‘It’s interesting,’ Laura said, ‘that we still don’t know Amy Abbott’s whereabouts while she was missing. No one seems to know where she was. She was alone for five days, with no withdrawals from her account and no reported sightings. Where was she, Greg? Where did that abortion take place? Perhaps Dr Taylor knows.’
‘Dr Taylor, and you have checked and confirmed this, was in Barbados when Amy Abbott went missing. Where Amy was in the days leading up to her death we may never know. What we do know is Dr Taylor couldn’t have taken her anywhere because she was four thousand miles away. And Laura,’ Greg said in a cutting tone, ‘in case you haven’t realised, Amy Abbott’s death is not being investigated.’
‘I thought Dr Taylor was out shopping in Bristol and came back to find Lillian Armstrong already injured,’ an officer beside Laura piped up.
‘So she said,’ Laura snapped. ‘We haven’t checked out her movements or verified her alibi. She says she was in Bristol, but how do we know that?’
‘I suppose she could have flown back,’ the same officer said, sounding amused.
Laura Best turned to him, and for the second time in the last half hour the officers were shocked by a change in someone’s character. Only this time it wasn’t the senior officer surprising them – it was the normally self-controlled Laura Best.
‘Don’t dismiss it,’ she said coldly. ‘She can fly a fucking helicopter.’
Greg’s eyes darted to her face to see if she was looking at him, wondering how she knew this. But the angry woman was concentrating on the officer beside her, leaving Greg in the dark.
He hadn’t done anything wrong by going out with Alex that day; she was, after all, only a witness, but that wouldn’t stop Laura from trying to cause him trouble. He sensed in her an almost pathological jealousy whenever she mentioned Alex and knew he should tread carefully. He couldn’t stop her investigating Alex Taylor, but he didn’t have to help her cause by letting slip about the outing.
He directed his final instructions to Peter Spencer. ‘Let’s get the make of the tyre as soon as possible. As soon as we know that, we can move forward.’
‘And Dr Taylor?’ Laura asked.
Greg’s eyes rested on Laura, his voice firm. ‘We do not go near Dr Taylor, unless we find evidence that gives us reason to.’
Chapter thirty-three
Richard Sickert was surprised when she showed up on his doorstep, but was quickly welcoming and reassuring when he saw her distress.
Alex called the department from his sitting room and informed Caroline that she was unwell and couldn’t make it in to work. Caroline seemed to be expecting the call and said it didn’t matter, that the teaching session assigned to Alex could be rescheduled. The junior doctors could do hands-on practice in the department instead. It was more important for her to get better.
‘Take some time off, Alex. You need to get yourself properly better. Patrick is very worried about you,’ was her advice, confirming that Patrick had contacted her boss the minute she stepped out of his house. Interfering for her own good, he would no doubt argue. He had made the situation worse by talking to people like Fiona and Pamela. Even if she’d wanted to talk to them herself about it, he’d now made it impossible. They would think the same as him. She needed help. Proper help.
The peppermint tea was easing the tightness in her chest and slowly she was beginning to calm down.
‘Thank you for not turning me away. I’m sorry for intruding on your morning,’ she said to Richard Sickert.
Today he was wearing jeans and a navy, white and red striped jumper, and on his black and tan golfing shoes she saw bits of grass. He had paperwork out on his desk and a full mug of tea beside it, telling her he had been busy or was about to be before she came.
‘I’ll go after I’ve had my tea.’
‘There’s no rush. I’m having an indecisive day myself. It’s too wet to do anything outside, and paperwork .?.?. well, it will probably rain again tomorrow.’
‘I just couldn’t think where else to go. Maggie Fielding will get fed up if I keep turning up on her doorstep.’
He smiled at this. ‘I’m sure she won’t. She doesn’t strike me as the Good Samaritan type unless she wishes to be. Friendships are important, and if Dr Fielding is offering, you should feel confident in accepting.’
‘She doesn’t believe what happened to me.’
‘Has she said that?’
Alex nodded. ‘Oh yes. She says it’s completely impossible.’
‘That must be upsetting?’
She didn’t answer.
‘Have you asked her what else she thinks?’
‘The reason I’m here seeing you is because she thinks it could be some kind of post-traumatic thing. Something in my past, or to do with the work I do.’
He gave a slight nod. ‘She did say much the same thing to me, but what’s important is what you think. Did anything upset you in the days leading up to the event?’
‘I lost a baby that morning.’ She sighed tiredly. ‘A three-month-old baby girl. It was awful. The baby came in blue. Her mum and dad were screaming at anyone and everyone to get their baby breathing again, but she was cold. Ambulance crew should never have brought her in in the first place. It was suspected Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and the post-mortem findings confirmed that. But once she was with us, the parents thought we could revive her, bring her back to life. Her tiny fingers were already stiffening.’ She sighed again. ‘So yes, something pretty stressful did happen leading up to that event.’
‘And what about other stressful times? Anything else that may have triggered a crisis?’
She stayed mute, unwilling to share the previous year’s experience with him. If she told him, he would immediately form the idea that the two events were related, and that her abductor was only in her mind. On the other hand, she couldn’t keep avoiding the issue. She had to give him the full facts if this disclosure was to help.
‘I was attacked last year.’
His eyes remained calm and his manner unchanged. ‘Is that all you wish to tell me?’
Tears flooded her eyes and she had to bite down hard on her lower lip to stay in control. After taking a few calming breaths she was ready to talk.
‘He didn’t rape me. Just so you know. He didn’t rape me.’
Richard Sickert nodded and Alex carried on.
‘He was an actor shadowing me for a few days to study for the role of a doctor. He had the main part in this medical thriller. My boss put him with me, partly because she was too busy and partly because he expressed a wish to partner me. He was very pleasant. A charming and intelligent man, who was very courteous to both patients and me. He’d been with me five days and I hadn’t found a problem with him at all. If I’m being perfectly honest, he was a delight to have around.’