Roy leaned over the back of the sofa, handing Carla a mug of tea
"Ta, Roy," she whispered hoarsely. It had been hours since she had been released from the police station.
Four hours.
She'd been questioned for four hours before finally being released; and that was just the finale of one hell of an ordeal since she was placed in the back of the cop car on Victoria Street.
She shifted slightly as a shudder ran through her; she had been stripped and photographed at the station, given a change of clothes while hers had been bagged and tagged for evidence. She luckily had been placed in a room with two female officers, both wearing gloves, as they photographed various parts of her in her jeans, her top, her jacket and her boots. And as her clothing was removed piece by piece she couldn't help but place her hands protectively over her exposed stomach. She took the jumper and pants the officers had given her and slid them on, before being escorted back to the cell for a few hours of rest before being called and walked into the interrogation room, where her lawyer and two detectives had sat awaiting her arrival.
Four hours later, she'd been allowed a phone call, and for a moment she thought about calling Peter; he had been in a right state when he arrived at the scene by the builder's yard; angry that he wasn't allowed near his visibly shaken and terrified wife, and helpless as he watched her being hauled off in the back of a cop car. She thought of calling him and putting his mind at rest, but in her exhausted state she knew she just couldn't deal with her estranged husband right now; not with his mistress lying in a coma in hospital and her being blamed for it. And so without hesitating any longer, she dialled her brother's mobile number.
Michelle and Rob had met her at the station with a change of clothes and shoes. She barely remembered getting changed in the small cell, barely remembered being walked out of the station; but as the car turned onto Victoria Street, as they passed the builder's yard with police tape still cordoning off the area where Tina's body lay hours prior, where cop cars lined the street in front of it, the numbness she had felt since she arrived at the station was quickly replaced with nausea.
Michelle saw it coming; saw her best friend gag and lurch forward, and quickly shoved the plastic bag that had earlier held Carla's change of clothes under the factory boss's face. Carla grasped at the bag as she threw up the only liquid she had left in her stomach into it. Rob had glanced over his shoulder, asking her if she was okay as she continued to dry heave painfully into the bag, while Michelle held her hair in a makeshift ponytail and caressed her back. The moment the car stopped in front of the cafe, Carla closed her eyes and leaned her head against the seat; steadying her breath shakily before stepping out of the vehicle. As she walked into the main doors of Roy's Rolls, clutching the plastic bag awkwardly in her hand, she could hear Norris whisper how it was an injustice that she had been let out to wander the streets while Tina was fighting for her life in hospital. Anna had thrown a biting remark at him, before opening the flat door for Carla, offering her a sympathetic smile as she did so. After being fussed over by Michelle and Roy, and practically being force fed toast by the pair of them, she managed to escape briefly to have a shower. Where she normally would allow her hair to dry naturally, she craved the extra time to herself in the bathroom, and used the hair dryer to dry and tame her hair before coming back out to the main area. Noting that Michelle and Rob had both gone, she sat on the couch in her sweatpants, vest, and sweat jacket, mindlessly staring as show after show aired on the television in front of her for hours, before accepting the tea Roy had handed to her.
"How are you feeling?" Roy asked as he tentatively sat down next to her.
Carla pressed her lips together and nodded stiffly, "better than I was hours ago, I suppose," she answered softly, "Roy, I just can't get me head round it..."
"I know," he nodded, "I feel much the same."
She took a sip of her tea, her tongue darting along her top lip to catch the remaining liquid there before glancing uneasily to the cafe owner, whose eyes were fixed upon the wall straight ahead of him. "Roy?" she began shakily, "I-I umm-"
"I know, Carla," he interrupted her quietly
She couldn't help but swallow nervously, "know what?" she whispered
Roy turned his focus to her, his kind eyes staring warmly into hers, "that you didn't do it," he responded firmly, offering her a small smile as he did
Carla exhaled, her eyes lining with tears as she nodded, glancing down to the mug in her hands, "I think you might be in the minority there, Roy."
"Well, truth stands on one side and ease on the other," the cafe owner said, "it is unfortunate, but the side that holds truth is often less enticing than the side of ease and therefore often has less support," he waited for Carla to raise her gaze back to him before continuing, "but popularity does not equate fact. And as an insightful Buddhist teaching says: 'three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.'"
Carla nodded, her eyes lowering again to her tea, "Well, the only thing that will reveal the truth is currently lying in a coma in Weatherfield General," she sighed, "to be honest Roy, even if Tina does wake up from it, whose to say she'll tell the truth herself?"
"Why would you think she wouldn't?"
Carla shrugged, "she hates me," she responded softly, "she told Peter that she would do whatever it takes to make sure I would hurt as much as she was," she closed her eyes and sighed, "what if she says it were me just to stick the boot in to Peter? Or to get me out of the way...?"
"Carla," Roy shifted in his seat so he was facing her, "even if that were to occur, you were here with Peter and myself last night. You went to see her because you felt sympathy for her after the lies Peter told her about not wanting a baby," he carefully reached out and touched her hand, "You did not leave in anger or rage. And I already gave that account to the officers last night, as well as earlier this morning when I was called in for questioning. As will Peter."
