Gallery Whispers

77

'I'm glad you could come in to sit in on this, Karen; I need a woman for this interrogation. Normally it would have been DCI Rose, but'

'That's all right sir. I was sitting on my hands today anyway. Wayne's taking Dennis for a drive up to Perthshire.'

'What?' said Mackie. 'On a miserable day like this?'

'He'd promised; whatever the weather was like, he said. Dennis has to get himself worked up for trips like that. I just hope his wheelchair doesn't rust.

'Where is the Paterson girl?' Neville asked.

'In the bathroom. We whipped the pair of them out of there pretty sharpish, so I said that since we were waiting for you, she could go and freshen up.'

As he spoke, the door opened, and Andrina Paterson came into the room, a uniformed woman constable behind her. Karen eyed her appraisingly; she was a short girl, with a trim waist, neatly built but with strong, well-muscled arms, a trait that she had noticed before in nurses.

'Join us, please,' said Mackie, standing and showing her to a chair across the table from where he and the sergeant were seated. 'I repeat my offer to you. You can have a solicitor if you wish. I'll delay this interview for that purpose.'

Staff Nurse Paterson shook her head. 'No, like I said before, let me hear what this is about, then I'll decide. I haven't got the money to splash out on lawyers.'

'If that's how you want it. We can stop the interview at any time if you wish.' He reached across and switched on the black box tape recorder, identifying himself and Neville formally, stating the time, place and subject of the interrogation.

'Miss Paterson, I want to ask you a few questions about the death of your boyfriend's mother, Mrs Gaynor Weston.'

The nurse stared at him, in apparent astonishment. 'But what about Ray's drugs?'

'They've got nothing to do with you, as we both know. Anyway, that's a relatively minor matter. Now: Gay Weston. You recall the circumstances of her death?'

'Yes. She killed herself. She had cancer and decided to opt out.'

'So you approve of that?' asked Mackie quietly.

Andrina frowned. 'I approve of people having the right. A lot of nurses do. At the end of the day, it's often the drugs rather than the tumour that take people out anyway.'

'When did you learn that Mrs Weston had cancer?'

'Ray told me.'

'Before she died?'

The girl thought for a few seconds. 'No. Afterwards; he definitely told me afterwards.'

'Did he say anything about the circumstances?'

'He told me that his dad had discovered it. He told me that she had taken an overdose.'

'Did he say how?'

'By injection.'

Mackie frowned. 'Didn't it strike you as unusual for someone to kill themselfwith a syringe?'

'Why should it? People kill themselves with syringes often enough in this city. Druggies and such.'

'Don't be flip with me Andrina, this is too serious. Come on, now.

You're a bright person, I can see that. Haven't you worked this out yet?'

She looked at him, silently.

'Okay,' he said. 'I'll spell it out for you. I'm looking at a situation where I have two apparent suicides. I've got Ray's mother, and I've got your Uncle Tony. A big coincidence, for sure. You've been having a bad run of luck in the relative stakes of late.' Andrina Paterson's eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened. The superintendent continued, regardless.

'This is where you really get unlucky though. Our pathologist has determined that neither Gay Weston or your uncle were alone when they died. They both had help; and that help came from the person who injected them both, someone who was skilful to professional standards with a hypodermic.

'I hear you're damn good with a needle, Andrina.'

The girl gulped; her hands began to tremble, but only very slightly.

'I think I'd better have a solicitor now, don't you?'

'I think that would be a good idea,' said Mackie, switching off the tape.