Where There's A Will

Chapter Sixteen

Burke knew he had found the right room when he saw the constable seated to one side of the door.

"Everything alright, Hanks?" he asked the young officer.

Hanks jumped to his feet at the detective's approach. "Yes, sergeant, no problems so far – they're both still out of it."

Burke nodded and pushed the door open, he then held it so the couple with him could enter. "I'm sorry your daughter hasn't been given a room of her own," he said once they were all inside. "But it was thought best if she and Mr Jacobs were put in a room together, so they can be protected easier."

"Protected! Why should Julia need protecting?" Mrs Harris asked in a worried voice as she approached the right-hand bed, which held her daughter. Julia showed no sign of being aware that her parents were there.

"We have no reason for thinking that she does," Burke said reassuringly. "It's simply a precaution. She is a material witness to a serious crime, the kidnapping of Alice Keating, as is Mr Jacobs. There is a chance, though we consider it unlikely, that the kidnappers will try to keep them from talking to us. Don't worry," he said quickly in response to the alarm his words had inspired in Julia Harris' parents. "As I said, we don't consider it likely. Just in case, though, there will be a constable stationed outside this room at all times, and the hospital's security staff have been warned to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspiciously in this area."

"Why isn't Julia responding?" William Harris wanted to know. He waved a hand in front of his daughter's face, and then shook her shoulder, but there was no reaction from her. Her eyes were open and fixed on a spot on the wall opposite. "Did they do something to her?"

Sheila Harris' hand flew to her mouth, and she went white as she imagined the things that could have been done to her daughter. None of the possibilities that occurred to her were good, and she sagged against the bed.

"No, they didn't do anything to Julia," Burke reassured her. "She's in shock; it's understandable after what she witnessed. She'll come out of it in time, probably by morning; for now, the doctors want to keep an eye on her."