Carla grasped the cafe owner's hand in hers, "I appreciate that, Roy," her voice cracked, "I really, really do, but," she exhaled shakily, "but them coppers, they are already implying that Tina and I got into it on the balcony. They implied that even if I did go over calmly to speak to her - which they made clear that they don't believe, by the way - that something must have happened that angered me and I pushed her," She shook her head and looked up towards the ceiling, "I were seen by Leanne and Kal on that balcony, while Tina lay below on the ground. As far as the police are concerned that's practically me entering a guilty plea. They're going to make it out that it were me, I know it," she opened her tear-filled eyes and locked eyes with him, "I can feel it..."
"Carla-" Roy began softly but was interrupted by the buzzer. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and stood up to answer the intercom as Carla quickly brushed away the tears that had fallen down her face.
"Uhh, Carla, it's Peter and Rob," Roy called gently to her, "would you like me to let them up?"
Carla nodded, "Yeah, that's fine, Roy." She reached forward and placed her mug on the coffee table, ensuring she placed it on a coaster before turning to see Peter rush into the flat, and envelope her in his arms.
"Thank god," he whispered as he held her head lovingly against him, before pulling back and holding her face between his palms, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Peter," she responded, easing out of his embrace.
"Are you sure?" he asked, his eyes scanning her body from top to bottom, "what about the-" he glanced nervously to her stomach
"We're fine, Peter," she sighed, grasping his hand and squeezing it reassuringly, "honestly, the baby's fine, okay?"
"Well, what happened?" he asked, "at the station, what did the police say?"
Carla shrugged, "kept me up half the night; took my clothes for testing and questioned me for hours. They've let me go pending further inquiries," she responded, her eyes lowering to his hand that she still had not let go of, "how about you?"
Peter nodded, "Yeah, I just got back from giving my statement," he leaned forward and cupped her cheek with his hand, "Carla, what happened when you got to Tina's?"
Carla shook her head as though in a trance, "I dunno," she whispered, "I umm, I got to the door, and it were slightly open," Rob stood in the kitchen, his hands gripping the back of one of the chairs; guilt washing over him in waves as he listened to his sister's breaking voice, "I called out to her but she didn't answer so I went in. I looked everywhere in the flat but she weren't there, and then i saw the balcony door was open so I went out there. And when she wasn't there either I was just about to head out when I looked down and saw her, just lying there on the ground...the blood was all around her head..." her eyes filled with tears as she looked into Peter's, and her lip trembled as she began to shake, "I didn't do owt, I swear, I didn't touch her-"
Peter grasped her hands in his and raised them to his lips, "I know," he whispered planting soft kisses along her trembling fingers, "I know you didn't,"
"Norris thinks I did it," she said, "he's not exactly the only one is he?"
"Look anyone who really knows you wouldn't believe that for a second," Rob stated
"Yeah, well it's what the police think that counts,"
"look you're innocent! Look, all they've got is circumstantial evidence and guesswork," Rob assured her as he sat next to her, "nothing more."
"People have been convicted for less, Rob,"
"Well, the police have only suspected you because they've got nowt else to go on yet," he responded, before the sound of the buzzer sliced through the flat once more.
"I'll get it," Roy stated quietly
Carla sighed, closing her eyes briefly in apparent defeat, "whoever that is, would you just tell them I've gone to bed please, Roy?"
"Hello?" Roy said into the receiver, "oh, yes, come-come up." He pressed the buzzer and hung up the receiver
"Who were that, Roy?" Peter asked, noting how Carla had gone visibly pale next to him
Roy looked sympathetically at Carla, "it's the police, they need to speak to you," he stated
Carla visibly sat up straight, her face awash with panic as the footfalls made their way up the stairs.
Rob immediately moved in front of her as she rose unsteadily to her feet, "you've done nothing wrong, okay?" he began to instruct her, "so they've got nothing concrete," Carla crossed her arms over her chest, her body shaking slightly as she listened to her brother's words, "you just need to keep your head, okay?"
Roy opened the door to the flat, as the two officers walked past him and into the common area. Carla took a shaky breath, feeling Peter stand behind her and resting his hands protectively upon her shoulders.
"What can I do for you?" she asked the officers as they came to stand almost directly in front of her
"Carla Barlow? I'm arresting you on suspicion of assault," the officer began
Rob felt his knees go weak, and he turned his back on the officer as he continued to speak, "you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you don't mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court," Carla met her brother's eyes fearfully, "anything you do say, may be given in evidence."
"No you've got it wrong," Peter stated,
"Mr. Barlow, we do not need to remind you the seriousness of impeding police inquiries..."
"But she didn't do anything-" Peter continued to protest
"Pe'er," Carla breathed out, shaking her head, "don't..." She reached down and picked up her purse and began walking out with the officers
"Stop!"
Carla and the officers turned slowly to see Rob standing wide-eyed and tearful, his eyes fixed on his sister
"Sir," the female officer warned him thinly
"Rob, please -" she whispered, "I'll be okay,"
"No please, you don't understand,"
"Sir, I'm not going to ask you again-" the officer threatened, grasping Carla by the elbow and steering her once more towards the door
"No! It were me!" Rob shouted
The flat fell heavily silent as all eyes turned back on him a mix of shock and confusion
"It were me. I was there when she fell off the balcony. But it were an accident, I swear..." He locked his tear-filled eyes onto his sister's, "Carla, I'm so sorry..."