Encounter

Chapter Eleven

A week had pasted and Sarah had not returned to work. She had spent half the week, asleep in bed, feeling unable to get herself out of it. Today however, was an important day and she had to be out of bed.

Today, she was being interviewed by the police. An officer from the road policing unit was coming to the house to interview Sarah in regards to the crash she had been in. The police had arranged the interview with Nathan at the beginning of the week. This gave Nathan enough time to get the week off work and collect all the evidence he had built up in regards to the crash and all his diagrams of the road. He wanted to make sure he had all the evidence he needed to help defend his wife.

Sarah awoke early that morning. It was a gloomy morning, the sun had retreated behind lightly grey clouds, blanketing the sky. The air even though the sun was absent, was still humid; she felt it bathe her skin as she climbed out of bed. She began her usual routine in the morning. She showered, changed and then began to clean the house in preparation for the officer's arrival. Nathan came downstairs mid-morning; he was dressed in a black knitted V-neck jumper and dark wash navy blue jeans.

"Are we all set?" Nathan asked, holding a large amount of paperwork under one arm. He began to surf through the catalogue of evidence. Sarah finished loading the dishwasher and turned to look at him.

"I think so. I just want to get this interview over and done with," Sarah said, taking a quick swig of tea from her cup. "so I can concentrate on getting back to normal and go back to work."

"Well it shouldn't take any longer than thirty minutes," Nathan replied. Sarah felt slightly relieved by this. She hated long interviews, especially with the police. She also felt comforted by the fact that Nathan was going to be by her side the entire time, fighting her corner.

The morning dragged on and Sarah spent most of it vigorously cleaning the house. It was one O' clock in the afternoon when the doorbell rang. Sarah saw a tall reflection through the glass, as the officer's fluorescent jacket dazzled through.

Nathan walked over to the front door, and let the officer in. He was extremely tall with a stocky frame. He had a small cleanly kept bread and moustache. He smiled at Sarah, as his large framed body squeezed through the door.

"Mrs Willow, good morning," The officer said, his smile causing her to rest at ease. "My name is PC Ballroom." Sarah giggled slightly at the name, but then realised her rudeness and stopped. "It's ok, I get that every day of my career. My colleagues at the station are always teasing me in the office," Ballroom said, laughing to himself. "Can't deny that it's a funny name for a police officer, can you?"

Nathan ushered Ballroom over to the sofa; he had placed two of the chairs from the dining table in front of it. "Please take a seat," Nathan said, indicating for Ballroom to sit down on the sofa. Ballroom sat down and pulled out his notebook and a small cluster of paperwork.

"Can we get you anything to drink officer," Nathan asked.

"A glass of water would be lovely, thank you, Mr Willows," Ballroom said, the look of excitement on his face. Nathan returned a short time later, with a pint glass of water, accompanied with some ice. Ballroom took the glass and took a long gulp of water.

"Right Mrs Willows," he said, putting the glass down on the ground. "This is just a follow-up interview about the fatal road traffic collision you were involved in. This interview does not mean you are under investigation. It is basically a fact-finding interview and you are not at liberty to say anything. However, it is in your best interests to answer all of the questions honestly."

"I understand, thank you," Sarah replied, sitting in one of the seats in front of the sofa.

"If you are ready, then Mrs Willows shall we begin?" Ballroom asked. Sarah nodded and Ballroom began the interview. The first fifteen minutes of the interview flew by and it went well. She answered all of the questions that were asked but those regarding the crash, what she was doing at the time of the crash and how the crash occurred.