Phil drove to the hospital with so many questions going through his mind, his head was spinning, his gut twisting in torment at the thought of the number of times he had called in to see his mother while there was a corpse in the wardrobe upstairs, it was something that he just couldn't get his head round.
Pulling up at the hospital car park Phil headed for the A and E department and asked which room his mother had been admitted to. He was told to take a seat and wait and they would send somebody to see him as soon as they knew more,
'But i have to see her right now, its important!' Phil slammed the desk with his fist, the waiting area went dead silent and everyone looked around,
'Its important i see her!' Phil said again in a terse voice,
'I am sorry sir but we cannot allow you in to the resuscitation area while Doctors are attending your mother'
'Resuscitation area?' said Phil puzzled.
'yes sir, I am afraid your mother was taken quite ill in the ambulance and the Doctors are with her right now trying to assess the situation, we will let you know as soon as we can, would you like a side room sir?'.
Phil looked to the floor, putting his hand to his fore head then ran his hand over the top of his head as he tried to come to terms with yet more devastating news.
'If you could find somewhere for me to sit down I would appreciate it' came Phil's now subdued reply.
'Of course sir, come this way and i will show you to a private room, rest assured the Doctors are doing all they can to help your mother'
Phil followed the nurse down the corridor, he could scarcely believe how his life had changed in the past few hours, so many questions, so much heartache and yet so much of his previously well ordered life now in ruins and still no answers to any of it and there was no real chance of that with his mother now gravelly ill.
An hour or so passed and there was a slight tap on the door, Phil had been sat in gazing at the ceiling, a man walked in dressed in a white coat, he was a tall man of Asian origin with a clip board and a pencil behind his ear, he spoke to Phil,
'Hello sir, are you a relation of Mrs Carnaby?'
'U-uuh y-yes she is my mother' came Phil's frail reply, 'can I see her now?'
'Well sir I am afraid I have some very bad news for you, I am afraid we could do nothing for her after her heart attack sustained while on the journey to hospital, it was a huge attack and she was technically dead when she arrived at the hospital, we did every thing we could sir, but please believe me she would not have suffered, it was a massive heart attack sir and totally unsurvivable'.
Phil just sat there for a moment not moving. He was hearing a voice but not taking the words in any longer, he had heard 'heart attack' and 'dead' but the rest was irrelevant to him, he just stared at the wall on the other side of the room, motionless, hardly daring to breath.
'Are you alright sir?, the softly spoken Doctor enquired, 'would you like me to get you something or perhaps call someone for you?'
'M-m-my wife' Phil murmured barely audible now,
'Your wife sir? do you have her number we can get someone to call her for you if you like'
With that Phil scrolled down his mobile to Jan's number and limply passed the phone to the Doctor,
'here' he said, still facing the wall and completely still, not moving a muscle.
'I will call her now for you' the Doctor said as he walked out through the door.
20 minutes passed but it could have been 2 hours, 6 hours, Phil had lost track of time, he was still sat in the private room staring at the wall when Jan came in.
She rushed over to Phil and flung her arms around him slumping to her knees worried at the sight of her strong husband reduced to a silent staring shell of his normal self.
'Phil...! ' she screamed at him, 'what's happened, whats going on?' 'I am so sorry about Barb, she just didn't deserve this, no one could have seen this coming, she was always so fit and active' Jan said trying to engage Phil in conversation, ' have they told you anything?'
'She is dead Jan, that's all there is to it, no more to say.. dead'.
Phil's emotions suddenly rose to the surface and tears started to well up in his eyes, the past few hours started to catch up with him as did the realisation that there were so many unanswered questions, he lent his head over Jan's shoulder and cried like he hadn't done since a child, it was pure emotion and he sobbed unashamedly, Jan did what a loyal wife would do under such circumstances and comforted her man, she too was finding it hard to hold back the tears but was trying to be strong for Phil's sake.
A nurse popped her head around the door and in a soft low voice asked if she could make them both a drink, in some ways it was a very normal act and it seemed to bring Phil back to the reality of the situation,
'Would love one thank you' came his reply and Jan nodded her acceptance of the offer with a beaming teary smile.
