SARAH ASTELL WAS PALE but dry-eyed. She was sitting up in her hospital bed when they arrived, and appeared surprisingly calm, as if her recent brush with death had insulated her from earthly troubles. Astell, in the chair beside the bed, tried to prevent them questioning her, but when Rafferty over-rode him he subsided.
Sarah Astell's unnatural calm deserted her when Rafferty tried to get her to admit the reason for her attempted suicide. She quickly became hysterical, and Astell protested again. 'Surely you can see she's in no fit state to be questioned? For pity's sake, she's just tried to—’ Astell broke off, and glanced guiltily at his wife, as if he had been about to mention a forbidden topic.
'I'm aware of that, sir,' Rafferty told him, his own guilt making his voice sharper than he
