SDT Bonus Content

Eloise gets arrested

AN: This was pre written and I was going to include this scene in the main book, but couldn't find a way to do so without making it significantly longer :D

The interrogation is going on at the same time as chapter 37 shortly before Rita is kidnapped...

Why couldn't the Spanish learn to drive on the correct side of the road like civilised people, Eloise thought as she pulled up to a row of shops on the outskirts of Valladolid, Castella's blood drenching her clothing, her hair and face. She stopped the car and got out. A woman with a pram took one look at her and hurriedly turned in the other direction. The baby screamed as Eloise walked into an ice cream parlour, a red sticky trail drying on the road behind her.

'Give me some chocolate ice cream,' Eloise said in English as the woman at the counter stared at the apparition in terror. Why bother learning? Everyone should just speak English - it was the international language! Shaking, the cashier gaped at her and started crying, her hand moving towards the ice cream unsteadily. A waitress at the back of the shop stared in shock.

'I need two big scoops in a nice cone, after the day I've just had,' Eloise smiled, still in a state of exhilarated bliss.

'Policia,' Eloise heard the second woman gasp into her phone from the back of the store, as she stood in the queue, which the other customers had rapidly vacated. Bloody smears appeared all over the floor. Within minutes the noise of sirens deafened her, and two police officers, a young brown man with a beard and a blonde haired woman the same age, were tackling her from behind, pushing her to the ground, yelling at her in Spanish. Her feet slipped on the smooth floor and she hit her knee on the box which displayed all the different ice cream flavours.

It really hurt.

'Que paso?' Catalina, a tall Black policewoman with long, multicoloured braids and dark glasses, yelled at her as she lay on the ground, forcing her hands roughly into a set of cuffs far too tight for her delicate wrists. 'Quien hiciste? A quien mataste?'

'A quien mataste?' she repeated to Eloise's incomprehension.

'A quien mataste? Who did you kill?'

So she could speak English after all!

Eloise looked at Catalina, the blood hard and sticking to her cheeks. She gave a wide grin, before replying, 'Javier Castella. Because he's a pig and he treats women like shit.'

'You're coming with us and telling us exactly what you've done,' Catalina muttered in English, tightening the cuffs. Then, she and Laurentia took Eloise by each arm and led her to the police car, followed by the stares of horrified passer-bys. 

'It's the best thing I've ever done. I could easily do it again,' Eloise said cheerfully as she was marched down the road.

'What's your name?' Catalina snapped, bundling her towards the car. Meanwhile, Laurentia was slowly and deeply breathing in and out, and if Eloise had noticed, she would have wondered if she was going to cry.

'Eloise Skerrett,' Eloise said, dazed, the euphoria and adrenaline of the last few hours crashing down to nothing.

As recognition of the situation she was in began to dawn, she said in an entitled, officious voice, 'That's Eloise Skerrett MP, Minister for Transport. This is a serious diplomatic incident. You'll be hearing from the British government if you don't let me go right now.'

'Que?' Laurentia stared at her and let out a shocked, traumatised laugh. Another one who thought she was a joke!

Her statement clearly unsettled Catalina, who was silent for a few seconds, but, alas, did not deter her. 'Eloise Skerrett, you are arrested on suspicion of murder. You have the right to notify this detention to a relative, to call a lawyer or be provided free legal assistance by the State, to a medical examination, and the assistance of a translator if you need it.'

*

'So you went upstairs to his bedroom, you had an argument, you grabbed his - his flag from the wall, and what happened next?' Mansouri said in English.

'I walked over and stabbed him with the banderilla about forty times,' Eloise smirked, miming the action with her bloody hand.

'Did you enter Castella's property with the intention of killing him?' She nodded, the blissed out look back on her face. The posh lawyer who had just flown first class from London sat clutching the sides of his seat, looking increasingly queasy and pale.

'Yes, actually I did,' she said proudly. 

'At the time of your affair, were you aware of Castella's long-standing association with South American drugs cartels and the mafia?' Mansouri said. Eloise looked at them stunned; this was news to her.

'The mafia?' she said, shakily.

'Yes. In your role in government, have you ever done favours or taken bribes from those involved in organised crime gangs - perhaps someone with a score to settle against him?' Mansouri said sternly. Her lawyer nudged her. How could she remember everyone she'd taken bribes from, Eloise thought, suddenly in panic.

'Say no,' the lawyer snapped. 'If you don't, that's your insanity defence out the window.'