Written In Blood

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zack parked his Land Rover as close to the entrance of the police station as he could and got out. He winced the moment his right foot touched the ground, the painkillers he had taken when he got up – twice the recommended dose – were not doing a good enough job of blocking out the pain from his various injuries; the ankle he had twisted, while not the most serious injury, was making the most 'noise', which did not surprise him because he couldn't rest it, so it was constantly being aggravated.

Slowly and painfully, he limped around to the front of the building, and then up the steps to the entrance. Once inside, he crossed to the counter, where he had to wait for almost a minute before anyone appeared to deal with him.

"Is Sergeant Mitchell in?" he asked when a constable finally arrived.

"I'll see if he'll see you," Constable Pritchard said, without offering any of the pleasantries he might have normally when someone entered the station.

"Thanks." Zack noted the coldness from the constable, but paid it no mind, he had other things to worry about. While he waited for the constable to return he leaned on the counter, trying to take some of the weight off his ankle, and thereby reduce the throbbing that made him want to scream.

"How can I help you, Mr Wild?" Mitchell asked when he reached the counter. He could not bring himself to be any more civil than that given his suspicions.

"I'm here to make a statement about the attempt on my life," Zack told the sergeant, ignoring the barely concealed hostility, just as he had ignored that from the constable.

Mitchell looked confused for a second, but then his expression cleared. "You mean the assault on you by Georgina Ryder's cousin. Constable Black told me about it this morning."

"No, sergeant, I mean the attempt on my life," Zack said. He wondered if the sergeant believed the attack had only been an assault because of a miscommunication between him and the constable, or if it was a deliberate misinterpretation of what had happened. "He may not have introduced himself or anything, but the guy who did this – he held up his bandaged arm – made it very clear why he was at my house."

Mitchell looked as though he wanted to debate or dispute that, but then he gave a little shake of his head and said, "You'd best come through so you can tell me what happened." He opened the security door to let Zack Wild through, and then led him along the passage to the interview room, where he had spent so much of yesterday evening. "If you'd like to wait in here, I'll be with you shortly."

"Do you think I could get a coffee?" Zack asked. He was not surprised when the sergeant looked less than willing.

Mitchell wanted to tell Wild where to go; the last thing he wanted to do was give him what he wanted, even when it was something as simple as a drink, he certainly did not want to listen to him give a statement about the assault that had taken place. After meeting Wild's solicitor, though, he realised that refusing, either to take the statement or to provide a drink, would only offer ammunition to the lawyer, who was already interested in suing him. Reluctantly, he nodded before closing the interview room door on the man he did not want to deal with.

"Mel," he caught the attention of the young constable, who was working in the small office she shared with the other constables. "Mr Wild is waiting in the interview room to give a statement about Oliver's attack, he'd like a drink before we get started, would you see to it?"

"Sure." Melissa jumped to her feet, happy to take a break from what she had been doing – like yesterday, she was researching Zack Wild to discover everything there was to know about him. Ordinarily, she would have been happy enough to have an excuse to satisfy her curiosity, but not then; she knew that she had been given the job because Mitchell was hoping she would learn something that would help to prove that Wild was guilty of the two murders that had taken place. She had been hoping that after a good night's sleep the sergeant would be more reasonable, and willing to consider the other possible suspects.