Hayden (A Next Generation Carter Brother #4) - Lisa Helen Gray Page 0,50

manners? Come in. The kitchen is through there.”

Beth leads us through a set of glass doors with dark wooden frames and into a living room.

“Why don’t I make us all one,” Charlotte offers when she sees the state of the living room. “You should sit down for five minutes.”

“Thank you. It’s just through that door,” she explains, pointing to the far left. She surveys the mess and winces. “Let me clear some of this up so you can sit down.”

“I’ll help,” I tell her, helping her transfer some of her nan’s belongings to the floor in a neat pile.

“How did your nan die, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She sits down on the wicca chair as I take a seat on the brown two-seater.

“I don’t mind at all. It’s still a shock, if I’m honest. They ruled it as a heart attack. I think getting herself worked up over the break-in caused it. I live an hour away and was on my way over when her care assistant called to tell me she had passed.”

“I’m really sorry for your loss,” I tell her sincerely. “What did you mean, she was getting herself worked up?”

She runs a hand over her jogging bottoms. “There’s something you need to understand about my nan; she hadn’t been well for a while. She hasn’t been with it lately. For months we’ve had a call-out care assistant check in on her. She’s been forgetful, suffering with mild insomnia, and hallucinating at times. When we spoke the week of her death, she feared she was being watched and would rant about them knowing she saw something and were trying to shut her up.”

“Saw?”

“The break-in. She saw who did it.”

“You didn’t believe her?”

“I’m honestly not sure. It didn’t seem like her usual ramblings or conspiracies to me. She was genuinely scared for her life. She changed a lot after she gave those statements; more lucid and less scatty. In a way, I worried she would leave a stove on. Instead, she just seemed quiet, distracted and withdrawn.”

“Did she witness them breaking in or running out?”

“Nan said she saw a young male lurking around outside when she came down to make a cup of tea. She couldn’t remember what compelled her to look outside. She was going to call the police, but her mind got distracted and she must have forgotten. She went back up to bed when she heard cars pulling into the street and saw the flashing lights. She said she went to the window that looks out onto the alley and part of the street to take a nosey. She said the young man from earlier was there with another man. They were arguing and the young man had blood on his cheek.”

“Do you have a record of who took the statement?”

“I wasn’t here for them. The break-in happened early hours of the morning and I didn’t get here until ten. By then, they had already taken notes of what she saw. To be honest, I don’t think they took her seriously, from what she told me. I think she kept getting the events of the night muddled and was changing her footsteps of what lead up to what she saw. The only thing that didn’t change was what she witnessed.”

“What about the second statement?”

“She didn’t really want to talk about it to me. It was actually Joyce, her carer, who mentioned there was a second one. She didn’t like the vibe she got from the officer or my nan’s behaviour after he left. She seemed skittish and withdrawn.”

This is the information. This is what Christina had been looking into.

I don’t want to scare Beth, but I can’t leave without asking. “Are you sure it was a police officer?”

“I asked the same thing. Joyce said he was in full uniform.”

“What company does Joyce work for? Do you know if Christina asked for her details?”

“I only got the end of the conversation between the two, so not that I know of. She did speak like the officer and the guy from the alley were the same person, but like I said, I missed half of what was said. From what I read, though, they didn’t catch who broke in, so that can’t be true.”

She really has no clue. I need proof, but if I were to guess, it was an officer in that alley, and that it was the guy who attacked Mrs Sutherland. It makes sense as to why Rita’s statement went missing. I just need