'No problem, just give me a moment' came the reply and she slipped out through the door.
'Ok Phil?' asked Jan,
' I guess I will be when I get some answers' he said in a matter of fact way, 'I think we will all be ok when we find out just what the hell is exactly going on around here today'.
With the tea finished a nurse came in and asked if they would like to see Barbara, Phil and Jan nodded and were led through the resus room to a quiet corner where the curtains had been drawn around the bed, the nurse pulled the curtains back discretely and ushered them through, then immediately closed the curtains again, the nurse smiled,
'Take as long as you like, if you need anything I am just outside' she spoke softly.
Phil just stared for a few moments, he stayed standing as he looked down at his mothers white face on the pillow, they had removed her false teeth during resus and she looked so undignified, so vulnerable, he sat down on the wooden chair beside the bed, he reached out and put his hand on her hand, the hand he not a few hours ago had been comforting and holding while they waited for the ambulance, it was almost a surreal moment, but equally such a sad one.
'I cant do any more for her here' Phil suddenly chirped, 'come on Jan, we have some arrangements to make and there are some questions you and I need the answers to, mum is in a better place now, free from pain, let's go and sort the rest of this mess out and give her a decent send off'
Those words seemed a little cold to Jan, but being the full blooded Yorkshire man like Phil was, not exactly a surprise to her.
Phil drove back to the farm and went in to the buildings in the farmyard to feed the cattle, the job he had been meant to do a few hours before, the cattle were pushing towards the stalls as they bustled to get to the soft hay Phil was laying out in the feeding troughs, eager to get their fill of food that had been a long time coming, they almost made their disdain known to Phil at being fed so late, the world of the captive animal holding no store with matters of the human heart.
Phil was just loading the last bale in the stall when he heard the big barn door open and then close, he expected to see Jan with a smile and a cuppa, but as was the course of this day it was not to be, instead it was a man in a long plain coat and a policeman at his side.
Phil shouted, 'can I help you?'
'Phil Carnaby?' shouted the trench coated man.
'Aye, that's right, what can I do for you?'
'I think Mr Carnaby you need to accompany us to the station, we have some questions we would like to ask, nothing formal like, at the moment'
Phil paused, 'and what if i don't want to come?'
' well sir we cant make you but it wont serve your purpose well if you don't'.
'Am i under arrest or summat?' Phil stopped and looked at the two officers.
'Absolutely not sir, we just need to ask you a few questions about the discovery at your mother's house this morning'.
With that Phil finished the hay and walked towards the 2 officers,
'aye alright, I will just get me coat, shall i bring the Land Rover?, '
'No sir, that's quite alright we can give you a lift' and with that Phil went in to the farm house and told Jan what was happening and said he would call her with any news a little later.
Phil had never been in a police car before and he had certainly never been questioned by the police, he was very quiet as he was led into the interview room, it all seemed very formal and he felt a little apprehensive to say the least. Sitting at a table in a slightly darkened room he was joined by the detective and the police officer that had driven him to the station,
'My name is Detective Inspector Alan Selby and this is Officer James Duggan he said matter of factly.
Mr Carnaby, we were in attendance at your mothers house today after we received a phone call at 9.05 a.m from we believe yourself telling us that you had found someone deceased in the wardrobe of your mothers spare room, your mother was at that very moment on her way to hospital suffering from a severe head wound sustained by a sharp blow to the back of the head, an injury that we are led to believe contributed to her heart attack and subsequent death. Now, sir, can you shed a little more light on this for us, because believe me we are all ears' said the detective in a short sharp manner.
' I was hoping you were going to tell me what was going on' came Phil's sharp reply.
'Oh, really,' the detective said raising his voice, ' and what makes you think we can shed light on this sir?'
'Well,' Phil exclaimed, 'I was the one called to my mothers house and tended her until the Ambulance arrived and I was the one who discovered the skeleton in the cupboard but what else i am supposed to tell you?, i am at a loss'
'Well', the detective sneered,
'Are you sure you have the timing right?.. I mean are you sure you go downstairs and confront your mother? and when she refused to play along with you and do as she said you had a fit of rage and hit her over the head with the nearest thing to hand, in this case a wine bottle?'
