THE LALLYBROCH MURDERS

CHAPTER 14

‘Oh hey guys,’ Barry said, entering the room, a folder in his hand that he laid on their desk. ‘Not sure if this has anything to do with our case or not but we’ve just had a call from the hospital. One of the doctors had been killed there; apparently his head had been pushed into a wall. Security said they have detained a female member of staff name Clair Buchan.’

‘Clair Buchan’ Liam asked, ‘I know that name,’ he muttered, trying to recall it.

‘Yeah,’ Hank replied. ‘We interviewed her a while back. Was the last person to have been seen with the missing sedative,’ Hank reminded him…..

‘Oh Yeah, that’s right,’ Liam nodded. ‘According to her, she claimed to have sold it to a mystery man in the parking lot. I had previously thought that may have been Larry but ….,’ Liam said but trailed off.

‘Wasn’t she attacked down by the river a few years ago or something like that?’ asked Barry, his brows drawn together in thought as he tried to impress the two detectives.

‘I think you’re right, yes. Good job remembering,’ Hank told him, smiling at the young junior detective. ‘Is anyone handling this yet?’

‘Not yet,’ Barry told him. ‘However, there are a couple uniformed officers on the way over but otherwise still free.’

‘Ok, might be something to nothing but I’m intrigued,’ Hank told him.

‘Thanks for the shout.’ His partner was already grabbing his jacket when Han turned to him saying, ‘Let’s get down there and see what we’ve got.’

An hour later, they arrived at the hospital to find Clair Buchan sitting in the back of a squad car along with a uniformed officer while a second officer was speaking to a taller woman in scrubs, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. After glancing into the car, the two detectives approached them and the officer introduced her.

‘Good afternoon detectives, this is nurse Viola Connelly, she was the one who found the victim and alerted security.’

‘Thank you officer.’ Hank nodded to them before introducing himself and his partner, ‘Detectives Johnson and Harvey,’ Hank said, pointing to each to them in turn. ‘So in your own words can you tell us what happened please?’

‘Sure,’ she replied. ‘I was looking after a patient when I heard a commotion outside in the corridor. I was struggling to concentrate on what I was doing so I opened the door to see what was going on.’

‘Good,’ Hank told her.

‘And what did you see?’ he probed.

‘Doctor Morrison was lying on the floor. The porter’s assistant, Clair, was down on one knee and stooped over him. She saw me and stood up. When she did, I could see some blood on the wall and there was quite a bit more on her right leg. I hit the panic button straight away and alerted security,’ she said, nodding her head as she wrapped up her story.

‘And how long was it before they arrived at the scene?’ Liam asked, looking at her and then Clair.

‘A couple minutes, give or take, they were really quick.’

‘Well done,’ Hank reassured her. ‘And how did Clair react when she saw you?’ He followed up.

‘I’m not really sure. I saw her standing up and kinda panicked myself so I ran straight back into the ward and called for help.’

‘And then what happened?’ Liam jumped in to ask.

‘S couple colleagues came over; they could see I was scared and they sat me down and tried to calm me down a bit. By then I could hear security arriving and they were telling Clair to step away from the body.’

‘She didn’t make any attempt to follow you?’ Hank inquired.

‘Thankfully not, no.’

‘Ok, thank you for your help. I think that’s all we need, but if you remember anything else, please let us know,’ Hank said as he nodded to her while Liam gave her a smile. Then the two detectives headed back over to the squad car where Clair was sitting. Liam told them to stay put as they were going over to examine the scene and would be back shortly.

Sadly, when they walked over to the area, there wasn’t really much to examine. In all reality, there was a patch of blood on the wall where the doctor’s head had hit and another on the floor where he had fallen, they assumed. ‘Actually scrub the second bit,’ Liam thought, ‘There’s too much blood there to be just a fall. His head must have been hit on the floor as well. And more than once, by the looks of things,’ he still silently mused. Liam took a few photos for his own records and then said,’ Ok hand it over to forensics, we’re done here, now let’s go and have a word with Ms. Buchan.’

Liam and Hank both walked out to the car and each opened one of the back doors to the squad car, with approval of the officer. ’May we?’ Hank asked, indicating for the uniformed officer got out of the vehicle. When he did, Liam and Hank then slid in, one sitting on each side of the young woman being held, their gazes locking over her head before they both glanced at her.

‘Ok, so tell us what happened,’ Liam gently told her.

‘That bastard got what was coming to him.’ She told him brazenly.

‘ERm, Ok,’ He started, lifting a brow as he kept his eyes on her, her words catching him off guard for a moment, ’Abuse, if not murder, is a big deal so what makes you claim that?’

The young woman looked down towards the floor before taking a deep breath. ‘Well,’ she said, finally, ‘Three and a half years ago, that asshole raped me and today he got his payback.’ Liam and Hank looked at each other and then back to the young woman, their expression the same.

‘You wouldn’t be referring to that day down by the river by any chance?’ Liam asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

‘Yeah that’s the one,’ she answered. Liam and Hank exchanged a look over her downcast head, their eyes holding their own silent conversation, and both of them just as confused. But it was Hank who addressed the next question, nailing her statement to the floor and bringing forth other things in question.

‘I thought you couldn’t remember that?’