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Then she has a serial killer to catch.
CHAPTER
65
THE DETECTIVE SAYS nothing during the ride in the police car. They arrive at the station, and Jess is escorted to custody. The handcuffs are taken off. Jess nods at the right points, signs the pieces of paper when she’s told to. She shakes her head when she’s asked if she wants a lawyer.
She’s shown into a cell. She sits down on the blue plastic-covered mattress. The door is closed with a metallic bang.
There’s muffled shouting from the cell next door. She’s aware of people coming and going in the corridor, but she doesn’t move.
Now that she’s here, now she’s been arrested for her husband’s murder, she feels numb. She doesn’t feel the fear she expected. Suddenly, she’s been swept along in a sea of inevitability, all decisions made for her. She thinks about Griffin, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She thinks about Alice.
She lies back on the crinkly plastic bed. She puts the blanket behind her head and closes her eyes, hoping that at least now she can see her daughter.
* * *
Jess is woken by the sound of the door opening. A man calls her name and beckons for her to follow him.
“It’s time,” he says, escorting her down a corridor and into an interview room. The detective is waiting; she points to the chair opposite. Jess sits down.
The woman detective introduces herself, then reads the caution again. DS Taylor, Jess remembers now.
“And you’re turning down your right to free independent legal advice?” Taylor says.
“Yes,” Jess replies. She knows it’s not sensible to refuse a lawyer, but her self-destructive urge has kicked back in. Charge me with his murder, she thinks, just do something to punish me for what happens to the people I love. They end up injured or dead. First Patrick and Alice, now Griffin. “Can I see my daughter?” she asks.
“All in good time.” Taylor looks at her notes. “You tell me what I need to know, and maybe we can sort something out. Now, please talk me through the events of the night of Monday, the twenty-fifth of January, when your house caught fire.”
Jess opens her mouth to talk, but a knock disturbs them.
“Interview paused, seventeen forty-six.” Taylor sighs and gets up to open the door.
There’s a woman on the other side. She’s tall, dark hair, dressed in a smart shirt and black jeans. Jess knows exactly who this is. Griffin’s sister, Cara Elliott. It feels strange her being so close, like seeing a celebrity in the flesh. Elliott says something to Taylor, and Jess hears her swear.
“What do you mean, you need her?” Jess hears Taylor say.
Elliott says something else. Taylor looks furious but mutters, “Yes, boss.”
Cara stares at Jess, then tilts her head toward the exit. “Come with me, please?”
Taylor watches, glum faced, as Jess leaves. Jess walks wordlessly down the corridor, into a different interview room. The DCI closes the door behind them but makes no attempt to sit down.
“Jessica, I’m Detective Chief Inspector Elliott,” she says.
“How is Griffin?” Jess asks. “Please?”
DCI Elliott smiles. “He’s doing fine, awake and talking in the hospital. Thank you for calling the ambulance,” she says. “You saved his life.”
“He saved mine,” Jess replies. “Can I see him?”
“No, I’m sorry.” The detective’s face turns serious again. “I need you to help us. We have Dr. Sharma in custody.”
“Nav? Why?” Jess stutters.
“We’ve arrested him for attempted murder.”
“What?” Jess can’t believe what she’s hearing. Why would Nav want to kill Griffin? “You must have the wrong person. He’s a doctor, he saves lives.”
