Lexie and Josh left the hospital immediately after speaking to Rex. As they headed back to the station, Lexie filled him in on their conversation, leaving out the last bit – where Rex had told her to watch her back.
Pulling up outside the station, a thought struck her. What if the text messages had nothing to do with Amitt Vincent after all?
Lexie was left with little time to ponder this possibility because, no sooner had they walked into the detectives’ office, their boss summoned them into her own office.
Casey Blair wasted no time with pleasantries. ‘How did you go with Donaldson?’ she asked.
The question was directed at Josh but he glanced at Lexie, allowing her to answer.
‘The same as every other time we’ve spoken to him. He gave us nothing. It was an accident. He knows nothing about the backpack . . . it’s not his.’
Casey Blair rolled her eyes. ‘Well the gun is being checked for prints as we speak. Considering the contents of the bag, it seems Donaldson may have been considering a bit of retaliation that didn’t go according to plan.’ She shrugged. ‘I want you to get back to the hospital – ’
Josh interrupted. ‘He’s not going to tell us any more than he already – ’
The boss waved her hand in the air.
‘I’m not worried about Donaldson. He’s safe under police guard so he’s not going anywhere for a while. What I was going to say was . . .’ she gave Josh a look, ‘a short time ago, two women stumbled upon the body of a girl lying near a duck pond on the eastern side of Centennial Park. She had no identification on her but she matches the description of Sandy Croft.’
‘Body?’ Lexie felt her stomach drop. ‘Is she dead?’
‘No. But she’s in a bad way. She’s on life support in intensive care at the Prince of Wales. Looks like she’s been bashed pretty brutally. The doctors don’t know if she’ll make it.’
‘It might not be her,’ Lexie heard herself say.
Why was she finding it so hard to accept that Sandy might have run out of lives? It was not unusual for a drug-addicted prostitute to turn up dead. When you lived in that world your luck had to run out eventually, she thought sadly.
‘Your business card was found in the back pocket of her jeans.’
It’s Sandy. Her heart sank. Lexie had given Sandy her card in the station days earlier. She’d seen her tuck it into her back pocket which was obviously where it had stayed. Lexie had told her to call if she was in trouble. She had saved her neck enough times in the past. Why hadn’t she called her this time?
Lexie felt Josh, standing beside her, regarding her intently.
‘If our latest victim is Sandy Croft I’d say this crime is linked to our investigation. If it’s not, we have a Jane Doe on our hands, which opens up a completely different can of worms,’ Casey continued. ‘Another thing; a striped bag was found near where she lay, its only contents was a firearm, a Glock 23.’
Lexie and Josh glanced at each other in surprise, and then back at their boss.
Lexie shook her head. ‘In all the years I’ve known that girl, when she was living on the streets of the Cross and squatting in abandoned shop fronts, I’ve never known her to carry a gun. It’s not her style, it’s just not like her.’
Casey raised her eyebrows as though anything was possible.
‘Well, if she’s running with bikies – maybe things have changed.’
She shuffled papers around her desk for a moment.
‘Look, we need a positive identification so I need you to get to the hospital ASAP. Uniform established a crime scene when they arrived at the park. Forensics are there now and our homicide team is on their way. The gun will go to ballistics in due course and I’m sure, like the gun found near Rex Donaldson, it will be unlicensed and unregistered. I’ll request both guns get profiled as a matter of urgency so they can be compared to the bullets used on the murder victim.’ Casey Blair turned back to her computer screen. ‘As soon as you’ve seen her, let me know if it’s Sandy Croft.’
Lexie took that as their cue. They had been dismissed.
—
‘Why would Sandy have a gun?’
Even though Lexie asked the question in a hushed tone, her voice still resonated around the vacant hospital hallway that led to the intensive care unit. She lowered her voice further, to a whisper.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Josh, who was walking beside her, shrugged his broad shoulders.
‘Sometimes, nothing makes sense.’
Lexie stopped as they reached their destination. Pressing her finger on the buzzer positioned next to the wide ICU doors, she turned to him.
‘You like saying that, don’t you?’
He gave her a strange look. ‘Saying what?’
‘I’ve heard you say it before; quite a few times.’
She deepened her voice and shot him a smile as she said, ‘Sometimes, nothing makes sense.’
Josh whacked her playfully in the arm.
‘Well, it’s true, isn’t it?’
Lexie was about to laugh then thought it inappropriate as a very high female voice came through the speaker system.
‘Can I help you?’
Josh replied. ‘Detectives Harrison and Rogers. We’re here to − ’
‘Oh, come straight in,’ the voice replied, buzzing the door open for them.
Inside the ICU they had a short conversation with the head nurse, who had trouble taking her eyes off Josh, before she led them to a bed at the far end of the room. Lexie approached with trepidation. Josh stayed beside her giving her silent support. The girl lying in the bed in front of her looked tiny, pathetic. It was as though she’d shrunk; all those tubes and monitors that beeped at regular intervals had made her smaller. Lexie felt her throat constrict but quickly swallowed the lump, pushing it back down. There was no time for emotion. She was here to do a job.
She felt Josh’s eyes burning into the side of her face as she stared down at the broken and battered little body. No one deserved this, Lexie thought sadly as she took in the eyes that were swollen shut, her hair matted with congealed blood and her pasty skin, covered in an assortment of cuts and bruises.
Oh, Sandy. What a sad life you’ve had.
‘Is that Sandy Croft?’ Josh asked gently.
Lexie nodded her head up and down, not trusting her voice.
She felt Josh’s hand on her shoulder.
‘Meet me outside,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll just speak to the doctor, find out exactly what her condition is and then we’ll have to inform her father.’
Lexie was grateful to him for taking over. She left ICU as swiftly as decently possible.