Page 80 of Three for a Girl

“Val, right?”

She nodded, her attention fixed to Ally who was studying the ice cream box.

“Detective Fuller, DS Coulson.” He reminded.

“I don’t know who’d do such a thing,” she whispered.

Ally peered over to her. “What? Cut an organ out? I’m sure that happens in here all the time.”

“Not like that. That’s … savage.”

Ally turned away, packaging the ice cream box. “Who brought it in?”

“One of our trainee nurses was handed it by a man on the way to work.”

“She get a good look at him?”

Val nodded. “I think so. She said he was in a van, handed it to her out of the window. A present for the ICU.”

“Bullseye, as Josh would say.”

“She still has no idea what’s in the box, thought it was some homemade cookies or something.”

“Where is this trainee? We need to speak to her.”

“She’s assisting Doctor Carter in theatre.”

“I was rather disappointed when I wasn’t greeted with his handsome face.”

Ally grinned, before wink in Chad’s direction.

“He was urgently needed, emergency case.”

Ally’s flirtatious smile fell. “Marcy.”

“Not Marcy. We don’t know who the patient is, wasn’t carrying any ID.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was found on East Forks line, by the bypass. Significant injuries to his head and chest.”

“Train route.” Ally said when Chad shot her a look. “There’s a tunnel close to the bypass, popular with the homeless.”

The room tilted. Chad grabbed the table to stay on his feet.

“The homeless?”

“It’s walking distance to the city, protects them from the elements, apart from a speeding train of course.”

Val winced, pressing into the door at her back.

“What does he look like?” Chad asked.

The room warped around him. He focused on Val, but she warped, too, stretched, and bent out of shape. Sickness poisoned him, spreading through his body, and making him weak.

“His face was badly swollen. Brown hair, tall, strong build.”

Fear bled from Chad’s pores, joining the sheen of sweat on his skin.

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