When they arrived at the hospital, Maggie had no patience to wait for the lift and ran up to the second floor via the stairs. She had to catch her breath when she reached the top and that gave her enough time to compose herself and wait for Nathan as he exited the lift.
‘Not sure what the rush is. It’s not like he’s going anywhere. You ready?’
‘I am. Odd choice of words – cleansing his soul. What do you think that means?’ Maggie walked alongside her boss.
‘Is that what you’ve been thinking about on the way over here? I wondered why you were so quiet. I’ve no clue what it means.’ They noticed a smartly dressed female enter their suspect’s room with a jug of water. ‘But it looks like we’re about to find out.’
Maggie followed Nathan into the private hospital room. Luke Bradford was sitting upright in his bed, mumbling to himself. A small table and chairs had been set up at the end of the bed. Maggie pulled the digital recorder out of her bag and placed it on the table as she sat down. Nathan took the lead.
‘Well, it looks like you have everything all set up, Mr Bradford. My colleague, DC Jamieson, will be recording this conversation and I’ll formally caution you in the presence of your solicitor so this is all on the record.’ Nathan continued with the introductions and formally cautioned Luke. ‘Do you understand what I’ve said?’
He nodded.
‘For the benefit of the tape, Mr Bradford nodded his understanding. Shall we start from the beginning then?’
‘DS Wright, I have no intention of making any excuses. I have spoken to my solicitor and we’ve prepared a full and frank confession.’ He gestured to his solicitor and she pulled out a wad of papers which Maggie took hold of. What did confuse her though was that according to his personnel files, Luke was left-handed and that was the hand that was cuffed to the bed. From memory, the writing looked similar, but Maggie was sure it wasn’t a direct match.
‘Did you write this?’ Maggie looked at the solicitor while handing the paperwork to Nathan.
‘No. My client wrote it.’ She cocked her head to the right.
‘I thought you were left-handed. How did you write this?’ Maggie pointed to the cuffs secured to the bed.
A great roar of laughter, followed by a fit of coughing, came from the bed. ‘I’m ambidextrous, DC Jamieson.’
That explained many of the inconsistencies that Dr Blake had noted in the evidence. They hadn’t been able to figure out how the injuries sustained by the victims came from the left hand but the notes appeared to be written by someone who was right-handed.
‘You didn’t know, did you?’ A sly smile formed on his face.
Maggie redirected the focus of the interview. She wouldn’t play his games. ‘Not that we’re complaining, but why the full confession?’
He lifted up the side of his bedsheet and pointed to a small case which held some form of liquid medication. ‘I’m dying. I almost wish when Kate pushed me she had done a better job of it. Could have saved me a lot of grief. The big C.’
‘Dr Moloney didn’t push you. You slipped.’
‘Po-tay-to … po-tah-to. Whichever way, I fell. I only have months, maybe just weeks left. It was because of the cancer that I knew I had to get my affairs in order, get my plans rolling, be with Kate to make amends. A long, drawn-out trial is in nobody’s interest. I already have a life sentence; I just won’t be serving it behind bars.’
Maggie was furious. It felt like an easy way out. She wondered if there was any way that the CPS would expedite the trial so that at least Kate would see justice. It may make her change her mind about leaving the DAHU and Staffordshire.
‘So why did you do it? I want to hear it from you. Why did you put those families through all that agony?’
‘I just wanted my daughter back. Was that so much to ask? I could hear her every day. I wanted to explain that I didn’t even know she existed until she found me.’
‘But they weren’t your daughter. You changed their appearance to look like her.’
‘No. No. No! Kate was the one. The other two were merely a means to an end. I needed to see if I could make it happen.’
Maggie’s forehead creased. ‘Make what happen?’
‘Make them stay with me.’ He coughed and took a sip of water. ‘Catharine didn’t want to stay. She was angry. If I could make those women stay, make them care for me like a daughter should, I would have her back, don’t you see?’
‘But where did Dr Moloney fit into your plan? Were you going to do to her what you did to them?’
‘Kate is Catharine. Don’t you get it!’ He grabbed the side of the hospital bed until his knuckles turned white. ‘I just had to remind her. She ruined my plans. You ruined my plans.’
Nathan interrupted. ‘We’re going in circles here. I don’t think we’re going to get anything coherent out of him.’ Nathan pointed to the side of the bed where the pump lay. ‘The drugs must be kicking in because he’s not making any sense. I think we should take everything back to the office and see what the CPS says.’
Mr Bradford’s solicitor stood. ‘Everything you need is in the papers I gave you. A detailed background history of my client. His signed confession. I think he needs his rest now.’ She walked towards the bed and pushed a red button just above him. Shortly after, a nurse walked in and asked Maggie and Nathan to leave. Maggie tried to protest. She wanted to know more. She didn’t want him to get a cushy sentence in a psychiatric ward when he deserved to rot in prison – cancer or no cancer.
‘C’mon. We have what we need.’
As they walked out of the door, Luke Bradford whispered loudly enough for Maggie to hear. ‘Goodbye.’
A shiver went down her spine.