A pang of guilt gripped Jake’s ribcage. ‘I’m sorry, I’m following up on something,’ he said. ‘I’m in Ward 6B.’

‘I’ll come straight up.’

It struck Jake that he had an opportunity here, albeit an ethically debatable one … bugger it. He was on to something and he needed to take advantage of it.

His back still turned to both men, he continued talking into his phone after Meena hung up, edging toward a series of shelves on the wall. He glanced at the two men, who seemed immersed in their conversation with each other. Putting his phone on silent and then voice record, he placed it between piles of magazines on the lowest shelf, making it invisible from the vantage point of Mason’s bed.

Anything his phone recorded would be inadmissible as evidence, but it might help him to ask some more pointed questions. Jake had never admitted to anyone that he used this tactic occasionally, though he assumed other detectives did as well.

‘I need to step outside to speak to one of the doctors,’ he said to Campbell and O’Brien.

‘Sure, sure,’ Campbell waved at him dismissively from his bed.

‘And I’ll need to take a statement from you when I return,’ he said, picking up a magazine from the shelf as he left the room.

‘Not like I’m going anywhere,’ Campbell said.

*

Meena Gill strode up the corridor and flashed him a smile as they met. ‘I wanted to talk to you properly.’

Shame over not having stood up for her in the viewing room prodded Jake’s conscience. ‘Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t tell O’Brien off for …’

‘I got it,’ she cut him off. ‘You needed to take advantage of his surprise.’

‘It was still wrong of me.’

She fixed him with a glare. ‘Let’s move on. It wasn’t just shock at the sight of her hand, was it? He looked more like he’d seen a ghost.’

‘My thoughts exactly.’ Jake hoped O’Brien was on the other side of the wall telling Campbell all about it right now. ‘So, what were you able to find this morning?’

‘I ran Ava O’Brien through a CT scan and yes, she has extensive tissue damage around C4, 5 and 6. Along with the bruising around her neck and petechial haemorrhaging, it looks like she’s been strangled by someone with their bare hands.’

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

District Hospital

Monday, 2.24 p.m.

‘Were there any other injuries that you could see?’ Jake asked Meena.

‘No.’

‘How strong would the person have to be to do that?’

‘She’s quite small with frail bones, so even someone of average strength could cause fractures.’

‘Detective Hunter?’

Max Campbell shuffled toward them down the gleaming corridor floor, carefully holding two foam cups in front of him. Looking past the man’s tanned skin and chiselled jawline, Jake could see the shadow of worry in his eyes.