The Valley of Longing 13

Kerwin Wright watched as his sisters left the living room in obedience to their Father’s command. He could hear them whispering, and knew they were wondering what was going on and what sort of trouble he was in, but could not make out exactly what they were saying. He wanted to snap at them to stop their whispering, he hated the way girls huddled together and whispered, but he knew better, doing so would only make his father angrier than he already was. ‘Right, now the girls are out of the way,’ Cecil Wright said, leaning forward. ‘D’you want to tell me what happened here this morning? What was Oliver doing here, and why was he hurting your sisters?’ He asked angrily. ‘How could you let that idiot hurt your little sister?’ ‘I didn’t let him,’ Kerwin protested. ‘I didn’t let him do anything. I heard a crashing noise, I knew it was Ollie smashing through the gate now, and went to find out what was going on. I was in the kitchen, and before I could get to the living room to look out, Ollie was through the front door. The moment he saw me, he came charging down the passage and attacked me. We ended up in the kitchen, wrestling on the floor; Tara got hurt when she tried to break it up. ‘I didn’t even know what had happened to her until Sergeant Mitchell and Constable James arrived and pulled Oliver off me.’ ‘That’s worse, you didn’t even know what was happening with your sisters; Tara’s got a black eye and a bruised cheek - is he doesn’t have nightmares about what happened, I’ll be very surprised. As for Amy, she’s still in shock,’ Malcolm scowled fiercely at his son. ‘You’re supposed to protect your sister’s, how’re you supposed to do that if you don’t know what’s going on.’ ‘I was attacked,’ Kerwin said angrily, the volume of his voice rising sharply. ‘What the hell was I supposed to do, I had to defend myself, or he’d have put me in hospital. It’s not like I had any idea he was going to come bursting in and attack me. How the hell am I supposed to protect Amy and Tara when something like that happens? Tara should’ve had enough sense not to get involved, then she wouldn’t have got hurt, and If Amy can’t handle seeing two guys fighting, she’s got bigger problems than being in shock. ‘I’m fine by the way, DAD, no major injuries or anything.’ ‘Don’t you get smart with me, boy.’ Cecil half rose, one hand coming off the arm of his chair to clench into a fist, which he waved threateningly at his son. ‘IF you didn’t have this ridiculous feud with Ollie, none of this would have happened. Why did he attack you this time?’ Kerwin shrugged. ‘I haven’t a bloody clue.’ He fought to keep his anger under control in the face of his father’s. ‘From what I gather, Ollie had no sooner been told that Lynne - Lynne…’ He had to pause for a moment so he could collect himself. ‘Had been found than he was racing over here to smash my face in. It’s just like last weekend, when he came racing over here after he heard Lynne had gone missing. Except you weren’t here to scare him off with your shotgun this time, and I didn’t have a chance to get mine.’ ‘So he still thinks you’re responsible for her disappearance, and how her death. Why’s that? Did you have something to do with it?’ ‘Are you sure? We both know what a temper you’ve got, and the kind of damage you can do when you’re angry. Or have you forgotten what happened when you caught that wild cat in the chicken coop last year?’ Momentarily, an image flashed into Kerwin’s mind of a carnage - filled chicken coop - there was blood and feathers everywhere, and, at his feet, the body of the Wild cat he had kicked to death after cornering it, surrounded by the chickens the pest had killed before being dealt with. It pissed him off that his father still wouldn’t let what had happened drop, even after all this time. ‘If I’ve got a temper, it’s only because I inherited it from you,’ he snapped, ‘And there’s a big difference between killing a Wild cat and killing a person.’ ‘If you had nothing to do with what I’ve heard happened to Lynne, who did kill her? And why does Ollie think you did?’ ‘I have no idea who killed her, how would I know, and as for why that prick thinks I killed her he’s a prick, who knows why he thinks anything.’ Kerwin couldn’t believe his dad thought him capable of murder; he had always know that his father thought more of Amy and Tara than of him, but even so, to be thought capable of murder was a harsh blow. ‘Maybe he’s trying to pass the blame. Maybe he thinks if he accuses me and attacks me, the cops will think I killed her and not pay attention to him. ‘Did whoever told you about Lynne also tell you that Lily has gone missing? And before you start thinking I might have had something to do with that, I saw her going into the old Vermaak cottage yesterday afternoon and I told the police as much earlier. If they haven’t already, they’ll be speaking to Mr Wild soon about what happened to her, and Lynne.’ Kerwin got to his feet then and strode from the living room, he had had enough of dealing with his father just then. Jack was surprised by the level of relief he felt when the door of the cell swung open; he would not have thought himself susceptible to the psychological impact of being in a cell, especially when he had been there for such a relatively short time. ‘Realized you’ve made a mistake and letting me go, are you?’ Jack asked from the uncomfortable bed, where he had been mentally writing the next few pages of his novel. ‘No, Mr Wild, you’re not being released,’ Mitchell said, pleased to be able to disappoint him. ‘Your lawyer is here. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the interview room so you can talk you to her.’ It only took a few moments to get there. ‘Here you are, Mr Wild,’ He ushered his suspect into the interview room. ‘I’ll be back in a quarter of an hour, so we can get this interview started.’ ‘The interview will start when I say it does, sergeant,’ The woman seated at the small table said sharply. ‘Now, I’d like coffee for myself, and for my client, thank you.’ Mitchell stared at the lawyer, not quite able to believe that he had dismissed with a drinks order. He was not used to being treated in such a way, nor was he used to being told when he could do his job - it was a few seconds before he recovered from the surprise he had been given. His jaw clenched angrily, he turned and left the room. ‘Hello, Izzy,’ Jack said the moment the door had been shut. “Thanks for coming.’ ‘Don’t Izzy me, Jack Wild,’ Isobel Paterson said in a voice that was as sharp as the one she had used on the sergeant. ‘I was out with Cathy when you called; I had to lie and tell her is was Sophie who needed me because her car had broken down. What have you gotten yourself into? You said on the phone you were being arrested for murder.’ ‘Sorry about that, I didn’t know you were with Cathy, but I needed a lawyer, and it was either call you or call her - I thought you were more likely to answer the phone,’ Jack remarked. ‘If Cathy was actually willing to pick up the phone to me, I doubt she’d have agreed to help. The chances are good she’d have left me to rot.’ There was no love lost between him and his ex-wife, and he was all too aware of how happy Cathy would be to leave him in the hands of the police. ‘Will Sophie back up your story if Cathy asks her?’ ‘Of course she will, she might be Cathy’s sister, but Sophie will do just about anything for you. I didn’t even have to tell her anything, she agreed to cover for you the moment she heard you need help; you do have to tell her what’s going on when you see her tomorrow, thought,’ Isobel told her friend. ‘How about the story then? What’s going on, how have you gone from investigating murders, and writing about them, to being accused of one?’ ‘The short answer is, because the local sergeant, as you just saw, is an idiot.’ Melissa entered the interview room then. She set down the two mugs of coffee she had brought, along with sachets of sugar, and left again. It was only when she was back out in the passage, with the door closed, that she allowed the smile inspired by the comment she had overheard to show. She could not have picked a better time to arrive with the drinks, she thought. Isobel grabbed the nearest of the mugs, took a sip of the coffee, and then turned her attention back to her friend. ‘That’s the short version, what’s the long version?’ she asked. ‘The long version is that this morning, while I was out for a run, I found a body, the girl had been murdered. A second girl, reported missing this morning, was found this afternoon, also murdered, apparently. If the sergeant is to believed, I’m the last person to see the second girl. Lily Potgieter, she paid a visit yesterday afternoon.’ ‘She wasn’t seen after she visited you?’ Jack grimaced and said, ‘That’s where things get a little confusing and complicated; my neighbour saw Lily leave my place after her visit, but she claims that I followed Lily down the road shortly afterwards. Because of that Sergeant Mitchell believes I’m the last person to have seen Lily, and therefore responsible now that she has been found murdered.’ ‘I take it you didn’t follow the girl down the road.’ Isobel was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it. When Jack shook his head, she moved on to the next potential problem she could see. ‘If you didn’t follow the girl, why does your neighbour think you did?’ ‘At a guess, I’d say she’s made a mistake; she’s elderly, and doesn’t have perfect eyesight, she probably saw someone who looks like me and simply assumed.’ ‘Do they have anything else to connect you to the murder?’ ‘The scratches on my arm,’ he said, showing them to her. ‘The sergeant doesn’t believe I got them while working in my garden yesterday afternoon; he’s decided they were made by fingernails, Lily Potgieter’s fingernails.’ Isobel leaned over to look at the scratches. ‘Is that all they have against you?’ ‘So far as I know,’ Jack said. ‘if they’ve got anything else, they haven’t told me about it, and I can imagine what it might be since I didn’t kill anyone?’ ‘In that case, I think we should get this interview started.’ Isobel decided. ‘If they’ve got nothing more than what you’ve told me, I should be able to get you out of here in about half an hour, which means I’ll be able to get home by about eleven. A five hour round trip on a Saturday evening, you owe me, big time, Jack.’ ‘I know, and I’ll make up for it, I promise,’ Jack said, though he was not sure just then exactly how he was going to do that. Isobel’s prediction of a quick release for her client, did not prove as accurate as she would have like, An hour and a half after the interview began, it was still going on, and she was far from happy with the way things were going, she had dealt with many difficult police officers over the years, but in her opinion, Sergeant Mitchell took the prize - he had no hard evidence, only three pieces of circumstantial evidence, yet he went over things again and again, worrying at his suspect like a dog with a bone. Finally, she had enough, and slapped her hand down sharply on the table. “That’s it, I’m ending this interview, right now; my client and I are leaving.’ she said. Getting to her feet, she made to head around the table to the door, with Jack on her heels. Mitchell was briefly struck dumb and immobile by the lawyer’s abrupt declaration. He recovered quickly, however, rising so rapidly his chair was thrown backwards. ‘Your client is not going anywhere, Mrs Paterson,’ he said, moving to put himself between the door and his suspect. ‘He’s under arrest for murder, as I’ve already made clear, and will remain in custody until I decide otherwise.’ ‘No, sergeant, my client is here until one of three things happen,’ Isobel responded. She did not advance any further, but showed every indication of being willing to walk right through the sergeant to get out of the room, should it prove necessary. ‘Either you charge my client with the crimes you believe he has committed, you realise he has committed no crimes and release him, or his twenty - four hours comes to an end and you have no choice but to release him. Do you know which one of those three things I think is most likely to happen?’ ‘I have no idea,’ Mitchell said. He did not like the lawyer who was representing his suspect, she was too assured, and far too dismissive of both him and his investigation; she had done her best, at every step of the interview, to keep him from asking his questions, and to keep her client form answering him when he was able to ask a question. ‘I think you are going to realise that my client is innocent; you have no evidence, none whatsoever; your witness, who supposedly saw my client head down the road after this girl who disappeared and was then found murdered, is, by all accounts, an old woman with suspect eyesight, and you cannot even prove that my client ever met the girl, whose body he found, prior to her being murdered,’ Isobel went on confidently. ‘If you don’t release Mr Wild immediately. I will have an order for his release, signed by the most senior officer I can lay my hands on, by morning. If you should be stupid enough to charge my client, I will be forced to lodge an official complaint against you over your inept handling of this situation - I would not call it an investigation - an petition the court for an immediate dismissal of any and all charges you file. ‘Regardless of that, I will be writing to the chief superintendent for this region, to insist that the investigation be placed in the hands of someone competent; you are unqualified and prejudiced, sergeant, and you seem intent on building a case out of coincidence and little else - you certainly don’t have any evidence - to close this investigation as quickly as possible. Now, are you going to get out of our way and release my client or not?’ Isobel stared at the sergeant, daring him to do other than what she wanted; she was unsurprised to find that he lacked the courage…