The Devil's Due: A Cooper and McCall Scottish Crime Thriller Ramsay Sinclair (ebook reader with internet browser txt) š
- Author: Ramsay Sinclair
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Catherine Jones had now reached over the legal age limit and was more than capable of running her own life.
āNo. We hug, at the very most. Not that our private lives are any of your business.ā Jack seemed traumatized at Finlayās intrusion. āShe wanted to hug me, not the other way around. Sheās like a second daughter to me. Not that anyone could ever replace Emily.ā
āAnd what about the medication?ā Finlay cut off Jackās heartfelt speech, cursing at the thought of them two embracing in any kind of way.
Jack paused, mentally gathering his story into order. āCatherine felt a lot of grief, but she didnāt want to upset her parents. Theyāre not emotional people, and she didnāt want them to know how much she was struggling. Catherine was already registered with the medical centre I worked for at the time, and all she had to do was ask for me. It was kept between us, patient confidentiality, so her parents never found out.ā
āHow so? If she were under eighteen at the time, they would've had to sign forms allowing Catherine to visit you in the first place,ā I recalled.
āI kept it all off the record. No agreements, nothing to sign--ā
āAnd then you stole the pills,ā I said, filling in the blanks.
āA few boxes of antidepressants here and there. Not too regularly, but that didnāt matter because the boss still found us out after checking lack of inventory,ā Jack relaxed, a weight taken off of his shoulders. This was the first time heād openly admitted it. āThey told Catherineās parents about the pills she had been taking, and Catherine begged with her life to not press charges. Her parents agreed, thinking it was their fault for Catherine not opening up to them about her struggles.ā
āDidnāt her parents teach you a lesson? Warn you to stay away from their daughter. A late father doting after their daughter poses a few uncertainties for them, surely?ā Finlay couldnāt wrap his head around it.
āThey did. They moved to the other end of town, and her father threatened me a couple of times.ā Jack touched his side as though he was punched at some point.
āBut we found you at Catherineās house.ā Finlay couldnāt fathom why, after all this, Jack disobeyed his warnings.
āHer parents were away, and they couldnāt do anything about it. Catherine invited me over. She wanted to make sure I was safe. Iād phoned her and told her about your visit.ā Jack looked me directly in the eyes, being brutally honest this time around. āIt was one time we didnāt have to sneak around.ā
āWhat were you doing? Catherine was in her nightgown,ā Finlay scowled, sure Jack was still covering up the other part to their ārelationshipā.
āWe celebrated Emilyās life. Wrote poems for her, went through photographs. Honoured her spirit.ā Jack breathed shakily, threatening to cry again. The solicitor sat back in shock, not realising the extent of her clientās rigorous life.
āNone of that explains the scalpel,ā Finlay was quick to point out.
āIt happened a few days ago, possibly a week. Catherine snuck out to come and see me. I gave her a drink, and she dropped the glass. A piece embedded into her hand, so I used whatever was around to help loosen it. By the time Iād sorted her out, it was early in the morning, and Catherine had to rush home.ā Jack recollected, flapping his shirt to cool down.
āI went to bed, and then I woke up to your officers knocking on my door. I assumed Catherine's parents had called them or found out what was going on, so I stashed it all. But then you informed me about Gavinās death, and all this escalated from there.ā Jack almost couldnāt believe the challenges heād faced these past few weeks.
āYouāve protected Catherine from her parentsā judgement all along,ā I concluded, rounding up recent events. āCoincidences can happen,ā I hinted at the woods located so near to Catherineās home.
āYou canāt tell Catherineās parents. Promise me you won't. Sheāll have no one to talk to--ā Jack whipped himself into a nervous frenzy.
āAnd neither will you,ā Finlay grimaced. āItās in your own interests that we donāt tell Catherineās family. You canāt stand to be alone,ā Finlay derived. āYouāre a broken man, Jack Harper. If you cared about Catherine in the long run, as you so abundantly claim to now, youād stop hindering her future.ā Finlay cautioned Jack Harper and pursed his lips tightly, fist clenched in revulsion.
āThen, clearly, DI Cooper, you havenāt cared for anyone. I know this would ruin Catherineās life if we were found out, but I canāt stop myself. Sheās the only thing left of Emily that hasnāt walked away from me. Iām not letting go so easily,ā Jack told us sincerely, begging me especially.
I couldnāt help them now.
āI think weāre done here. Interview terminated at six forty-five.ā Finlay switched off the recording and huffed. The solicitor was already on her feet.
āYouāre free to go, Jack,ā I broke the news, seeing relief written all over his aged face. He didnāt know what to say, sore from being accused of a crime he didnāt commit. His footsteps followed his solicitor out of the interviewing room, leaving Finlay and me in stone-cold silence.
āTrauma bond, in a way. Your instincts were right though, he was sketchy,ā I assured Finlay. He sat frozen in place, tensing all of his muscles. A blood vessel stood out on his blotched forehead, willing itself to explode.
18
A pit of fire raged in my stomach. Not at Jack Harper, who had squirmed his way out of my grasp, oh no. But the fact that McCall didnāt debrief me or share her uncovered information. I looked like a fool during that interview, and it was all caught
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