Poetic Justice

5-2

“IT’S SHOCK,” DOC KELLY said once he had finished his examination of Constable Johnson, who had been guided away from the counter and down the passage to the office. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s been brought on by this morning’s events.” He sighed heavily. “It seems as though everyone in the village, no matter what their connection, has been affected by what Kieran has done. I’ve been getting calls almost non-stop since news of what happened at the farm started going around the village.

“Most of the calls have been people wanting reassurance, and confirmation that what they’ve heard is either true or false, depending on who called, but, Melissa....” he hesitated for a moment. “Inspector Stevens has had a heart attack. It wasn’t a major one, at least it didn’t appear to be when I examined him, but Irene has taken him to hospital.”

“Christ!” Melissa swore. “What the hell am I supposed to do now? If both the inspector and Adrian are out of action, I’m the only officer left in the village. Well, the only one here for the village rather than here to deal with this morning’s mess.”

“Adrian will be fine, he just needs a bit of time to get over the shock,” Kelly said confidently. “I’m sure you can call your superiors in town and get some help in the meantime.” He doubted the chief inspector, or whoever’s job it was to make such a decision, would leave Melissa to look after the village on her own, especially when she was only a constable. He considered her as capable as any other police officer, but that didn’t mean she didn’t need guidance from a more senior officer.

“I’ll give them a call if anything comes up that I need help with,” Melissa said. “To be honest, though, I think with Kieran in custody — she had no intention of being the one who allowed panic to spread through Oakhurst by revealing that Kieran had escaped custody in town — everything is going to settle down. We didn’t have much in the way of crime to deal with before the murders started, and I’m sure it’s going to go back to that now they’re over.”

“I hope you’re right, Melissa, I really do.”

The phone on the counter chose that moment to ring and both Melissa and the doctor spun towards it. They looked at the phone and then at each other, both wondering what trouble the call heralded. It was a few seconds before either of them moved.

“Oakhurst Police Station, Constable Turner speaking, how can I help?” Melissa answered the phone. She fervently hoped that the call was nothing more than an inquiry about the morning’s events from someone who wanted an official answer rather than gossip.

“Constable, it’s Miles Hewitt from the Jameson Stables.”

“Yes, sir, what can I do for you?” Melissa knew, even before she got an answer to her question, that Miles Hewitt had not called for information on what had taken place at the Wright farm. The owner of the largest horse stables, stud and riding school in the area had little interest in the village, or what happened there, the only things he cared for were horses and making money.

“We’ve had some vandalism,” Hewitt said. “I’d like an officer to come out and take a look at it.”

Melissa was tempted to say that it would have to wait, that she was on her own and was too busy. She quickly realised that she couldn’t do that, though; no matter the situation in the village, she had a responsibility to deal with any and all crimes that occurred there. “Sure, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She took a few details and then ended the call as quickly as decency allowed.

“Is everything alright?” Kelly asked. As human as the next person, he could not help being curious about the phone call, and whether it had any bearing on what had happened that morning.

Melissa grimaced. “Problem at the Jameson Stables,” she said, setting the phone to forward all calls to her mobile, in case there should be any other problems requiring her attention. “It doesn’t sound too serious, but I’m going to have to go and deal with it. Would you mind taking care of Adrian for me?”

Kelly nodded. “Of course. I’ll take him home and get him settled. He’ll snap out of it soon enough, I’m sure. He just needs some time.”

Melissa had to wait for the doctor to guide her fellow constable out of the station, so she could lock up, before she was able to head off to the Jameson stables. Even then she couldn’t go straight there, she had to head home first to collect her car, and on the way, she had to call Zack to let him know what was going on and make sure everything was alright with Tara.