The police officer sat on the wooden chair and Nancy sat on the sofa. She was several inches lower and felt at a disadvantage. Felix was in the kitchen and could hear most of what was being said, even though Nancy tried to keep her voice low.
Nancy told her story. It took a long time – not because there was much to say, but because the woman was laboriously writing it down, and she kept interrupting, asking her to repeat or clarify.
At the end, the officer frowned at her notebook. She seemed embarrassed.
‘We’re not actually treating the death of Kira Mullan as suspicious,’ she said eventually.
‘I thought you should know what she said to me.’
‘We’re grateful to you, of course,’ said the officer, not sounding grateful at all. ‘But you say here…’ She turned a few pages back, searching. ‘That she appeared upset. Which seems to support our view that she took her own life.’
‘I said she seemed scared. If she was scared, then what was the reason? That’s what we need to know.’
‘You didn’t mention this earlier.’
‘I’m telling you now. I’m a witness to her state of mind shortly before she died.’
The woman gave a little cough.
‘I understand you were in a bit of a state yourself.’
Nancy felt herself go cold. The lights in the room suddenly seemed horribly bright.
‘What have you been told about me?’
‘Just about some medical issues. Issues that might be relevant to your evidence.’
Nancy couldn’t stop herself. She looked towards the kitchen. There was no sound from Felix, but he would be listening. She knew who had told the police about her psychiatric problems. She looked back at the officer.
‘I saw what I saw.’
‘Yes. But still, you must see the difficulty.’
A heavy silence filled the room. At last Nancy broke it.
‘It is true I was having a bad day on Sunday.’ She looked accusingly towards the little kitchen and as if in answer, there was a chink of cutlery. ‘But even if some of the things I saw and heard were not quite real, that doesn’t mean Kira didn’t speak to me.’
She knew this was useless. The officer’s face was wearily and almost contemptuously patient, hearing her out but knowing her to be the very epitome of an unreliable witness: a deluded woman who heard voices, saw what wasn’t there, conjured terrors and conspiracies from the random mess of life.
‘You’re just going to ignore me, aren’t you?’
‘We will take everything into account.’
She stood up.
‘I want to speak to someone else,’ said Nancy. ‘Someone senior. Who’s in charge of this case?’
‘That would be DI Kemp. But he is already satisfied that Kira Mullan tragically took her own life.’
‘Tell DI Kemp I want to see him.’
Felix came out of the kitchen, clutching a handful of forks.
‘Nancy,’ he said warningly.
‘Stay out of it,’ said Nancy. ‘You’ve done enough already.’
‘Nancy is understandably upset,’ said Felix to the officer and she nodded at him. Nancy felt anger crackle through her and she balled her fists.
‘I am not upset, I’m quite calm and rational and I want to see this DI Kemp.’
‘I will convey your feelings to him.’
‘That’s not good enough.’
‘I’m afraid he’s very busy. And he’s about to take annual leave.’
‘But he’s in charge of the case.’
‘There is no case. It’s closed.’
‘Open it!’
Felix and the officer slid each other a glance. Nancy bit back a yell.
‘Ms North,’ said the officer sternly. ‘A horrible thing happened and unfortunately you saw the aftermath. But a young woman has died. Her family is devastated. It will not help them in their grief if you start throwing suspicions around like this. The matter is in our hands.’
‘Oh, and that’s meant to be reassuring?’
‘Nancy!’
‘Good evening.’
The door clicked. Nancy and Felix looked at each other.
‘That was fun,’ said Felix.
He subsided onto the sofa and closed his eyes.
‘This isn’t the end of it,’ said Nancy.
‘Of course it is. You’ve had your say, for what it was worth.’
‘Yes, well, you saw to that, telling her in advance about my history.’
‘You were in a disturbed state that Sunday. Were you going to keep it secret?’
‘Not saying something isn’t the same as keeping it secret.’
‘Debatable.’ Felix opened his eyes. ‘It’s done now, anyway. Let’s put it behind us. I don’t want to argue; I only want you to be all right.’
Nancy was tired of people saying that to her.
‘Promise me you won’t interfere any further.’
She hesitated. But a word has many meanings.
‘Nancy?’
‘I won’t interfere,’ she said.
‘Good. Because honestly, Nancy, if you carry on like this, you might not get a second chance.’