'What?!' exclaimed a baffled looking Phil,
'Wine bottle? what the hell do you mean wine bottle? I never touched her, i found her on the floor when i got in the house, she had fallen and hit her head !'
'Well sir i can tell you that is not the case from where we are sitting, it seems Mrs Carnaby was struck with the bottle first and then fell, Officer Duggan, would you like to show Mr Carnaby exhibit A?'
With that a blood stained thick bottomed wine bottle inside a clear plastic bag was placed upon the table in front of Phil,
'Is this what killed my mum then?' Phil asked in a quiet voice, 'Jesus Christ, you mean she was murdered?'
'That.. sir is what we intend to find out, I take it you have no objections to our taking your fingerprints?'
'I don't care if you take my bloody arms off!' screamed Phil,
'Instead of hassling me why aren't you out there arresting the bloody murdering bastard that killed my mum!'
'That is exactly what we are doing Mr Carnaby and if the finger prints on this bottle match yours then you will have some serious explaining to do'
'You lot are bloody crazy! this is my mum we are talking about, i wouldn't kill my own bloody mother!'
'In that case sir you wont mind following Officer Duggan through to the fingerprint room so that we can eliminate you from our inquiries'.
'You are bloody right I don't mind and you two will have some explaining to do when you find i am nowt to do with this!' screamed Phil.
An hour passed as Phil was fingerprinted and led back to the interview room, he was told he was free to go at any time but he preferred to sit and wait hoping that he could get some answers to all the many questions that still remained unanswered from the past 24 hours.
The door opened and DI Selby walked in looking straight at Phil, he had a white piece of paper in his hand from which he read,
'Philip Anthony Carnaby, I am arresting you for the murder of your mother Barbara Jane Carnaby on the morning of the 5th November 2010, anything you say may be given in evidence but if you later rely on.....the words started to fade out of Phil's mind as he stared at the suited gent in front of him reading out the caution, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was like some film that he was suddenly a part of, sucked in like some leaf circling inside a whirlpool, powerless, no resistance to the force pulling it ever closer to the abyss, this just couldn't be happening, surely?.
Pulling up at the hospital car park Phil headed for the A and E department and asked which room his mother had been admitted to. He was told to take a seat and wait and they would send somebody to see him as soon as they knew more,
'But i have to see her right now, its important!' Phil slammed the desk with his fist, the waiting area went dead silent and everyone looked around,
'Its important i see her!' Phil said again in a terse voice,
'I am sorry sir but we cannot allow you in to the resuscitation area while Doctors are attending your mother'
'Resuscitation area?' said Phil puzzled.
'yes sir, I am afraid your mother was taken quite ill in the ambulance and the Doctors are with her right now trying to assess the situation, we will let you know as soon as we can, would you like a side room sir?'.
Phil looked to the floor, putting his hand to his fore head then ran his hand over the top of his head as he tried to come to terms with yet more devastating news.
'If you could find somewhere for me to sit down I would appreciate it' came Phil's now subdued reply.
'Of course sir, come this way and i will show you to a private room, rest assured the Doctors are doing all they can to help your mother'
Phil followed the nurse down the corridor, he could scarcely believe how his life had changed in the past few hours, so many questions, so much heartache and yet so much of his previously well ordered life now in ruins and still no answers to any of it and there was no real chance of that with his mother now gravelly ill.
An hour or so passed and there was a slight tap on the door, Phil had been sat in gazing at the ceiling, a man walked in dressed in a white coat, he was a tall man of Asian origin with a clip board and a pencil behind his ear, he spoke to Phil,
'Hello sir, are you a relation of Mrs Carnaby?'
'U-uuh y-yes she is my mother' came Phil's frail reply, 'can I see her now?'
'Well sir I am afraid I have some very bad news for you, I am afraid we could do nothing for her after her heart attack sustained while on the journey to hospital, it was a huge attack and she was technically dead when she arrived at the hospital, we did every thing we could sir, but please believe me she would not have suffered, it was a massive heart attack sir and totally unsurvivable'.
