Indefensible (DI Sara Ramsey Book 12), M Comley [world of reading TXT] 📗

see anything? Who called it in?” His gaze flitted around at the houses nearby.

“The neighbour next door, Mrs Fellows. She was passing the house and saw the door ajar and your mother lying in the hallway. She dialled nine-nine-nine right away.”

“Is she all right? The neighbour, I mean. She’s a bit frail from what my mother told me. She used to look after her, take her meals et cetera.”

“Marjorie’s fine. Very shaken up, but otherwise, she’s doing okay.”

“I can’t believe she’s gone. My heart is split in two. My wife and daughter are going to be devastated when I tell them the news. Oh God, and my sister.” He shook his head. The pain, anger and shock written on his face.

“Did your sister visit your mother often too?”

He nodded. “Hazel used to visit her regularly, yes. We all played our part after Dad died.” He looked back at the van his mother had been put into as the vehicle left. Sara saw him grit his teeth; the muscle in his jaw ticked dangerously. “Who would do such a callous thing to a pensioner?” he roared a moment later, but before she could utter a word his anger subsided as the pain emerged once more. He sighed. “No, you don’t have to answer that, we’re all aware of the type of criminals we’re dealing with on a daily basis. Fucking bastards. Sick fuckers if they get their kicks out of killing frail, defenceless OAPs.” His hands covered his face again and Sara sat quietly as he shed yet more heartrending tears.

After a little while, she asked, “Are you okay now?”

“I fear I’ll never be okay again. We only lost Dad last year to pancreatic cancer, and now I’ll be burying Mum next to him. I thought we’d have her with us for another twenty years or more. I can’t fathom any of this out.”

“I understand,” Sara offered. It was the only thing she could think of saying.

“My heart is broken beyond words. It’s going to be a darn sight worse when I have to tell my wife and daughter, they loved her as much as I did.” He shook his head again. His hands trembled and he balled them into fists, then he struck out at the front seat ahead of him, over and over again. Sara let him vent his anger, her own heart aching. “Jesus, what a frigging world we live in if a pensioner isn’t safe in her own home. What type of shits are people breeding these days? Don’t tell me this is down to drugs either. Druggies are the pits in my eyes. Lowest of the low, who have no one else to blame but themselves for getting into such a mess. I’m rambling now, I need to vent. I’m sorry for bending your ear like this. You need to get on with the investigation and I’m holding you up.”

“Don’t think that. You, of all people, know how these things work. My partner is out there doing a grand job, it’s not as if it’s a waste of time me being here with you.”

“But the criminal has got away. What if he’s out there, watching, pretending to be one of the rubberneckers?” He turned and surveyed the crowd surrounding the area, his eyes narrowing as if sizing up each of the onlookers individually.

“It’s highly unlikely. I’ve been keeping an eye on the crowd and no one has stood out so far.”

“He or she could be a good actor. You never know.”

Sara doubted that was the case, but she agreed with him nevertheless. It’s the type of thing one did in the circumstances—agreed with the grieving relatives on certain aspects. “You might be right.”

He faced her, looked her in the eye and asked, “When will I be able to see her?”

“Lorraine, sorry, the pathologist, will be in touch as soon as she’s performed the… post-mortem.”

He shuddered beside her. “Never thought a member of my family would ever be subjected to one of those damn things.”

“I know it’s hard to handle, but you’re going to need to remain strong for your family’s sake. Would you like me to ring your sister?”

“No. I’d rather do that myself. Hazel is going to be…” He trailed off with a deep sigh. “I’m going to miss Mum so much. We all are. I know we all say it, but truly, Mum was one in a million. I don’t think we’ve ever had a cross word. There aren’t many people who can say that about their parents, are there?”

Sara smiled. “No, not many. Why don’t you go home to be with your family? There’s nothing you can do here. SOCO will conduct a thorough search, let’s let them get on with the job in hand. They’ll be in touch should they need any information from you in the near future.”

“I want to go, but something is telling me I should be here. I’m so confused as to what to do for the best. I’ve finished work for the day so my wife will be expecting me home around now. I don’t want to tell her. This is going to break her heart. She lost her own mother around five years ago. She loved Mum so much, and now they’re both gone. How unfair this life can be at times. Why are we all here to go out in such a despicable way?”

“So many questions, you’re bound to have dozens of them. I’m so sorry, I just don’t have all the answers for you. All I can tell you is that things will get better soon, I promise.” Although Sara had mentioned her brother’s death to Roger, she’d kept quiet about the other tragedy which had blighted her life several years before. The murder of her husband, Philip. Tears pricked as his image entered her mind. She swiped them away with the cuff of her jacket. This wasn’t about her and the devastating traumas she’d had to endure. She was here to help Roger