. I looked up at her.
“Did you have an argument or some disagreement with Miss Wright-Turner during the day?”
I put my head in my hands. “Shit! I hit her…” The officers leaned forward, waiting for me to speak. I filled the silence. “She rode her horse badly; she ran it into the arena wall. Look, it wasn’t the horses’ mistake but she beat it with her crop. I just saw red and hit her. It was a stupid thing to do, but she made me so mad.”
“You, ‘saw red and hit her’, describe to me what actually happened.”
“I rode up to her, I grabbed her riding crop, she had just hit Bob with it. Bob was the horse. I hit her with it across her chest. I wanted her to see how it felt, how she was treating that poor horse. She was hitting Bob around his head, I wanted her to stop… Oh I know it was stupid, I attacked her, it was a spur of the moment thing but she was cruel to the horse.” I looked up, watching their eyes. I suddenly realised what was happening. “Oh, God! You think I did something worse to her…”
“You tell me?”
“I wouldn’t hurt her. Well, yes, I did… But I wouldn’t do that to her, I couldn’t!” I gulped. “She came to me after what I had done, she apologised for what she had done to the horse and I apologised for hitting her.”
“Do you have any witnesses to that conversation?”
“No…” I shook my head.
“Okay, so let me understand, you attacked the deceased during the day…”
“Oh, please don’t call Olivia that.” I gasped.
“But that is what she is. Deceased. Murdered, killed. Is there a word you would prefer me to use? Anyway, Mr Bishop, as I was saying, you were seen attacking the deceased yesterday morning, you then stayed, alone in your caravan overnight before leaving the stables before anyone was awake. You do realise this is not looking good for you Mr Bishop.”
“I wouldn’t do this to her, to anyone…”
“One more question. Do you recognise this?” She pulled out a small plastic envelope and placed it on the table before me. I reached up to my neck without
