‘I tried to get help. That was a big mistake.’
Jack was quiet for a long moment. ‘What else? What was in the box?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘It matters to me.’
‘There was a USB drive. With a video.’
‘Showing?’
‘It seemed to show Walker having a sexual encounter with a woman in his consulting rooms. It might have been a fake video. That has to be confirmed.’
Jack’s hands were still shackled, but the chain had some movement. He was able to raise his hands. He rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands and rubbed at his forehead.
‘This is all so strange,’ he said. ‘Don’t you think this is all so strange?’ He raised his head again. ‘I promise you. I had no idea Miriam went to see him. No idea. But if I had, I wouldn’t have blamed him for her death. She saw him once, right? Why would I blame a doctor who had seen her once, when I lived with her, I loved her, and I didn’t save her?’
‘Jack, I need you to think. Think hard. Maybe Miriam never said anything to you about her sister, but you knew her. You lived with her and you loved her, just like you said. There must be something.’
But Jack was shaking his head. ‘If you mean a birth sister, a sister from the same parents, then she never said anything. I don’t know why she’d hide something like that. It doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Were there places Miriam liked to go? Did she ever go away for a few nights and not give you a full explanation for where she was going?’
Again, he shook his head. ‘Never. She never stayed away at night. During the day... I was working, she could have gone anywhere.’
‘Did she have close friends from her childhood? People she spent time with?’
‘No. There was no one. That was part of it, you see. Part of why we needed each other so much. We didn’t have anyone else. Not family, I mean.’
‘Okay.’ This wasn’t getting her anywhere. She pushed back her chair.
‘Wait, you’re leaving?’ Jack suddenly looked panicked.
‘I’ll have someone bring you back to your cell.’
‘But what does all of this mean? That Walker’s wife got a box too? Does that mean you believe me? That you’ll let me go?’
‘It’s not that simple. Better that you talk to your lawyer.’ Judith was almost at the door.
‘Wait. Wait!’
She turned.
‘Can you check on Cam? My son, Cameron. He’s at my friend’s house. Elsa Anderson.’
‘You should talk to your lawyer,’ Judith said.
‘I don’t know when I’m going to see him again. You said it could be days. Please. Please could you just make sure that Cam’s okay?’
The strain in Jack’s face and voice was evident.
‘If your son’s with your friend, I’m sure he’s okay. But yes, I’ll check on him for you.’ She took Elsa Anderson’s address.
‘Thank you,’ Jack said. ‘Thank you very much.’
* * *
Judith left the prison with her mind still turning. She checked her phone when she got back to the car and saw that she’d missed a call from the garage that had her bike. It was ready to collect. She called them back and managed to talk the young mechanic into driving the bike to the station and meeting her there. He was as good as his word. By the time she’d driven over and parked the patrol car in the secure garage, he was waiting outside on the street. She signed his paperwork, gave him the fifty dollars she’d promised him for the personal delivery, then gave him another thirty dollars, the keys to the scooter and her address. He set off to get a tram to her place, happy enough with their deal, and Judith drove her bike into the garage and parked it, this time taking care to find a space near the exit that was in direct view of a camera.
