CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“What happened, Rose?” Jay sat in front of her, his eyes
directly on hers.
“It was an accident….”
“Save the crap for someone who actually gives a damn!
What happened before you sliced her up and threw her
into the scrub like a slaughtered beast..”
“You don’t have to say it like that..”
“Does that offend you, Rose? Don’t you like hearing the
truth about what you did to Tessa Hunt?”
“It wasn’t like that. I told you what happened..”
“So tell me again and again and again if you have to, just
make sure you tell me everything. I want the truth!”
“I have told you the truth,” she spat back at him, her eyes
still fixed intently on his.
Jay couldn’t believe what a tough nut she was to crack.
He had been in this room with her for three hours already
and she still kept rambling on about Tessa death being
an accident. He had already pried one version from Anna.
Now he had to get the other story from Rose.
“I have your counsellor friend down in processing as we
speak, and she was more than happy to spill the goods
on you,” Jay slid his chair back from the table they were
sitting at and stood up. “Seems that you are going down
for murder and there isn’t another soul alive who wants to
help you..”
“Anna?” Rose scoffed. “You can’t believe a word that leaves
that deceitful mouth of hers. I bet she didn’t tell you all
the juicy secrets she has hidden though, did she?”
“Oh you mean about her asking you to perform the after
hours abortion, or her connection with Tessa?”
Rose raised her eyebrows and followed Jay with her
gaze. “Oh, so she did tell you, then?”
“Just to make sure we are on the same page here, you tell
me what you’re talking about,” offered Jay.
A deep laugh escaped Rose. “So you really don’t know, do
you, Detective? You think I am stupid enough to fall for
that trick?”
“Don’t play games with me,” threatened Jay. “I’ve been in
this game almost as long as you’ve been killin’ babies..”
She shifted in her seat and pursed her lips.
“Fine, have it your way,” Jay continued. “I can see how
much you care about solving Marla’s murder..”
“You leave my daughter out of this. She has nothing to do
with Tessa..”
“Are you sure about that? She was murdered almost
identically to Tessa and Kylie-Anne. How do I know you
didn’t kill her, too?”
“I had nothing to do with those killings….”
“You better start giving me some information, and bloody
quick. I have absolutely no qualms with pinning
everything on you. In fact….” he paused to look her up and
down. “I’d really enjoy watching you spend the rest of your
miserable existence behind bars..”
She thought about his words and fiddled briefly with her
hair. Straightening the two combs on either side of her
head. “Marla had nothing to do with Tessa’s death. She
just happened to turn up at the clinic at the wrong time.
Anna had phoned me and asked a personal favour of
me….”
“What was that?”
“She wanted me to perform Tessa’s termination right
away. She offered me a great sum of money and said she
would stay until it was done to drive Tessa back home..”
“Why didn’t you say no?”
“I live in the real world, Detective. Money is everything and
my clinic drained on my funds heavily. Believe it or not,
there are a lot more expenses than you think to run that
place..”
“Get on with it, I don’t want your hard luck story,” Jay
blurted out.
Rose glared at him before continuing. “The long and the
short of it is, it’s much more profitable to perform illegally
than it is to perform legally. I can make, in one after hour’s
termination, what I would make in three properly
scheduled procedures. Why would I say no?”
“You risked people’s lives for a few extra dollars? How
many others have you accidentally killed in your career
Rose?”
“None! Tessa was the only one.”
“How can I believe you? You have told so many lies it’s
hard to know when you’re telling the truth. I’m beginning
to think you don’t even know what the truth is!” He walked
back to the table and stood before her again. “Tell me
what happened with Tessa..”
Rose sighed, inspected her fingernails and then turned
back to him. “She had some kind of allergic reaction to
powder on my gloves..”
“What? Come on Rose, even you can do better than that..”
“Well, it must have been the gloves. I hadn’t even
administered the anaesthetic yet and she began gasping
and writhing around. All I’d done up until then was hold
an oxygen mask over her face. So unless she was allergic
to pure air. It must have been something to do with the
gloves. I’m guessing the powder they’re coated with..”
Jay stared at her, it all seemed so simple for her to
explain away a woman’s death. “Then what happened?"
“Anna was in the waiting room when Marla showed up.
She’d forgotten her keys for our weekend house out at
Postman’s Bay. She had driven out there for the weekend,
only to get there and find she had forgotten to grab the
keys from the office. I always keep a spare set there,” Rose
wiped her hands across her face and continued with her
story. “Marla freaked when she found out what I was doing
and stormed into the procedure room as I was trying to
revive Tessa. The C.P.R. wasn’t working and I was frantic
with panic..”
“Where was Anna at this time?”
“I saw her standing in the doorway behind Marla. She took
one look at Tessa and fled. I ran after her and told her I
would take care of everything. I made her swear to keep
her mouth shut or I would tell of her involvement in the
whole thing..”
“What did she do?” Jay kept the questions coming.
“What do you think she did? She kept her mouth shut
just like the rest of us did. She had just as much to lose
as me..”
“What role did Marla play in all of this?”
“Marla?” she laughed. “She played no role. She was more
of a hinderance than a help. All she did was cry and panic
and then cry some more. Little Miss Goody Two Shoes
wanted to call the cops and come clean with the accident
right away. I told her to bring my car to the back entrance
and then leave.”
Jay desperately wanted a cigarette.
“So, Marla had no idea what you had planned to do with
the body?”
“No, I instructed her to go home and give me the keys to
the weekender. After she left, I wheeled Tessa out to the
car and drove to Postman’s Bay.”
“And that’s where you took to her with a hack saw
or
some other serrated tool and cut her up?”
Rose nodded her head.
“How could you do that?” He looked at her. Her head was
bowed, looking down at the desk. “It’s one thing to try
and hide a body, but it’s another thing altogether when
you slice off their breasts and rip their guts open!”
“You make it sound so cruel and evil,” she began.
“Sound? It doesn’t just sound cruel and evil, Rose. It is!”
“But she was already dead. I was only trying to throw
police off the trail. I’m not a monster, Detective.”
Jay’s jaw nearly hit the ground. He couldn’t believe what
he was hearing. This woman was obviously cracked. She
had commit-ted one of the most horrendous acts of
violence and depravity he had ever seen on another
human being, and she was sitting there as though he
had accused her of stealing an apple.
“Anna is the one you should be after, not me.”
“How on earth do you arrive at that conclusion?” He
couldn’t believe her.
“She was the one who pushed me to do the damn
termination immediately, all for her precious….”
“Her precious what, Rose?” Jay wanted to hear the words
from her mouth.
She tilted her head towards him and smiled the most
chilling smile he had ever seen. “All for her precious
daughter! Tessa was her daughter.” She then looked
around the room and with her gaze back on Jay, she
said, “I think now would be a good time for a solicitor.”
Jay stared at the woman in front of him. Everything
about her screamed madness. Her words and actions and
her sheer lack of understanding of the act she had
committed. He turned and left the room.
“How did you go with her?” an officer just outside the door
asked.
“That is one cracked unit,” he blurted out. “If she ain’t a
candidate for the nut house, I dunno who is!”
The officer stared blankly at him and said, “Should I take
her to bookings now?”
“Yeah, and call her solicitor when you’re done.”