Phil just sat there for a moment not moving. He was hearing a voice but not taking the words in any longer, he had heard 'heart attack' and 'dead' but the rest was irrelevant to him, he just stared at the wall on the other side of the room, motionless, hardly daring to breath.
'Are you alright sir?, the softly spoken Doctor enquired, 'would you like me to get you something or perhaps call someone for you?'
'M-m-my wife' Phil murmured barely audible now,
'Your wife sir? do you have her number we can get someone to call her for you if you like'
With that Phil scrolled down his mobile to Jan's number and limply passed the phone to the Doctor,
'here' he said, still facing the wall and completely still, not moving a muscle.
'I will call her now for you' the Doctor said as he walked out through the door.
20 minutes passed but it could have been 2 hours, 6 hours, Phil had lost track of time, he was still sat in the private room staring at the wall when Jan came in.
She rushed over to Phil and flung her arms around him slumping to her knees worried at the sight of her strong husband reduced to a silent staring shell of his normal self.
'Phil...! ' she screamed at him, 'what's happened, whats going on?' 'I am so sorry about Barb, she just didn't deserve this, no one could have seen this coming, she was always so fit and active' Jan said trying to engage Phil in conversation, ' have they told you anything?'
'She is dead Jan, that's all there is to it, no more to say.. dead'.
Phil's emotions suddenly rose to the surface and tears started to well up in his eyes, the past few hours started to catch up with him as did the realisation that there were so many unanswered questions, he lent his head over Jan's shoulder and cried like he hadn't done since a child, it was pure emotion and he sobbed unashamedly, Jan did what a loyal wife would do under such circumstances and comforted her man, she too was finding it hard to hold back the tears but was trying to be strong for Phil's sake.
A nurse popped her head around the door and in a soft low voice asked if she could make them both a drink, in some ways it was a very normal act and it seemed to bring Phil back to the reality of the situation,
'Would love one thank you' came his reply and Jan nodded her acceptance of the offer with a beaming teary smile.
'No problem, just give me a moment' came the reply and she slipped out through the door.
'Ok Phil?' asked Jan,
' I guess I will be when I get some answers' he said in a matter of fact way, 'I think we will all be ok when we find out just what the hell is exactly going on around here today'.
With the tea finished a nurse came in and asked if they would like to see Barbara, Phil and Jan nodded and were led through the resus room to a quiet corner where the curtains had been drawn around the bed, the nurse pulled the curtains back discretely and ushered them through, then immediately closed the curtains again, the nurse smiled,
'Take as long as you like, if you need anything I am just outside' she spoke softly.
Phil just stared for a few moments, he stayed standing as he looked down at his mothers white face on the pillow, they had removed her false teeth during resus and she looked so undignified, so vulnerable, he sat down on the wooden chair beside the bed, he reached out and put his hand on her hand, the hand he not a few hours ago had been comforting and holding while they waited for the ambulance, it was almost a surreal moment, but equally such a sad one.
'I cant do any more for her here' Phil suddenly chirped, 'come on Jan, we have some arrangements to make and there are some questions you and I need the answers to, mum is in a better place now, free from pain, let's go and sort the rest of this mess out and give her a decent send off'
Those words seemed a little cold to Jan, but being the full blooded Yorkshire man like Phil was, not exactly a surprise to her.
Phil drove back to the farm and went in to the buildings in the farmyard to feed the cattle, the job he had been meant to do a few hours before, the cattle were pushing towards the stalls as they bustled to get to the soft hay Phil was laying out in the feeding troughs, eager to get their fill of food that had been a long time coming, they almost made their disdain known to Phil at being fed so late, the world of the captive animal holding no store with matters of the human heart.
Phil was just loading the last bale in the stall when he heard the big barn door open and then close, he expected to see Jan with a smile and a cuppa, but as was the course of this day it was not to be, instead it was a man in a long plain coat and a policeman at his side.
Phil shouted, 'can I help you?'
'Phil Carnaby?' shouted the trench coated man.
'Aye, that's right, what can I do for you?'
'I think Mr Carnaby you need to accompany us to the station, we have some questions we would like to ask, nothing formal like, at the moment'
Phil paused, 'and what if i don't want to come?'
