Page 51 of The Girls in the Lake
Abe whistled through his brilliant-white teeth. ‘Oh, that’s sad.’
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the back doorbell; it echoed throughout the mortuary, making both of them start. Beth laughed. ‘Gets me every time.’
Abe grinned at her. ‘I’ll do the honours.’ Then he went to open the double doors to let the private ambulance carrying the body back up to them so it could be brought inside discreetly.
Beth wondered if Josh was attending or if he’d send someone else.
As she was walking into the female changing room, she saw the double doors of the corridor open and Detective Chief Inspector Paul O’Neill walk through them.
‘Beth, how are you? It’s been a while.’
‘I’m good, yourself?’
He shrugged. ‘Apart from bloody awful indigestion I’m very good. Josh can’t make it, he has three people to coordinate interviews for.’
She hadn’t really expected him to come and felt relieved. It would have been awkward, and Abe, who was very astute, would have picked up on the atmosphere between them. It also wouldn’t have been very nice for Josh; she knew he was blaming himself for the girl’s death. He’d saved her; it would be too much to see her cut open and her organs dissected. It was okay for Beth, she got to work on people she didn’t know, had never met. It didn’t get personal for her, apart from with Robert and Charles had ensured she hadn’t had to endure watching his post-mortem. For a moment she felt bad she’d been so pushy with the man; he’d only been doing his job and protecting her from herself. At times she was her own worst enemy.
She scrubbed and gowned up, hoping the duty CSI would be here soon. She didn’t want to delay; she wanted to get this done and the results sent off. They didn’t have to wait long; Claire came into the mortuary a few moments after Beth.
‘Good afternoon, Claire, thank you for getting here so promptly.’
‘My pleasure, Beth, I was only lying on the sofa watchingStar Wars. I love being on call.’
Beth smiled. ‘Don’t we all. Are we ready to begin?’
A chorus of ‘yes’ echoed around the freezing cold room. The girl had already been identified at her home by her parents, which saved the hassle of waiting for someone to come and ID her. Beth pushed the pained faces of Tamara’s mum and dad from her mind and got to work. She knew how important it was to capture any evidence and get it sent off; they couldn’t afford for anyone else to die. This had to stop now. Beth took some comfort knowing that in the next few hours anything she could find would help to catch the bastard who had done this.
Fifty-Eight
Ethan sipped at the plastic cup of water he’d been given by the custody nurse to help wash down two paracetamol. He had the sweats; it was too warm in this small room, his shirt was too tight and the taste of stale whiskey in the back of his throat didn’t seem to want to go away. This was the second time he’d been in one of these rooms with a stinking hangover. He was through with drinking and hanging around with both his so-called friends.
The door opened and a woman carrying a clipboard walked in, smiled, then held out her hand. He grasped it in his, shaking it.
‘Detective Constable Alison Bell, thank you for agreeing to come in for a chat.’
He smiled back. ‘No problem, although I don’t know what we’re going to be chatting about.’
She sat down. ‘It’s just a witness statement as you were there onThe Tequila Sunrisewhen Tamara Smythson went overboard. I just need to know the circumstances surrounding the event.’
He nodded. ‘I was there, on the boat. I didn’t see her go into the water though. I was talking to some of the guests, heard the commotion, turned around and she was already over the railings.’
‘Do you know who it was you were talking to?’
He shook his head. ‘No, sorry.’
‘Can you talk me through what happened in the moments before she fell into the water?’
He began to feel uncomfortable. The tablets felt as if they were stuck in the back of his throat and the chalky, vile taste was making him feel nauseous.
‘Do I need a lawyer?’
‘Not unless you feel that you should have one. Do you think you should?’
She smiled again, and he felt as if he was being set up, like she was a spider weaving a big web and he was the unsuspecting fly about to get trapped inside it.
‘Erm, I don’t think so, because I told you I don’t really know how she got in the water. It all happened so fast.’
‘Before it happened did you go downstairs and see anything untoward happening with Tamara and anyone else?’
