Love-Obsessed

6. POLICE STATEMENT

Chapter four

POLICE STATEMENT

Gabriella sat inside an interview room with Detective Senior Constables Marco Petrazini and Angelo Ricci, who she knew. Marco and Angelo were boyfriends of her friends Bella and Jamie. Both men were straight-shooters, but Angelo tended to be more impulsive and rougher in his approach than Marco.

“Why am I here, Marco? Is this about Erica? Have you had a new lead?”

Marco gave Angelo a dark look and hidden communication passed between them. He leaned forward opposite with a reassuring smile, playing with his stubble. His hazel eyes bore into her own. “I am sorry to tell you this, Gabriella.” He cleared his throat and touched it. “The girl in the news who died in the bathtub…. she was a client of yours. Nora Trueman.” The room spun around her as she bowed her head, letting the tears run down her cheeks. A coldness settled in her spine and she quivered. A warm hand rested on hers. “I am so sorry for your loss, Gabriella. So sorry.”

Angelo intervened. “I know this is hard, but we do need to ask you a few questions. Will you be all right?”

Gabriella nodded, swallowing. She took a few deep breaths as Angelo held out a box of tissues. Taking one, Gabriella wiped away her tears, straightened in her seat, and steeled herself as best she could. She had to be strong for Nora, and needed to know what had gone wrong with her.

Marco dove in. “Can you tell us about Nora’s state of mind while you were counselling her? Even how she normally presented to you.”

She stared into her hands and took a calming breath, fighting back more tears. “I’d been working with Nora for about three months, and she’d abstained from drugs in the last two months. More recently, she seemed to have issues with memory and concentration. She complained of not being able to sleep. I could see how fatigued she was and how she’d get dizzy at times. They appeared to be symptoms of anxiety, but I thought there was something triggering it. She was sorting out family issues and relationships.” Exhaling, she continued. “She was taking care of herself with nutrition and exercise and had a generally positive attitude. But something was going on. Only she wouldn’t admit to anything.”

Angelo’s strong, dark brown eyes looked straight through her as he threaded his hands through his short, jet-black hair. “Do you know if Nora had any physical conditions or medical problems?”

Gabriella shrugged. She clasped her hands and briefly closed her eyes, trying to shut out this nightmare of Nora’s death. The poor girl had had her entire life ahead of her, and she would no longer be getting the help she needed. “I don’t know. She refused to get a physical check-up when I suggested it. I thought with a medical check we could rule out those symptoms if they were physical. In the end, I suggested that she return to more intensive therapy with Claudia. She worked with Nora about a year ago.”

Angelo knit his brows making his dimples prominent as he fixed his gaze on her.

“What about medications? Was she taking any?”

Gabriella shook her head. “No, she didn’t need medication, in my opinion. But if she had needed it, she would most likely have refused any form of drug because of her history with addiction.”

Angelo gave Marco a strange look as if they shared a secret message. “It sounds like you gave Nora a lot of options. Referring her back to Claudia was a good idea.” Marco clasped his hands together. “Gabriella. Nora’s toxicology report showed high levels of tranquilisers in her system. She also had cut marks on her wrist and leg. Did she have a history of self-harm or suicidal thoughts? Did she ever disclose that to you?”

Gabriella flinched. “No, she never cut herself and was not suicidal, detectives. This is ridiculous if you think she would do this to herself. She had plans to get better and start counselling with Claudia again, so why would she kill herself? Besides, her relationship with her mother was getting strong. She had no reason to do this.” Gabriella found her heart palpitating, but she ignored it and waited for their responses.

“It’s possible that Nora was too drowsy and disorganised to the point she could’ve intentionally or accidentally drowned in the bathtub,” said Angelo. “She either got the tranquilisers illegally or...”

“Do you think someone could have given her the tranquilisers?” Gabriella said.

“We don’t want to speculate at this stage,” said Angelo.

Gabriella clenched her fists, wondering if she had killed herself or whether someone had intentionally hurt her. What if she’d missed the signs and Nora could no longer cope with the fight to stay off drugs?

Nora had appeared mentally stable. Sure, she had symptoms, but they were problems that could be fixed. The reality of losing a client this way was a heavy weight on Gabriella’s shoulders, and she wondered if her manager would sack her after this. Maybe she would think she was incompetent and should have taken crisis action. She hadn’t done a suicide risk assessment as there were no signs. In spite of depressive symptoms, they were manageable and treatable, so she refused to believe it was suicide.

Marco flicked a short, brown strand of hair out of his eyes. “Gabriella. I know this is hard to accept, but without hard evidence to suggest it wasn’t a suicide, we can’t rule it out. We’ll keep digging and see what more we can discover. Octavia will be working with us on this case, but she won’t be able to tell you much. Your friendship with her still means she has to abide by the rules with civilians.”

Gabriella shrugged. “I understand that, Marco. It’s fine.”

Marco nodded. “Octavia will be doing what’s known as a psychological autopsy which will assess Nora’s mental state to determine suicidal ideation and self-harm. We’ll look at her social media posts and medical records and interview all her friends and family. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry. For now, you need to take care of yourself, especially after…”

Angelo continued. “You’ve experienced two deaths in the last year, Gabriella. Make sure you talk to the girls. Hang in there and we’ll keep you updated. We might need to request your case notes, but we’ll let you know if that’s the case.”

Gabriella responded to several more questions and breathed a sigh of relief when the interview was over. “Did you find a knife matching Nora’s cuts on her wrist and leg?”

Marco nodded. “Yes, we found a knife underneath her in the tub.” He cleared his throat. “One more thing before you go.” Gabriella waited. “Did Nora ever complain of being harassed by someone at work or by old friends?”

“No, she didn’t. As I said before, she was getting her life back on track. She was not depressed and wasn’t taking any medications for mental health issues. I still don’t believe she would do this.” Gabriella didn’t sound convincing as she had doubts. Some people could mask their pain well. Angelo and Marco stood up and showed her out towards the exit of the station. “Bye, detectives. Please keep me in the loop.”

Angelo nodded. “We will. You take care of yourself.”

Marco cleared his throat. “We’ll talk soon. Bella will call you.”

Gabriella walked out of the building with a prickle of fear running down her spine. Why did she get the feeling that Marco and Angelo didn’t fully believe it was suicide?