CHAPTER 16:

Derek stood up, giving one last look to Julia who seemed completely in another world. He walked to the door of the hospital room and opened it. He leaned over the doorway and looked at the officers waiting patiently in the hallway, their eyes completely darkened. And he understood perfectly why they looked so morose. Detective William Murdoch was their colleague. They were all from Station 4 and the least we could say was that they had not been happy to learn that their officer had been found on the ground, in the middle of the street, stained with blood and the flank torn.

"You can come in…"

He then saw Chief Inspector Brackenreid, a man with flaming red hair, walking up to the bedroom with more than a determined step. He nodded to Derek and walked unceremoniously into the bedroom, followed by two uniformed officers.

The chief inspector approached Julia and looked at her. His eyes softened slightly when he saw the distress she was in. He took a chair that was in the room near the only study desk and placed it in front of the bed. He sat there quietly while the two officers remained behind him, in the background, notebooks and pens in hand.

"Doctor Ogden… You need to tell us what happened to you…"

"William works with you?" she asked suddenly.

Thomas raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew that the two young men had been found glued to each other, but he thought it was because of fatigue and their injuries. Did they know each other?

"Why are you interested in Detective Murdoch?" Thomas asked curiously.

The young woman shook her head and Thomas quickly realized that she did not want to talk about that. And that was not what he was there for. He was sitting here to figure out what happened. Was there an attack?

"Please…" he leaned a little towards the doctor. "You have to tell us what happened…"

The young woman took a deep breath and looked at every face around her. She could see that they were all so impatient, curious, and worried to know what had happened to them both.

"I... Yesterday I was at the Weston's' reception..." the young woman started trying to make her voice a little less scared. "Everything was going well then… I went to the restroom and heard gunshots. I hid in a cabin and waited. I heard someone come into the room and they almost found me. But he was called by another man…"

Julia took a deep breath. She looked at the chief inspector who was looking at her with concern. She began to speak hastily, panic overflowing in her voice. She continued.

"When he left, I got out and managed to reach another room. I was in the mansion for I don't know how long... I ran into William and finally we saw each other separate when one of the men almost found us. I…I…" her voice trailed off suddenly, remembering the panic she had felt that William had not been able to get out of it.

"I stepped over the corpses of my friends…"

An overwhelming silence fell in the room. Thomas remained unmoved although very worried to hear all this story.

"I found myself in one room, then another, then another… I arrived upstairs, then in a bathroom. And I found a window ajar. The only exit… All the other windows were closed and the exit doors too."

The young woman lowered her head. She did not know what to say about what happened next. She did not know if she should tell everything...

"Then I jumped…"

"What? William had already managed to get out. Did you find him on the way? He was hurt… how is that possible?" Thomas asked suddenly.

"I… Yes… Well, no, he arrived after…"

"And you both left for the city..." Thomas nodded unconvincedly. "I don't think you're telling me everything."

Julia lowered her head. What did they want her to tell them?

"Does it really matter…?" She looked up at Derek, who was in the back of the room, his arms crossed, his eyes dry with concern.

"Please… We must have all the elements…"

"Well…" she hesitated. "When I found the window open…I left…"

"What? But why? You could have escaped!" wondered Derek who lost his temper easily.

"Please, Doctor Tresco. You stay calm or else you walk out." Thomas quickly got impatient.

He glanced at the nurse who was standing silently in the corner of the room to check that she had nothing to say either. But she just seemed to be listening intently.

"I…I didn't want to leave William!" Julia snapped. "He was all alone in the mansion, so no! It was impossible. I went back to get him, and I thought he was…I thought he was…" the young woman stopped mid-sentence. "I looked for him for hours, okay! And I couldn't find him!"

"Calm down… Don't get agitated… Everything is fine now…"

Brackenreid turned to meet the bewildered looks of Henry Higgins and George Crabtree. Was this woman the lover of their inspector? It was so amazing. Beyond the fact that she was gorgeous and known for not doing things by halves – yes Thomas had heard of the young woman – she seemed very fiery for a man like William. This man always stuck up, strict, never a hair askew and all the rest. Why had they never heard of this relationship at the Station? They must have seen it. His employees looked like gossips.

Julia swallowed. "I found him. Finally, he found me. We both went back up to the bathroom, but we ran into one of the killers. Apparently, there were three. William pulled him to one side as I jumped out the window and then he jumped himself, but the man shot him. Then I pulled him into some bushes and tried to bandage his wound. We walked for hours until we reached the city and the rest you know…"

Thomas nodded, distressed… If what the young woman said was true, it meant that there were certainly no survivors at this party. The families should be notified, the bodies found and identified.

He shivered as he looked at George Crabtree who seemed in the same state as him. They were both supposed to be at this party. They could have died there...

Now the priority was getting back to Weston Manor, despite the late hour of the day. Would they find the killers there? Where would they have already fled? If so, it would be catastrophic.

Thomas nodded to Julia and thanked her. He asked her to rest but she seemed to want nothing more than news about William's condition.

Note: Thanks for reading! Feel free to write me a comment, even in private.