Chapter 61 Rosie – Day 13
Rosie lies on the hard bed in her cell. She can’t stop crying.
Her mind is spiralling with fear. What will happen if they don’t believe her?
What if she is trapped here forever? Locked away for a crime she didn’t commit.
The weight of her situation presses down on her.
Her head spins. What is she going to do now?
Her solicitor doesn’t seem optimistic. He keeps asking if she wants to call someone, but the only person would be her mum and she can’t face hearing her voice. She needs to remain as strong as she can for as long as she can.
Hope is the last thing to go.
She sits up and rubs her face. Stay positive.
She’ll be out of here soon; they will realise this is all a mix-up. They’ve got the wrong person. Won’t they?
No one will tell her if they’ve pulled the Fraser family in for questioning. She has no idea if they are taking what she told them seriously.
If they think they’ve caught the killer they won’t be looking at any other suspects, a voice in her head pipes up. The thought makes her want to be sick.
She knows she can’t trust the police. They could pin this on her, use her as a scapegoat, to look like they’ve solved the case. Exactly like they did with her dad. She won’t let that happen again. Not to her. She needs to clear her name. But how?
Who else could have done this?
She’s been churning this question over and over again, yet she still can’t believe anyone would murder Theo.
***
She is led to the interrogation room by an officer she doesn’t recognise.
He doesn’t say a word. Her eyes are gritty and puffy from crying.
There are no more tears. Only exhaustion.
She’s terrified she’s going to say the wrong thing, somehow implicate herself.
She’s decided the safest thing is to say no comment in answer to any of the questions they have for her.
Her solicitor is waiting for her, a stack of paperwork beside him. Lucian is talking in Italian to the officer who brought her here.
She slumps into the chair, her eyes lingering on the graffiti on the tabletop. Their voices go over her head. She’s too tired from a second night of no sleep to try and attempt to work out what they might be saying.
Lucian suddenly sits up. The sound of his chair scraping over the tiles goes through her.
‘Carla Conti has confessed to killing Theo.’
‘What?’ Rosie blinks. Her heart thumps. It takes a couple of seconds for her brain to process this news.
‘She was being held against her will at the lake house.’ He relays what the police officer is saying. ‘She is understandably traumatised. The doctors have examined her, and thankfully the physical damage is minimal.’ He taps the side of his head. ‘Who knows what she’s gone through here though.’
‘Carla killed Theo?’ Rosie repeats.
He nods. ‘She heard two voices arguing in English. You and Theo. When it went quiet she was terrified someone was going to kill her, so she attacked first. She killed Theo, then she ran away and hid until she realised she needed to come here and confess.’
The room tilts. Rosie grips the table to anchor herself. Her gaze follows his mouth, but her brain is not adding up what he’s saying. She closes her eyes, and remembers Theo asking if she could hear noises.
‘Why would Theo abduct her?’ Rosie manages to ask.
He knew Carla was in the next room?
Lucian shrugs. ‘All they’ve managed to get from Carla is that it was a man with an English accent. That’s all they know so far. Like I said, she’s suffered an ordeal, so I’m sure they will get more details from her when she’s able to talk.’
Rosie shivers.
‘The good news for you is that you’re free to leave once you’ve signed these.’ He places a thick pile of papers in front of her. ‘The stars are shining down on you.’
‘What? It’s over?’ Rosie rubs her eyes. The thought of a shower, changing her clothes, and brushing her teeth is overwhelming. Relief floods her body.
‘They also found old, dried blood under the decking at the lake house, like you said.’
Rosie’s stomach flips. Danielle.
‘They are going to tear the place apart to see if they can find any trace of her.’
Giovanni knocks on the door and gestures for the other officer to leave. He looks shattered but offers a small smile when he turns to Rosie. She is too dazed to react. Giovanni and her solicitor have a brief conversation in Italian. Lucian collects his signed papers and leaves them alone.
Rosie is free to go.
‘I-I can’t believe it,’ she stutters. ‘Are you sure Carla killed him?’
‘Yes.’ Giovanni slips into the chair opposite. ‘Theo is our prime suspect in Carla’s disappearance.’
‘Not knowing what happened to Danielle has eaten him up for years. So why would he abduct a girl and hold her against her will? It doesn’t make sense.
I don’t think the two crimes are linked.
Someone else put Carla in the lake house.
’ She presses her thumbs to her temples.
‘What has Marianne said about all of this?’
‘She is still in hospital. We will be speaking to her as soon as we can.’
‘She knows where Danielle is. I’m sure of it.’