Bad Sister(33)

‘Miss Watson?’

‘Yes. Come in.’ Her eyes darted around warily. She showed them into the kitchen. Two other women sat at a large, circular pine table. Katie, her small frame swamped by a black baggy T-shirt and jogging bottoms, introduced them as her mother, Anna, and sister-in-law, Jenny, then moved some chairs out and walked to the far side of the table, her movements jittery.

Lindsay and DC Sewell took the offered chairs. This was going to be difficult to approach. Lindsay wanted to speak to the family members separately, didn’t want them playing off each other. But even suggesting that seemed inappropriate. They’d been through so much already, treating them like suspects now would certainly add to their distress. Part of her was glad the man who’d taken this young woman’s confidence, her trust, was dead. Who wouldn’t be? One less criminal; one less piece of scum on the streets. That’s how the majority of the public saw this. But Lindsay was a detective, upholding the law. And whatever Hargreaves had done, his murder was a crime, and the perpetrator required punishment too. Hargreaves’ killer needed to be brought to justice, and eliminating Katie and her family from enquiries was a step that had to happen.

‘Tea? Coffee?’ Anna asked, raising from her chair.

‘We’re good, thank you. Can I ask that we talk to Katie first?’ Lindsay smiled. ‘We need to speak to you separately, if we may.’

Lindsay noted Anna’s body stiffen as she shot a look towards Katie.

‘I’ll be okay, Mum. Honestly.’ Katie wrung her hands, but smiled confidently at Anna.

‘We’ll just be in there, you shout if you need us, won’t you?’ Anna shuffled towards the door leading to another room. ‘Come on, Jenny, she’ll be all right.’

Jenny gave Katie’s hand a squeeze and then followed Anna, closing the door gently behind her.

‘I’m sorry to have to visit you and ask this, Katie. As DC Clarke informed you in his call earlier, the man who attacked you was found dead – murdered – on Monday 5th June at approximately 7.15 in the morning. We need to ascertain people’s whereabouts—’

‘I know what you’re here for. You think that because he attacked me and now he’s dead, that one of my family did it. Out of revenge. And you want our alibis.’ She sat back hard in her chair and crossed her arms.

‘It’s not quite like that, Katie. We do need to know where you were, so we can eliminate you from the investigation. But that’s so we can be thorough.’

‘Yep. I get it.’ Tears swelled. ‘I have to prove where I was when that … he … got what he deserved. Otherwise you’re dragging me down the police station and probably arresting me for murder.’

‘Like I said, I am sorry for causing you distress. Once we’ve spoken to you and your family, you can put this behind you. It’ll be over.’

‘It’ll never be over.’ Katie twirled a strand of her long, dull, brown hair around her index finger, twisting it until it was tight, like a piece of rope.

There wasn’t anything Lindsay could say, no comforting words, no snippets of wisdom that would make Katie feel any better. She wanted this interview done so she could get out of this poor girl’s house; her life. After all, how do you move on if people keep dragging you back?

For a moment, Lindsay’s mind flipped to Tony. How many times had she attempted to drag him back? She wasn’t letting him move on. Couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Why should he get a new chance at happiness – a fresh start, with another woman?

DC Sewell’s voice infiltrated her thoughts.

‘Were you with anyone at 7.15 on the 5th of June?’

Katie looked directly at DC Sewell. ‘Not with anyone as such, no. I was here, my mum was here, but I slept in until ten-ish. I’d had a bad night. I dream a lot you see, you know, like nightmares. I spend a lot of each night in a cold sweat, lying awake staring at the ceiling. Until exhaustion takes over. I go into such a deep sleep, often until mid-morning. So, at that time I would’ve been in bed. Alone.’

‘Can your mum corroborate this?’ Lindsay’s full attention was now on Katie, praying she was about to say ‘yes’.

‘She brought me a cup of tea at ten, like she usually does.’ Her gaze fell to the table.

If Katie’s mum hadn’t seen Katie until ten, Lindsay guessed that Anna had also been on her own up until that point. This wasn’t going well. But the time of Hargreaves’ escape could still help eliminate them.

‘Okay, what about the afternoon of Friday 2nd of June at 2.30?’

Katie tilted her head back, and took a deep breath in. ‘A Friday? Then that would be the afternoon my support group meets. I don’t miss those.’

‘Yes, it was. That’s great, thanks Katie. Who runs that, please?’

‘Maddy. I’ve got her number, I can give it to you so you can check I’m telling the truth.’ Her face reddened. ‘You do know I don’t blame Connie Summers for what happened to me, don’t you?’

The question threw Lindsay. At no point had she mentioned Connie’s name. And Katie had used her current name – not Moore. How did she know she’d changed it?

‘That hadn’t crossed my mind,’ Lindsay said. ‘Why did you think it had?’

‘Everyone always assumes I blame her. I just wanted you to know that I don’t. Typical how they tried to pin all the responsibility on one person – and a woman. Like she was the one who single-handedly released that evil excuse for a human being, instead of it being a joint decision by dozens of people. I don’t hold any grudges against her.’