Free Blood Tracks by Paula Rawsthorne

burglary. He will have looked into all this.”
    “But he doesn’t understand; you really need to take over.”
    “I certainly can’t take over another officer’s investigation, but if it will put your mind at rest, I’ll give him a call. What’s his name?”
    Gina gave the officer’s name and watched Constable Rogers disappear to make the call.
    Gina sat chewing her nails in the hot, stuffy room. Beads of sweat started to form on her forehead as she waited.
    Constable Rogers returned, his face a mixture of annoyance and concern. “It seems that you haven’t been straight with me. The officer gave me a very different perspective on your facts . He explained the situation and said he won’t be pursuing any further enquiries, and neither will I. Listen, Gina, you know that I was part of the investigation into your dad’s death. But the inquest gave you a verdict, and in my view, it was the correct one.”
    “No it wasn’t!” Gina cried. “There’s other things that don’t add up and they all involve Tom Cotter.”
    “Go on,” the constable said impatiently.
    “Well, only Tom Cotter says that my dad was depressed. No one else noticed!”
    “People can hide depression,” he answered firmly.
    “But then Tom lied about the last time he spoke to my dad.”
    “But he didn’t lie, did he? He forgot.”
    “That’s what he said when the coroner found him out. Tom said he was checking up on my dad, but he couldn’t have been, because he was winding Dad up so much. He wasn’t helping him at all.”
    “Gina, this is just your word against Mr. Cotter’s.”
    “Then there’s the burglary and Tom and that man,” she continued, undeterred.
    The constable puffed out his cheeks. “Haven’t we just established that is all unsubstantiated? It seems to me that you’re twisting things to fit in with your belief that your dad didn’t kill himself. So what are you saying, Gina? Do you think your father’s death was suspicious?”
    Gina was taken aback for a moment. Her mouth went dry. “Yes…yes, I suppose I am,” she whispered. She’d had the thought at the back of her mind all this time, but somehow saying it out loud made it seem real – and terrifying.
    “Okay, so in that case, do you believe that your dad was attacked on the bridge that night?” He sounded like he was interrogating her.
    Gina stumbled around in her head looking for coherent thoughts.
    “Maybe…I’m not sure.”
    “You either believe he was or he wasn’t,” he said. “And who would want to attack your dad?”
    “Nobody would want to attack him. Everybody loved him.”
    “So do you think Tom Cotter attacked him?”
    “No! Of course not,” she protested. “But I think he knows something about what happened.”
    “Well, at least you don’t think the man is a killer.” The constable sounded sarcastic. “Especially as he was in Glasgow when your father died. So who was it, Gina? Who was this attacker ?”
    Gina gnawed at her nails, stress tensing her whole body. “I don’t know, maybe it was a mugging that went wrong.”
    “But nothing was stolen from him and the bridge road is a dead end and you didn’t see anyone else there. So I think we can rule out an attack, don’t you?”
    “But he didn’t kill himself. He wouldn’t do that!”
    There was a heavy silence before the constable said gently, “There are no grounds for your suspicions and, on top of all that, how do you explain the text he sent, asking you to forgive him?”
    “I don’t know,” Gina replied in a whisper.
    “Gina, listen to me, you are still upset. You’re clutching at straws. The inquest found that your dad was depressed. It’s tragic, but sometimes people kill themselves when they’re depressed. The investigation and the inquest have given you the answer. I’m sorry.”
    He opened the door and Gina slowly walked out, feeling like she’d been punched in the stomach.

As time passed Gina continued to contact Constable Rogers, insisting