‘I’ve been promised the results in the next few hours.’
The rest of the afternoon moved slowly. A doctor was called for Charles Wakefield and until he’d been seen, he was off limits for any more interviews. Erika had a reply from Kathleen, who told her that she’d never heard of a girl called Lily Parkes. Erika then had a call from Cilla.
‘I’m sorry I missed your call, detective. How can I help?’
Erika said she wanted to ask a few questions about past students.
‘Listen, I’m just about to get on the Tube to go and teach a voice class. Would you like to come over to the house?’
‘I’d like to talk to you today, it’s urgent,’ said Erika, checking her watch.
‘You could come for dinner. I’m cooking for myself, Colin and Ray. Why don’t you stop by and you can pick our brains.’
Erika could hear the rattle of the Tube train approaching in the background.
‘I’d rather talk on the phone.’
‘I’m very busy, detective. Come over and I can give you my full attention.’
‘I’ll come after you’ve eaten. How does 8pm sound?’
Cilla agreed and gave her the address of the house on Telegraph Hill. As the afternoon wore on, the rest of the team started to leave, and at 7pm Moss was the last to go.
‘How’s the foot?’ she asked as she saw Erika shifting and grimacing.
‘I have my last dose in a couple of hours,’ she said, wondering how she was going to sleep if she couldn’t take any more until the morning.
‘Okay, be careful. Let me know how it goes with Colin, Cilla and Ray.’
Before she left, Erika checked in on the lab with the DNA results, and was told they were still pending.
‘Time is ticking, I only have this guy in custody for a few more hours. If I don’t have a DNA result, I’ll have to release him. Pull your finger out and get that over to me!’ she snapped, slamming down the receiver. She stared at the phone for a moment afterwards. That was probably a bad move, pissing them off, but it was done now. Erika got up. She had to talk to Charles again. She debated for a moment and then set off, down to the custody suite, taking the lift, annoyed that the journey took three times as long with her gammy foot.
‘How is Charles Wakefield?’ she asked the police officer on duty.
‘I just checked on him, he’s sleeping like a baby. They gave him a sedative,’ she said. Erika nodded and looked around. The custody suite was empty.
‘Can I look at him?’
‘Look at him?’ she repeated.
‘Yes, I want to see him. Check he’s all right.’
‘His doctor has been here.’
‘Yes, I just saw him,’ Erika replied, hoping that the doctor was indeed a ‘he’。
The duty officer debated for a moment and then nodded. She accompanied Erika down the long narrow corridor to Charles’s cell. She slid open the hatch and Erika peered inside into the gloom. Charles was curled up in a ball on the small bare bench, snoring gently. He looked fast asleep.
‘See what I said, like a baby,’ whispered the duty officer. ‘He’s my only prisoner tonight, so I’m hoping for a quiet night with a good book.’
‘Was the doctor concerned?’ asked Erika. ‘With his condition and all that?’
‘The schizophrenia? Yes. He’d thrown up all of his meds, so the doctor had to get him to take them again. It was a battle.’
Schizophrenia, thought Erika, and she remembered the pill bottles they’d found in his medicine cabinet with all of the labels ripped off.
‘Did the doctor confirm that he was non-violent?’ asked Erika.
‘Yes. He’s not violent but can become very paranoid. He’s also terrified of technology. The doctor said that during some of his more severe psychosis, he’s ripped out his landline, and he won’t even have a radio in his flat.’
‘I just hope I can still talk to him tomorrow,’ said Erika.
‘The doctor is coming back in the morning, and you must know his brother is the Assistant Commissioner?’
‘Yes.’
‘Between you and me, he’s been pushing the doctor to have him sectioned under the Mental Health Act.’
‘Really,’ said Erika. She looked back at Charles sleeping, and her heart sank. If he was sectioned, and he’d suffered a psychotic episode, then they couldn’t interview him again. And anything he’d already told them in the interview room could be ruled inadmissible.