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Senior Sergeant Rojas glowed as he stepped through the vestry door. He jabbed a finger at Lexi. “We’ll take her back to the station,” he crowed to Smythe. Delight filled his sparkling eyes. “Let’s interview her under caution.”
Garima blinked, and his brow furrowed. He rose from his seat. “That’s not correct procedure,” he said, dialling his voice up to preach-level. “Lexi witnessed the same event as me. Take our statements separately and let us get on with our business.” Garima’s knuckles whitened over his rosary. With the blood stains banished from his uncontaminated safe space, he resumed control. His muscles seemed to widen and his rumpled hair stretched towards the low ceiling. “One moment,” he said.
Before the police officers could object, Garima pulled his work phone from his jacket pocket. He activated the screen and dialled a number. The call connected with surprising speed, considering its busy recipient. “Ah, Superintendent Packard,” he intoned. His voice gained a confidential air. “Your officers are currently recovering a body from the skip behind the church.” Garima paused and cocked his head. “Yes, thank you for speaking to the refuse collectors. They fetched the rubbish early this morning. Mrs Barrymore told me she went outside to empty the vacuum cleaner carton and saw a pair of feet sticking up from beneath a cardboard box.”
Smythe hissed in a low breath as Garima chatted to his superior at a level indicative of a personal connection. Colour flared from Rojas’ collar and infused his cheeks. Lexi bit back a smile at his rage-flush. She avoided eye contact with him, not wishing to inflame her precarious situation.
Judging by the police superintendent’s line of questioning, he knew Mrs Barrymore well. Garima answered a query about her health. “She’s regained consciousness. But that’s what I wished to speak with you about. I’ve spent the afternoon with my sister. She helped Mrs Barrymore until the paramedics arrived. Your officers wish to take her to the police station and confiscate her clothes. They already forced her to wait for an hour with Mrs Barrymore’s blood on her hands. I imagined we’d both just give statements. Am I incorrect about that assumption?”
Lexi’s brows rose. She observed her brother in a new light. Perhaps accepting confession from Hamilton’s greatest afforded him significant sway in the face of stacked opposition. She studied his calm exterior and imposing authority. It jarred with her understanding of a man crippled by insecurity and compulsion. For a moment, she saw through the eyes of Darlene Barrymore. Garima, with his stinky feet and vacuuming obsession, faded. He became beautiful, capable and commanding. Lexi’s lips parted in a smile of pure pride. Father Garima Allen was awe-inspiring.
Garima held out his phone towards Smythe. “Are you in charge?” he asked the younger officer, his face deadpan and expressionless. “Superintendent Packard wishes to speak with you.”
Smythe gnawed on his lower lip. Rojas snatched the phone from Garima and walked into the corridor. He returned with a vein throbbing in his temple. A wildness had caught hold of his jittery facial muscles. “You can leave,” he snarled. Garima’s phone flew through the air, but he caught it with ease. A gimlet hardness entered Rojas’ eyes as he surveyed Lexi. “I’ll call on you at home later to take your statement.”
Lexi heard the overt threat in the innocuous sentence. Her blood ran through her veins as ice. She shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll go straight to the police station now.”
Rojas lost control of his lower jaw. Lexi knew he couldn’t leave the crime scene without relinquishing his grip on a potential murder case. Smythe’s radio had already alerted both officers to the pending arrival of detectives. The need for glory battled with his urge to make Lexi miserable. His lips flashed like a dying fish’s as his best chance to punish her evaporated before him. She held her breath. This dangerous man hadn’t asked for her address. Fear rippled through her.
Smythe shifted on his heavy soles, sensing the tension hike between Lexi and Rojas. She suspected the probationer had a bumpy road ahead of him with this ruthless training officer.
“You go,” Garima urged her. His eyes flashed a warning. “I’ll wait here until I’m able to lock the church. Text me.” He pulled his private phone from his inside pocket. It bleeped as he turned it back on. With a solemn smile, he waved the device towards Lexi in a silent promise to take her call.
She didn’t stick around long enough for Rojas to find another way to hurt or detain her. Her tyres left rubber on the road as she pulled out from behind Garima’s vehicle. Knowing that Rojas expected her to drive to the main police station on Memorial Drive, she couldn’t risk him following her. The detectives might rebuff his efforts to ingratiate himself into their ranks. That would leave him free to chase her. It would also make him angrier.
Lexi drove to the police watch house in Nawton instead. She requested a form from the lady behind the counter. Twenty minutes later, she’d laid out a competent account of her afternoon’s exploits. She included the half an hour she’d sat outside the cafe with Garima. A side note explained she’d seen no one enter the church car park while they sat opposite the entrance.
The receptionist grew restless as five o’clock approached. Lexi signed the statement and requested the woman scan and email it straight to the detective leading the investigation. “He’s waiting for it,” Lexi insisted. She faked mock anxiety and covered her eyes with her hand. “I feel quite shaken. Think I might faint.”
The receptionist fought her edginess and used a copier in the corner to scan Lexi’s written statement. She capitulated, not wanting to stay at work a moment longer than necessary. Lexi leaned against the counter with her forehead resting on her wrists. But she watched the woman through the plexi-glass. After a call to headquarters, the receptionist acquired the name of the lead detective and sent Lexi’s statement to his email address. “I’ll file it tomorrow morning,” she promised. “I already attached it to the case number. Detective Inspector Grunwald will contact you if he has more questions.”
“DI Grunwald. Thank you.” Lexi gave her a relieved smile. “I’d hate to get into trouble for not providing a statement.” She hoped her fuss and pointed remarks caused the woman to remember her visit in the future. The only way to thwart Harvey Rojas was to remain visible and play everything by the book.
