Page 78 of The Good Sister

Detective Brookes sits in the seat that Dr Aston just vacated and pulls out a small notebook and pen. ‘I like your bracelet,’ she says, bizarrely. I can only deduce that making small talk helps perps to ‘talk’. ‘Is that a bush engraved on there?’

‘A fern,’ I correct. ‘Because that’s my name.’

‘It’s lovely. The name and the bracelet.’

We stare at each other for a moment.

‘Congratulations, by the way,’ Detective Brookes says. ‘I hear you had a baby girl. Where is she?’

‘She’s in the paediatric wing,’ I tell her. ‘With my sister.’

Detective Brookes looks surprised. ‘Why isn’t she in here with you?’

I frown. ‘Because I kidnapped her. Didn’t you hear?’

Detective Brookes sits back in her chair. ‘You kidnapped your own child?’

I nod. ‘At least that’s what my sister is telling people.’

‘I wonder why she’d say that.’ She gives me a long assessing stare. ‘Why don’t you tell me a little about your sister?’

The question is too broad. I can’t even begin to narrow it, so I just pluck random facts out of my mind, as if from a hat. ‘She’s the same age as me.’

‘Oh. You’re twins?’

‘Fraternal twins. And we are very different. She’s short, and I’m tall. She has no sensory issues, but I do. She’s diabetic, and I’m not.’

The detective writes on her notepad. ‘Are you close?’

‘I’m not sure. I don’t know where the paediatric wing is.’

She smiles. ‘What I mean is . . . do you spend a lot of time together?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘And she is . . . a good sister?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s . . . kind? Does nice things for you?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘And other times?’

I throw up my hands. ‘I don’t know. She’s just Rose, okay?’

I’m frustrated by this conversation. I just want my baby. I’m not sure what Rose being a good sister has to do with anything.

The detective nods. ‘I understand your mother passed away very recently,’ she says, taking the conversation in another strange direction. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. The hospital staff indicated that you visit weekly.’

‘You’ve spoken to Sun Meadows? Why?’

‘Just part of our investigation. Your mother’s cause of death isn’t clear, so we just wanted to check up on a few things. We understand that your sister hadn’t visited in a very long time until she went the night before your mother died. Why was that? Didn’t she have a good relationship with your mother?’

‘Rose?’ I laugh. ‘She didn’t have a relationship with Mum at all.’

‘She never spoke with her?’