' well sir we cant make you but it wont serve your purpose well if you don't'.
'Am i under arrest or summat?' Phil stopped and looked at the two officers.
'Absolutely not sir, we just need to ask you a few questions about the discovery at your mother's house this morning'.
With that Phil finished the hay and walked towards the 2 officers,
'aye alright, I will just get me coat, shall i bring the Land Rover?, '
'No sir, that's quite alright we can give you a lift' and with that Phil went in to the farm house and told Jan what was happening and said he would call her with any news a little later.
Phil had never been in a police car before and he had certainly never been questioned by the police, he was very quiet as he was led into the interview room, it all seemed very formal and he felt a little apprehensive to say the least. Sitting at a table in a slightly darkened room he was joined by the detective and the police officer that had driven him to the station,
'My name is Detective Inspector Alan Selby and this is Officer James Duggan he said matter of factly.
Mr Carnaby, we were in attendance at your mothers house today after we received a phone call at 9.05 a.m from we believe yourself telling us that you had found someone deceased in the wardrobe of your mothers spare room, your mother was at that very moment on her way to hospital suffering from a severe head wound sustained by a sharp blow to the back of the head, an injury that we are led to believe contributed to her heart attack and subsequent death. Now, sir, can you shed a little more light on this for us, because believe me we are all ears' said the detective in a short sharp manner.
' I was hoping you were going to tell me what was going on' came Phil's sharp reply.
'Oh, really,' the detective said raising his voice, ' and what makes you think we can shed light on this sir?'
'Well,' Phil exclaimed, 'I was the one called to my mothers house and tended her until the Ambulance arrived and I was the one who discovered the skeleton in the cupboard but what else i am supposed to tell you?, i am at a loss'
'Well', the detective sneered,
'Are you sure you have the timing right?.. I mean are you sure you go downstairs and confront your mother? and when she refused to play along with you and do as she said you had a fit of rage and hit her over the head with the nearest thing to hand, in this case a wine bottle?'
'What?!' exclaimed a baffled looking Phil,
'Wine bottle? what the hell do you mean wine bottle? I never touched her, i found her on the floor when i got in the house, she had fallen and hit her head !'
'Well sir i can tell you that is not the case from where we are sitting, it seems Mrs Carnaby was struck with the bottle first and then fell, Officer Duggan, would you like to show Mr Carnaby exhibit A?'
With that a blood stained thick bottomed wine bottle inside a clear plastic bag was placed upon the table in front of Phil,
'Is this what killed my mum then?' Phil asked in a quiet voice, 'Jesus Christ, you mean she was murdered?'
'That.. sir is what we intend to find out, I take it you have no objections to our taking your fingerprints?'
'I don't care if you take my bloody arms off!' screamed Phil,
'Instead of hassling me why aren't you out there arresting the bloody murdering bastard that killed my mum!'
'That is exactly what we are doing Mr Carnaby and if the finger prints on this bottle match yours then you will have some serious explaining to do'
'You lot are bloody crazy! this is my mum we are talking about, i wouldn't kill my own bloody mother!'
'In that case sir you wont mind following Officer Duggan through to the fingerprint room so that we can eliminate you from our inquiries'.
'You are bloody right I don't mind and you two will have some explaining to do when you find i am nowt to do with this!' screamed Phil.
An hour passed as Phil was fingerprinted and led back to the interview room, he was told he was free to go at any time but he preferred to sit and wait hoping that he could get some answers to all the many questions that still remained unanswered from the past 24 hours.
The door opened and DI Selby walked in looking straight at Phil, he had a white piece of paper in his hand from which he read,
'Philip Anthony Carnaby, I am arresting you for the murder of your mother Barbara Jane Carnaby on the morning of the 5th November 2010, anything you say may be given in evidence but if you later rely on.....the words started to fade out of Phil's mind as he stared at the suited gent in front of him reading out the caution, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was like some film that he was suddenly a part of, sucked in like some leaf circling inside a whirlpool, powerless, no resistance to the force pulling it ever closer to the abyss, this just couldn't be happening, surely?.
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