*a big group hug for all the reviewers* Thank you guys :) You are amazing!

And yes, Clara is hiding something. Maybe it will finally come to light during her interview?

Chapter 27

Clara was already waiting in the interview room when they entered, nervously twiddling her thumbs on the table. When John and Kate stepped inside, her hands vanished under the table and Clara looked up, a soft smile appearing on her lips when she spotted him, and she shot him a look of relief.

"Hello, Miss Oswald," Kate greeted her and sat down on the opposite side of the table without further ado while Clara uttered a hello in response.

John also pulled up a chair, but not without smiling at Clara one more time. "Hello," he said softly. No matter how much she had claimed that the prospect of giving a statement didn't make her nervous, right now, John knew that it clearly wasn't true. Clara was obviously uncomfortable being here.

"Hi," she breathed in reply and despite hating the circumstances, she was still smiling back at him.

Yet Kate hardly gave them any time to settle down before she began with her questions and her tone of voice was borderline hostile as she explained that their conversation would be recorded. John had never been great with manners, but even he could tell that his boss wasn't being nearly as friendly as she could be and sadly, he knew why that was. It was all his fault.

"Okay, let's start with Bonnie Moore," Kate concluded once the formalities were out of the way. "Did you know her?"

Clara shook her head.

"Please, answer aloud for the recording," his boss reminded her.

John was about to open his mouth when Clara's voice suddenly filled the room. "No, I didn't know her," she replied, her hands moving, fidgeting underneath the table. He could only imagine what it must feel like to repeat her statement for what must have felt like the twentieth time when she had only just learned of her sister's existence and death.

"Can you tell me what happened surrounding the Bonnie Moore case?"

Clara inhaled deeply and glanced towards John as if looking for his guidance. He gave a soft nod, indicating she should continue. "I, uh, you stormed my house because you thought I was the dead woman you had found," she said eventually and at last, John could hear a hint of defiance in her voice. "I came to the station to look at the body, but I didn't recognise her. I gave you my DNA and then John, that is, Detective Inspector Smith, told me that we were related."

"And did the news surprise you?" Kate wanted to know.

In response, Clara frowned at her as if she didn't quite understand the question.

"What did you feel when DI Smith brought you the news of your sister's death?" his boss elaborated. "Anger? Sadness? Grief? Surprise?"

Still, Clara hesitated and John didn't really understand why that was, why she didn't just tell Kate what was going on in her head. Clara hadn't seemed to mind sharing it with him.

"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "I don't think I really grasped it at first. I mean, I was an only child for over 30 years. It took a while to sink in."

"And what did you feel when it sank in?"

There was a harshness in Kate's voice that, even though John knew where it came from, he still couldn't quite understand. Even if Clara was a suspect in Kate's eyes, that didn't mean she had to be downright rude. "Kate, is this really relevant?"

She shushed him quickly and turned her attention back towards Clara. His boss wouldn't stop until she had received all the answers she wanted.

"I suppose I felt angry at my father for a bit, but mainly, I just don't know what I'm supposed to feel," Clara admitted. "I didn't know Bonnie. I didn't even know she existed. I know I should probably be sad and I think it's not fair that she died so young, but even if we share the same DNA, I just don't feel connected to her in any way. Maybe in a few months or years, I'll start to regret that I never got the chance to know my twin, but right now, there's just nothing."

"There," John said and lifted his hands towards Clara, his eyes fixed on Kate, "you got your answer. You can let her go now."

"Not so fast," Kate said. John uttered a groan. How long would she keep up this pointless interview for? "Did you know that Bonnie was carrying a note with your address when her body was found?"

She nodded in reply. "Yes, John told me about that," Clara explained. "But I don't know why she had it."

"And where were you the night before Bonnie's body was found?"

Clara was clearly taken aback by the question and it didn't take a detective to know that right now, from Kate's point of view, Clara was still a suspect despite the answers she had already given.

"Okay, is that really necessary?!" John demanded to know, looking right at his boss. She ignored him.

"I was at home," Clara replied, frowning towards Kate. "Marking your daughter's homework."

"Can anyone confirm that?"

Clara's confusion turned into anger in an instant and before John knew what was happening, Clara hissed at his boss. "I live in a house. Alone. In the middle of nowhere. You know very well that no one can confirm it!"

"We found bootprints on the coastline," Kate went on, undeterred by Clara's reaction, "women's shoes in a size 5. They matched Bonnie's shoe size, but not the shoes she was wearing when she died. Given that you and your sister are very much alike, I'd say you wear the same size shoes."

"I go for a walk there sometimes," Clara replied defensively, yet John wasn't interested in what Clara had to say for herself right now.

He turned towards Kate. "You found bootprints? You never told me about that!"

Her head shot around and she outright glared at him. "It seems we're even now," she remarked and then focused on Clara again. "What about Ciaran O'Neill?"

Now, Clara was frowning again. "That's the man who approached me in the hardware shop, isn't it?"

"Do you know him?" his boss wanted to know, her voice sharp. John was becoming increasingly impatient with the way Kate was treating Clara.

She hesitated before she replied, taking a couple of deep breaths. "No," she replied eventually. Just for a second, her eyes didn't meet his or Kate's. Clara looked away and John knew she was lying. He didn't know why. He didn't think it was related to the case. But nevertheless, Clara was lying and if he could tell, so could Kate.

"Are you sure?" his boss demanded to know, bending forward just a little to get a closer look at Clara.

In response, she sighed heavily. "How much longer is this going to take?" Clara asked exasperatedly.

"Just one more question," Kate replied and straightened her back. If John didn't know better, he would have thought she looked almost smug. "Tell us about Danny Pink."

John didn't know what exactly he was seeing in Clara's eyes; there were too many emotions at once and he found it hard to tell them apart. There was anger in the way she glowered at Kate, there was also a profound sadness and when she rose from her seat, John felt genuinely surprised by the reaction to a simple name. He had no idea what to make of it.

"We're done here," she announced and spun around on her heels. Clara had left the interview room before John even had the chance to stop her.