Convicted

Chapter 2

"Interrogation commencing at 14:05. This is officer Matthew Lockwood from Holby City Police Department, and officer Jenny Brooks is observing. We are here with Mrs Constance Beauchamp. For the benefit of the recording, can you please confirm that that is your name?"

"Yes," answered Connie, sighing. It wasn't difficult to tell that she was incredibly nervous to be sat here, answering questions on Sam's murder, when the two officers in the room believed that she was guilty. She was sat with a lawyer, but he didn't know the case well and so Connie didn't think he'd be much use to her.

"So, Mrs Beauchamp. You have been charged with the murder of your ex partner, Samuel Strachan. Can you tell me, how long ago did that relationship end?"

"Thirteen years. We were only ever casually seeing one another," Connie said, stuttering a little with her nerves.

"But it was long enough for you to be pregnant with his child?" Connie rolled her eyes, insisting that she'd already been over this when they last interviewed her. 'It's just routine' they had said, but now it seemed that she was more than just a suspect - she was already guilty in everyone else's eyes. After answering the basic questions, the officer made his way on to talk about the night of Sam's murder, which again, Connie had already been over, but she had to repeat herself.

"I told you, that night, I left Grace at home for a couple of hours, as I was called in to do an emergency shift at the ED," she said.

"You told us the second time around, after your daughter had told us that too." It was true - Connie had panicked and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, and so she had said that she was in with Grace at the time of Sam's murder, as she knew that it wouldn't look good if she said that she'd have been out at the time. She didn't expect them to question Grace, who had let it slip that Connie had left the house, on her own, at exactly the same time as Sam's murder, and it had clearly piqued their interest in Connie as a suspect.
    "How are we supposed to take your word for anything? Interesting though, that when we followed this up, we found that you hadn't been present at work during this time period at all anyway." Connie swallowed hard, and a look of worry glazed over her eyes.

"We were busy - we mustn't have documented the extra hours."

"You know, I thought you might say that," he chuckled, as if that statement alone had been as valuable as a confession itself. "So you're telling me that it's just mere coincidence, that at the exact time of your ex-partner's murder, the only potential alibi you have is failed to be documented?" The officer was trying his best to force some sort of confession out of Connie, but she couldn't confess to something she didn't do. She just muttered a quiet answer in response, not really knowing what she could possibly say.
    "Anyway, you've been charged, as you were told, because we found some compelling evidence, that highly incriminates you in this crime. For the first of the two pieces of evidence, may I ask you to watch this?" The officer slid a mobile phone across to her, and Connie instantly saw the CCTV footage being played in front of her. It showed her making her way into Sam's apartment, after tapping in the four digit code to allow her access. She looked around her before making her way in, and this was what gave her away - previously, all that could be seen was the figure of a woman that resembled Connie, but as she turned, she'd made the mistake of looking almost directly at the camera. The footage was paused, and the officer zoomed in to her face. Connie knew she was in trouble now - she should've just told the truth from the start.
    "Mrs Beauchamp, can you please confirm that this is - without doubt - definitely you, entering the crime scene, where we found your ex murdered merely hours later?" It was at this point that Connie's lawyer spoke up, who had been nothing short of utterly useless since the minute he arrived.

"If it's not relevant to your point, then can Mister Strachan be referred to by his name, as opposed to just the ex of my client?" He asked bluntly, and the officer nodded, apologising and repeating his earlier question, changing the way he addressed Sam. In answer to the question that had now been presented to her twice, Connie nodded slowly; there was no way that she could possibly argue that that footage wasn't of her. She was asked to clarify her answer, for the benefit of the recording, which meant she had to open her mouth and say the words. However, she found that it was an incredible struggle to force the words past the lump in her throat. After managing the word, she was hit by another question.

"So what was the purpose of your visit to Mister Strachan's apartment?" The officer asked, and Connie prepared herself to answer the question completely truthfully, though she knew that they wouldn't believe her after all the lies she'd already told them. She opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by the officer, who leant down and picked up a transparent bag from the floor. In it, contained the knife that had been used to kill Sam. The blood was still on the blade, and just looking at it made Connie's stomach churn.
    "Before you answer my question, you might want to consider if your answer explains how your fingerprints were found on the handle of this," the officer seemed to smirk as if he was humoured by the things she was saying. She was only facing a charge that would imprison her for the rest of her life, why on earth would the officer want to take it seriously? She knew that coming out with sarcastic comments now would not benefit her at all, and so she managed to stop herself.

"I was cutting tomatoes," she replied, and a malicious smile spread across the officer's face. Connie retained her stern glare, but it didn't seem to be bothering the fool in front of her.

"Tomatoes?" He asked, clearly trying to remain professional.

"I went to Sam's apartment that night to discuss our daughter. He still isn't happy about the fact that she wants to live permanently with me, when he's based over in New York, but I was hoping that the two of us would come to an arrangement that suited us both," Connie began to explain.

"And when he didn't accept this offer, you decided a much better approach would just be to kill him? Saves the travelling, I have to admit," the officer commented,and once again Connie's lawyer stepped in, telling the officer to allow Connie to finish her answer before he began speculating. She denied the speculation, and continued to proceed when her lawyer told her to, though she was interrupted by the officer.
    "No, there's no need. I think we have all we need from you for now, Mrs Beauchamp. Interview concluded at 14:49." He switched off the recording device and shook the lawyers hand, before standing up and guiding Connie out of the room. She was being transferred to the East Holby Women's Correctional Centre, which was only a short distance away, and when she was there, she would be taken over their expectations of her.