Chapter Seven

Wednesday 7:30 a.m.

            Jessica sat at a scarred table in an interrogation room in the police station.  Besides the table and two chairs, there was nothing else to break the monotony of the drabness.  She looked at her watch.  It was two minutes later than it was the last time she’d looked.  What was taking so long?  What were they waiting for?  Worried, Jessica was ready to jump out of her skin.

Had Mrs. Turnbull given Ashley breakfast? Maybe. The babysitter could be resentful of requests for any added duties.  But what had the sitter told Ashley about her mother’s absence?  She wished she had specifically told Mrs. Turnbull not to tell Ashley she was being held by the police for questioning or that there had been a robbery at all at the hospital. 

Jessica’s breathing became ragged as she gasped for air.  She became aware of pains that radiated outward all over her chest and through to her back.  Breaking out in a cold sweat, she wondered if she was loosing her mind.  Jessica took several deep breaths to calm herself.

The door to the interrogation room opened, jarring Jessica.  Rick Howard and George Benson came in.  Rick took the chair across from Jessica.

“I want to go over your statement again,” said Detective Howard. 

George paced behind Jessica sighing.  He distracted her from Rick.  She looked back at Howard.  “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I want to go back over your statement again.”  His voice remained calm and steady.  “Just ignore George.”

“How can I?  He’s making me anxious,” she said as she pointed to George.

“He’s just a little upset we have to go over your statement. He thinks you’re lying.”

George slammed his palm down on the table next to Jessica.  “I just wished you’d have told us the truth the first time, so we wouldn’t have to waste our time now.”  He resumed pacing.

“But I did tell the truth.”

“Okay, let’s go over it now.”  Rick remained calm.

“What do you want to know?”

“Now, you said that you had never seen this guy before.  Is that true ?”  Rick leaned toward her with a sneer on his lips.

His change in attitude startled Jessica.  She tried to scoot away.  “No.  I’ve told you.  I’ve never seen that man before.  And my story isn’t going to change, because it’s the truth.”  She formed her words carefully and spoke each separately.

George stopped his pacing and slammed his hand on the table again. George leaned over the table right in her face. “We’re not going to find out he’s one of your old boy friends later are we?” 

“No.”  Tears flowed. Both men backed away surprised at how easily she had broken down.

Rick stood up.  “We’ll leave you alone now.  But we have to talk to the DA’s office to find out what they want to do with you.”

Both men left.  The door clicked closed leaving Jessica alone again.  She wasn’t sure the situation was any better.  She just wanted to go home and forget this had ever happened.

Steve McCormick, assistant district attorney, opened the door to the interrogation room.  Seeing the attractive blonde woman sitting at the table staring up at him was a little unsettling.  No one had described the detainee to him.  He had failed to ask.  The detectives had just told him that they had brought the nurse in because of the stink the security guard had made. The security guard was related to the District Attorney, and threatened to call him if they didn’t do anything about it.  The detectives had ascertained the woman’s innocence, and they hadn’t gotten her to change her story with any further questioning.  Steve looked up from the file.

“Hello.  Jessica Markham?”

“Yes.”

“Now, Ms Markham, you were on duty last night in the emergency room at Jackson Spring’s Medical Center?”

“Yes.”  Jessica sniffled.

“What time did the man come in?”

“Oh, like I said earlier I logged in the ambulance call at 4:20 so it had to be about 4:30 or a little after, her voice faded off.”

“Okay, you described this man as young as in his early twenty’s with brown hair.  You don’t know what his eye color was?”

“No.”  Jessica answered.

“Now, you said that the man was taller than you, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Just how tall are you?”

“Five feet, 3 inches.”

“Can you guess any better how tall the man was?”

“Uhh…..”

Steve looked up at Jessica waiting for her to add to her answer so that it made sense.  There were a hell of a lot of men over 5 feet 3 inches like most of the male population who had been through puberty.  “Okay, were there any features about him that drew your attention?”

“Well, he just seemed too young to have such a full beard.”  Jessica looked at Steve wanting to be helpful, yearning to get out of there.  She had already been over this information earlier.  If she wasn’t so intimidated, she would be impatient.  Well, she was impatient.  To heck with all this.  She hadn’t done anything wrong except for going to work last night.

“Could it have been that the beard was fake?”

“That’s possible.”

Steve put his legal pad down on the table and took a big breath.  He folded his hands together and leaned on them toward Jessica.  “You know, you could be more helpful with a description of this man.  Basically, you have narrowed our search down to any brunette male taller than you with a beard, maybe.  Or maybe not.  Or maybe it could have been fake.  This leaves a large segment of our male population under suspicion.”

Jessica felt trapped and at a loss.  How could she make this assistant district attorney and everyone else understand that she was innocent and a victim?  She was growing increasing weary as the morning wore on.  “Look, the man was behind me most of the time swinging a shotgun around.  I was scared out of my wits and don’t remember much in all the panic and chaos.”

“Okay.”  Steve found himself staring at Jessica, frustrated that she wasn’t the best witness like he had hoped.  “Do you have any questions?”

“May I go home?”

“I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t.”

“Do I get a ride back to my car?”

Steve knew what the police would say to that, no.  “Is your car at the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“You can call a cab. There is a pay phone in the lobby.  The police only give one way rides.”  Steve smiled at Jessica.  Steve opened the interrogation room door and let Jessica out first.

When Jessica got out of the building, she took a deep breath of the fresh air.  The sun pounded down nearly blinding her.  She just hoped that she could sleep when she got home.  Jessica flipped open her cell phone and dialed Kate’s number. She would get a ride home and a shoulder to cry on.