Read And None Shall Sleep for Free Online

rotten.’
    â€˜You spoke to him?’
    The nurse nodded. ‘And to his wife, before she left.’
    â€˜At what time?’
    â€˜When I was giving out the night drugs,’ she said. ‘Round about nine.’
    â€˜What exactly did Mr Selkirk say to you?’
    â€˜He said he had some pain, and I asked him if he wanted an injection.’
    Joanna glanced at Mike. Surely an injection would have made him drowsy? ‘Did he have one?’
    â€˜No. He said he could manage.’ She stopped for a moment, thinking. ‘Perhaps he wouldn’t have gone if he had had an injection. It would have made him too sleepy. Maybe it was my fault.’
    â€˜Was he supposed to have one?’
    The nurse shook her head. ‘Oh no. Only if he had asked for one.’
    â€˜Did he say anything else?’
    She thought for a moment. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He asked me for the telephone.’
    Joanna pricked up her ears. ‘Did you bring it?’
    â€˜No. We were really busy. I just didn’t have the time.’ ‘Perhaps one of the other nurses?’
    Nurse Prince shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, I really don’t know. You’ll have to ask them.’
    Joanna let the subject drop. She could pick it up later with the other two.
    â€˜At what time did you last see him?’
    â€˜Well,’ she began, embarrassed, ‘we were supposed to be looking in on him every hour.’
    Joanna rubbed her aching fingers. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘I’m not the night sister. I don’t care what you were supposed to do. It doesn’t matter to me. If it helps, I have an idea you were extra busy. But it’s important I get the facts straight. We have to know how long Mr Selkirk could have been missing before his empty bed was discovered. All right?’
    But the nurse didn’t look reassured by this. She looked even more worried.
    â€˜I feel awful about this,’ she said, ‘responsible.’ Her hands were pressed together, shaking. ‘It’s almost as though I was jinxed. Last year –’
    â€˜Stick to the point, please,’ Mike interrupted. ‘We want to know what’s happened to Jonathan Selkirk. That’s all. We just want to find him, love.’
    â€˜I checked him at eleven,’ Yolande said slowly. ‘All his observations were fine. He was almost asleep. I asked him if the pain had gone and he said yes, he was feeling much better but very tired.’ She stopped. ‘I closed the door.’ She looked defensively at Joanna. ‘He needed rest. He was tired. The ward was noisy. He wouldn’t have got much sleep with the door open. I wished him a good night and closed the door. I ... I didn’t see him again.’
    â€˜What happened next?’
    â€˜At about four I thought I’d better check up on him. I was just going to check his pulse, blood pressure ... I opened his door...’ She thought for a moment. ‘It was ajar. I assumed one of the other nurses must have been in.’
    â€˜And had they?’
    Yolande shook her head miserably. ‘They thought I’d been keeping an eye on him.’
    â€˜What else can you remember?’
    â€˜The overhead light was on. The bed clothes were thrown back.’ She looked at Joanna. ‘You saw the leads. They’d been torn off. And he’d pulled his drip out.’ She stopped and her face seemed to crumple. ‘I panicked. Shouted for the other nurses. I hoped he’d be in the loo.’ She was gnawing her thumbnail. ‘We searched the whole ward – absolutely everywhere.’ She gave a brave attempt at a smile. ‘Even the cupboards. Then Gaynor saw the blood on the floor.’
    She looked helplessly at Joanna and some of the panic of the night reached the two detectives. ‘We followed the blood spots all the way to the fire door. We used a torch and saw they led outside. Then I rang Night Sister.