Читать книгу Woman in the Water - Katerina Diamond, Katerina Diamond - Страница 18

It was amazing how much the woman’s appearance had improved since she had come in just a few days ago. She wouldn’t be winning any beauty competitions just yet, but the swelling on her face was almost gone, and she was sitting upright in the bed when Adrian and Imogen arrived at the hospital. But her face was still a patchwork of pinks and purples.

Imogen noticed the way the woman smiled at Adrian. She wasn’t threatened by every female who spoke to Adrian, but she had come to realise he was more naive than she had first thought. He didn’t seem to notice when he was being manipulated by a woman, or even flirted with, which was refreshing. Probably because he didn’t have a manipulative bone in his body.

Maybe he deserved more credit than she was giving him, but she was concerned that someone might take advantage of his good nature. This woman was obviously just expressing her gratitude again and yet there was still something about her that Imogen had a problem with. She was off in some way.

They had to tell her about the body of the man, they had to ask her who he was, and Imogen had a feeling they weren’t going to get the truth. But they at least had to try.

‘Hello. I am DS Imogen Grey. I need to talk to you about something.’

‘OK,’ the woman said, sucking in a breath, bracing herself for the conversation.

‘There’s no easy way to say this. We found the body of a young man near where DS Miles found you. We are in the process of identifying him. Do you know who he was?’

‘I’m sorry, I don’t,’ she said too quickly, reaching for her glass of water.

She gulped it down. She was clearly trying to obscure her face for a moment, just enough to compose herself. It was obvious the question wasn’t a complete surprise to her.

What had happened to her? Why wouldn’t she tell them? Imogen didn’t have a medical degree, or in fact any degree at all, but she felt sure this woman was lying about not remembering. Why wouldn’t she want them to know who she was? Or who the man she was with was? Could Adrian see past what was happening to her? Could he see she was lying to them? Imogen wasn’t sure.

‘So, you have no recollection of him? Of what happened?’ Imogen said.

‘I’m sorry, I wish I did,’ she said. ‘Was it quick? When he died, was it quick?’

‘We don’t know yet. He sustained some very serious injuries,’ Adrian said.

‘I’m really tired. I would like to be alone, if it’s all the same to you. I really can’t tell you anything useful.’

Can’t? Or won’t? Imogen thought.

‘We’ll be back again if we learn anything about your situation. Do you have any idea as to why no one would have reported you missing?’ Imogen asked.

‘None, I’m sorry.’ Their Jane Doe lay back and folded her arms, closing her eyes.

‘It’s highly unusual,’ Imogen said, hoping to catch the woman’s eye. She wanted her to know she was on to her, in case there was anything to be on to.

But Jane Doe wasn’t going to say anything that might give an indication as to who she was, that much was clear. They were wasting their time talking to her. They could come back when they had more information on the body – maybe then they would find something they could press her with. They could run a DNA sample on the dead body, something they couldn’t do to Jane Doe without her permission, which she hadn’t granted. At this time, she was an obstruction to finding the truth and they had to treat her as such. After the forensic anthropologist had reconstructed the man’s face, they would come back and question her further.

‘If you need anything, get the nurse to call me,’ Adrian said.

‘Thank you, Adrian. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me,’ the woman said, reaching over and taking Adrian by the hand.

Imogen had to walk away; she didn’t like thinking the things she was thinking. This woman was vulnerable and needed both their protection and their help. So why did Imogen feel like they were being sucked into some big black hole of a mess? She wouldn’t ignore her instincts. Every time she had in the past, she had kicked herself for not listening to that little voice inside her head that told her something was wrong. Right now, that little voice was screaming.