Alison led Diane and Smithy into the living room so they could talk further. She sat down opposite the two officers looking shaken.
"What do you mean you've arrested him" she snapped, the initial shock being replaced by anger
"We have sufficient evidence to believe that Joshua was responsible for the attack of a young woman that left her hospitalised"
"Well you must be mistaken" Alison sneered "Just like the police always are"
"Please try and take this seriously Miss Ritchie" Smithy said trying to control his anger "A woman was very nearly beaten to death because of your boyfriend"
"Who?" Alison said suddenly looking very interested
"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information"
Anna just clicked her tongue in annoyance and stood up "Well I'm not going to answer any more questions then"
"Does the name Anna Campbell mean anything to you?" Diane said trying to get the woman to give them any information that could help them bring justice to Anna and Jake
Alison turned round with an angry snarl "That little bitch" she snapped "Is she the one who got attacked?" and Diane nodded "Good then she got what she deserved"
"Do you mean to say that you believe an innocent woman deserved to nearly get killed?" Smithy said with a look of disgust on his face
"This is all her fault" Alison turned away angrily from them "He promised me…" she muttered darkly
"What do you mean?" Diane said
"Like I'm going to tell you" she spat
"Alison please" Diane said gently "Anna has been badly hurt and it's going to take her a while to get back to good health again, do you not think she deserves some justice?"
"She ruined all that I and Josh had, he was obsessed with her he, all he spoke about was how he was going to make Anna pay" Alison sighed as she realised she said more than she meant to give away
"Go on…" Smithy said looking suddenly intrigued
"He was determined to hurt Anna for putting him in prison….he despised her, Josh kept on saying that she'd ruined his life because she couldn't keep her mouth shut and the he said he was going to make sure she never would again"
"And what did you say to all of this?"
"I hated her for it, she was the only thing no his mind when it should have been me!" Alison yelled
"Were you involved in Anna's attack?" Diane said looking worried but Alison stayed silent knowing she had already said too much
Smithy said, this case just kept getting deeper and more violent "Alison Ritchie I am arresting you on suspicion of assisting an assault, you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say will be given in evidence" he reeled off as Alison was led away in handcuffs
…………………………………………………………………………………………
A short while later the two officers had led Alison into the interview room determined to find out the truth
"Alison, were you involved in the attack of Anna Campbell?" Smithy said bluntly but Alison just stayed silent
"If you were we're going to be able to find your DNA from the samples we took at Anna's house. If you tell us the truth now, you're only going to be helping yourself, so now we're clear on that, who attacked Anna?" Diane said hoping to get somewhere with the interview
Alison sighed "Josh did…."
"Did you see him?" Smithy asked
"I saw him hit Anna with something and she fell to the floor and then he started kicking her in the head. He then got this baseball bat and started beating her with it"
"Why were you there?"
"No comment" Alison said sharply, determined to protect herself
The interview continued with the officers getting no further with Alison. They decided to call for a break in order to see of they could shed any light on the evidence they had already gathered. As they sifted through the statements and evidence Eddie, Sun Hill's resident CSE burst into the room waving a piece of paper wildly
"I got the results back from the samples we took….."
"And?" Smithy said standing up looking interested
"What happened to Anna seems a lot less simple than we first thought it to be…."