‘Did you hear any noises coming from the far end of the corridor?’ The woman’s brow furrowed for a moment.
‘A noise like something heavy falling down a flight of stairs?’
She gave another frown then shut her eyes quite deliberately before nodding again.
Was she telling him ‘Yes and no’? How the hell could he draw out all the details? For a second Lorimer clenched his teeth in frustration. Then he looked at the woman in bed. Dear Christ! If this was how he felt what on earth must it be like for her? He breathed in and out, deliberately relaxing himself before continuing.
‘Did you hear a door banging shut? A heavy door?’
The nod confirmed her answer this time.
Lorimer paused, still holding her eyes in his, trying to see what she had seen.
‘Phyllis, did you hear footsteps coming back along in this direction?’
Lorimer watched as her mouth worked noiselessly, trying to form words that nobody could hear. A plaintive sound came from within her, repeated over and over again as her head tilted up and down in agitation. Then suddenly her eyes flitted past him and stared wildly at the door, making Lorimer turn to see who had come into the room.
There was no one there. What was she trying to tell him?
He could feel a growing excitement inside as he asked her, ‘Phyllis. I want you to think very carefully before you nod again. Did you see anybody in here just after you’d heard the noise of the door banging?’
Her eyes switched back to his. He could see the sigh unfold in her chest as if she’d been waiting for this question that he’d finally asked. She gave a nod.
‘That’s ‘yes’, Phyllis. You’re telling me that you saw someone in here that night?’
The nod came again but Lorimer could see the strain on her face. The effort of making even these small movements was exhausting the sick woman.
‘Was it anyone you knew?’
Her eyelids fluttered. Was that a ‘no’ or was she simply unable to keep her eyes open?
‘Did Leigh Quinn come into your room that night?’
The movement of the woman’s head was imperceptible. Not a nod at all, more of a gesture of inquiry as if she was puzzled by the question.
‘Phyllis. Did a man come into your room?’
She nodded but the movement was clearly an effort as her head hung forward, its weight drawing Phyllis’s face towards the sheets.
‘Was this man a stranger to you, then?’
Had she nodded? He couldn’t be sure.
Lorimer gazed at her wasted body. Could he really put his faith in this invalid? A niggle of doubt began to bother him. Was she a reliable witness? Should he even be questioning her like this?
Lorimer’s eyes travelled back to her face. The body might be wasted but here was no doubting the intelligence locked inside that impaired nervous system. As Phyllis’s eyes met his, he realised that he had no need to doubt her. That steady expression told him that she was willing him to see whatever she had seen.
‘Did he speak to you?’
Lorimer saw the muscles in her face twitch as a spasm passed through them. Her eyes widened in fear but her head nodded forwards.
‘And threaten you?’
Her eyes bored into his as she gave a nod.
Lorimer glanced up at Annie Irvine. They were on the brink of something momentous.
‘Phyllis. Do you believe that you saw the person who killed Kirsty MacLeod?’
There came a small weeping from the woman in the bed, tiny stifled cries as the tears flowed down into the pillow. Slithers of mucus dropped from her open mouth. For an instant Lorimer stared at her, absorbing her grief. Then he felt in his pocket for a clean handkerchief. Folding it around his index finger, he wiped away the tears. Carefully he gathered up the wet trails hanging from Phyllis’s mouth and dried her chin.
Her breath shuddered suddenly. Lorimer’s simple actions seemed to have calmed the woman. Her head was drooping low and she looked awkward, propped up on a bank of pillows that no longer gave her any support. Lorimer didn’t hesitate. He knew he was probably breaking all sorts of rules, nevertheless he thrust an arm around the exhausted woman’s shoulders then pulled her further down into the sheets until her head was resting against the pillows once more. Well, he’d broken rules before and, hell, all those leading questions might be thrown out in a court of law anyway.
This video could turn out to be a total waste of time. Lorimer sat back looking at the patient. Her body was rigid with pain. It was not only pointless but cruel forcing any more out of her now. Besides, she’d given him plenty to work on already.
‘DCI Lorimer terminating the interview,’ he said. He heard the buzz from the video camera as Annie retracted the zoom and ended the recording. He was pretty sure that there were several leads he could follow from what Phyllis had given him. part of him wanted to be up and off to study the footage they’d just recorded but there was something he had to do first. Right now he had a duty to protect this vulnerable witness.
‘Ask Mrs Baillie to come back in here, would you, Annie?’
As the policewoman left the room there was a low moan from the woman in the bed. Lorimer returned to his place beside her and took her hand. It felt cold and bloodless.
Phyllis turned her head away from him and then moved it back to look into his eyes, making sure he was watching her. Then she turned once more, staring at the large vase of flowers set on top of her locker.
‘Is it the flowers, Phyllis?’ Lorimer felt the cold hand in his, motionless. She continued to stare at him, then, imperceptibly, she nodded.
Suddenly Lorimer realised what it was she had been trying to tell him. The flowers!
‘Did the man take a carnation from your vase, Phyllis? A red carnation?’
The woman gave Lorimer a long hard stare then, quite deliberately, nodded her head, once, in definite affirmation.
Her shoulders relaxed in the sigh that followed. Now she really had expended all her energy. Her eyes closed and Lorimer heard her breathing steadily until he was sure that she had fallen asleep.
‘You may also think you have a witness statement from the Logan woman but it might be quite inadmissible in a court of law, you know,’ Mitchison continued, the finger wagging just a fraction too close to Lorimer’s face.
‘If you would just take a look at the recording, sir?’
Mitchison gave a theatrical sigh, ‘Oh, very well, then. Let’s have a look.’
The Superintendent watched as Lorimer slotted the tape into the video machine. The two men listened as Annie Irvine’s voice began the interview. Lorimer stared at the face on the screen. He had every detail of the tape off by heart now. There was no interruption from Mitchison as they listened to the recording. At last it was over and Lorimer looked questioningly at his superior.
Mitchison was frowning at the empty screen, an expression on his face that Lorimer couldn’t quite fathom. It was almost human, he thought cynically.
Finally the Superintendent broke the silence between them. ‘She’s a very sick woman,’ he began to say, slowly.
‘Yes, she is,’ Lorimer replied. There was no point in denying it after what they’d both witnessed on the tape.
‘I wonder if the courts would consider her a reliable witness?’ Mitchison seemed to be asking the question of himself. Then he shook his head. ‘Oh, I don’t know. We’d need all sorts of expert medical witness statements to back up the validity of this statement. If you can even call it that.’
Lorimer clenched his fists out of sight, under the desk. Would Mitchison try to stop the tape being used as evidence after all her efforts? He mentally rewound the video, seeing the woman’s anguished face. It took all his powers of restraint to keep the passion from his voice.
‘Sir, although she has no power of speech, she’s no dummy. Mrs Baillie can vouch for her mental health.’
Mitchison’s face twitched as if a spasm of annoyance had passed over it. For a moment he didn’t speak but simply continued to stare at the blank screen. Lorimer wondered what was going on in the man’s mind. At last Mitchison swung around in his chair, his usual expression of superiority back in place. ‘Oh, very well, let’s get on with it. But I have to warn you, Chief Inspector, I’m really expecting some results now. There have been too many man hours frittered away on this case already.’