Frozen Charlotte Read Online Free PDF

was been mummified – that is kept in warm, dry conditions. I would assume then that this body turned up in her own house. Oh and by the way, I don’t know where the blanket came from. It is a baby’s blanket but that hasn’t been with the baby’s body all this time. It’s too clean and in too good condition. If it had been wrapped around the body it would have deteriorated. Got stained, eaten by moths, rotted.’
    Roberts and Talith both nodded. ‘Thanks, doc.’
    ‘Under the McNaughton Rules,’ she added, ‘I’m not absolutely certain whether she has a full and complete understanding of what’s going on around her. I suspect she’s working on two levels. Part of her mind is aware of her surroundings and part is somewhere else.’ She glanced back through the window at Alice’s calm face. ‘God only knows where. But wherever it is it doesn’t appear to be troubling her.’ Almost to herself she added, ‘I would dearly love to know how all this came about.’
    Roberts nodded, with relief. Delyth Fontaine had taken charge, done her job and now they could take this weird woman down to the station and question her, which was what he and Talith were dying to do. A porter brought the mortuary trolley and loaded up the pathetic little bundle, zipped now in a forensic body bag, then trundled along the corridor to the hospital mortuary. The security guard was summoned to another part of the hospital where a confused patient had just assaulted a nurse, while the police were left to focus on their side of the job. Though she patently wasn’t a threat to them they both felt uncomfortable with her. She was unpredictable. They wondered whether she might ask to see the infant again and if they denied her request whether she would ‘flip’. One of the problems with having no blinds or curtains in Sister’s Office was that the trolley in which the infant’s body was encased was clearly visible through the window. There was nothing they could do about it. Sister’s Office was designed to have a goldfish view of the entire department. It ensured smooth running.
    Paul Talith hadn’t always had the best of manners with the general public. He could be brusque but this time he made a real effort to do it properly. He hunkered down on his meaty thighs and spoke very gently to Alice. ‘I’m really sorry, Mrs Sedgewick,’ he said in his most polite and apologetic voice, ‘but we’re going to have to take a statement from you about . . .’ He jerked his head towards the window. ‘Down at the station. Is there anyone you’d like us to telephone?’ He gave a swift glance at her gold wedding band. ‘Your husband, perhaps?’ He ventured a friendly smile. ‘He must be wondering where on earth you are.’
    All he got back was a guarded, panicked look. ‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ she answered tightly. ‘He’s away on business. Abroad. I don’t want to drag him from his work. He’s going through a difficult time.’ She met his eyes. ‘Like many people.’
    Certainly like you, Talith thought, then realized none of this had sunk in. He sensed an aura of unreality around this woman and indeed the entire situation was surreal. How could she act with such normality having delivered a rotting corpse to the local hospital? Did she have no idea what was going on? Could she not see how abnormal this situation was, to be talking about ‘her husband being away on business’ when she’d arrived at the hospital nursing a long-dead baby?
    He needed some anchor.
    ‘Well perhaps a family friend or a solicitor?’
    Alice was silent for a while, frowning, thinking. Then her face cleared. ‘Both,’ she said, with a bright, social smile. ‘Let’s kill two birds with one stone.’ Then, equally unpredictably, she burst into tears. Talith straightened up, shot Roberts a despairing look and waited for the sobs to subside.
    ‘Acantha,’ she finally supplied. Roberts and Talith exchanged looks. Was that a name?
    Alice