Page 23 of What Happened Last Night

“And maybe I’d be best off if you stopped fussing over me,” William snapped.

Carlotta looked hurt, but she tried to hide it. She gave the slightest nod of her head and fluffed one of William’s pillows behind him.

“Just stop, would you?” William snapped at her again.

She sat back down heavily in the chair, not meeting his eye. She looked down into her lap for a moment and then she looked back up, her game face back on.

“So William, what happened today?” I asked.

I had already heard from multiple witnesses what had happened, but I was asking him this for two reasons. Firstly, to lull him into a false sense of security and get him talking. And secondly, because the doctor had confirmed that the level of alcohol in his blood was almost as high as it was the night Candy was killed. I wanted to see exactly how much he remembered. That might at least give me a hint as to whether he was telling the truth about his memories of that night being gone.

“I ... I’m not sure, Detective,” he answered after thinking for a moment. “I remember being in a bar, and then the next thing I remember, I was waking up in here.”

“You were drunk, William. You staggered into the road and a car hit you. He tried to stop but it was too late,” Carlotta said.

She put her hand over William’s, and he pushed it away. She looked hurt again, but again, she tried to hide it, pulling at the blanket over him instead as though her intention had always been to pick off a piece of imaginary lint from his bedding.

“Have you called the office and let them know I won’t be in for a few days?” William asked Carlotta.

“Not yet,” she said.

She looked like she wanted to say more, but he snapped at her, cutting her off before she could.

“Wonderful. It would have been nice if you had done the one thing that might have actually been useful,” he said.

“I ... I wasn’t thinking straight. I got a call to say you’d been in an accident and you were at the hospital. I just rushed straight here,” she said.

“Oh, so that’s why you look such a state,” he said.

She blinked quickly, looking up at the ceiling, no doubt trying to stop the tears from falling.

“I’ll call them once the detective is finished,” Carlotta said quietly, her voice shaking.

Her words seemed to remind William I was still here, and he turned back to me.

“Do you want to pursue pressing charges against the driver?” I asked. “Eyewitnesses have confirmed the driver wasn’t speeding, and I don’t think you stand much chance of winning a case against him, but I have to ask.”

William shook his head. At least one thing was going to be simple.

“It sounds like it was a genuine accident,” he replied.

I wouldn’t exactly call it that. It sounded to me more like William had caused the whole thing, but the responding officers had already confirmed that the driver didn’t want to take this any further either, so I just nodded.

William reached across to the small cabinet that sat beside his bed and picked up a glass of water that was standing there. Carlotta got to her feet and tried to help William guide the glass to his mouth.

“Carlotta, stop it, jeez. I can hold a damned glass myself,” he said.

“I thought maybe your arm would be hurting,” she said, sitting back down quickly.

It was painful to watch this scene. Carlotta was doing her best to be loving, to reason with William and help him, and he was making it apparent that he held her in no regard whatsoever. Even without what Carlotta had told me this morning about William’s affairs, it was clear to see that this was a marriage that was well and truly on the rocks.

I just wanted to get away now. William didn’t seem to be able to remember anything of the events leading up to the accident, which wasn’t what I had wanted to hear. I had wanted him to remember everything so that it would at least indicate that he was lying about not being able to remember what had happened the night Candy was killed.

“Is there anything else we can do for you, Detective?” Carlotta asked me. “Just if that’s everything, William really needs to get some rest.”

I waited for William to bite her head off again, but this time, he nodded his head in agreement with her. Interesting. He definitely had to want me gone pretty badly to let Carlotta speak for him like that.

“That’s about it, but just while I’m here, have either of you remembered anything at all from the night Candy died? Anything? Even something so small it might seem insignificant?” I asked.

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