The Accusation: An addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist by Victoria Jenkins

Author:Victoria Jenkins [Jenkins, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838887582
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-06-08T18:30:00+00:00

Twenty-One

On Friday morning, a week after the assault on Charlotte Copeland, I was charged with wounding with intent. Bail was initially refused, which came as no surprise to me, considering the severity of the attack; Sean had already warned me that this was likely to be the case. He was quick to remind me that it could have been worse – the charge might have been attempted murder – as though this might in some way soften the reality of what I was facing.

‘The DNA results on the knife retrieved from the coffee shop have confirmed that the victim’s blood is present,’ he said, studying me as though checking that the information was finally seeping in.

We had been through all this during my interview with detectives prior to the charge being made, yet I wanted – needed – to hear it again, convinced that somewhere a mistake had been made and all it needed was for someone other than me to recognise it for what it was. I felt as though I was watching myself from outside my own body; as though everything was happening to someone else and I was merely a spectator, a viewer shouting with frustration at a scenario I couldn’t change.

The news that the blood on the knife was a match with Charlotte Copeland came as no surprise to me. Whoever was trying to ruin my life was unlikely to try to frame me using pig’s blood.

‘And there are no other DNA results or fingerprints?’ I asked.

Hearing it all again felt like confirmation of events, as though through repetition the truth of my situation became less easy to argue against. Sean tapped his pen on the edge of the desk in a way that was both irritating and somehow obnoxious, his silence dragging out my trauma in the way a talent-show presenter lingers on a set of phone-in results, almost enjoying the state of anticipation in which he was keeping me.

‘One set of prints lifted. Unidentified.’ He raised the pen to his lips and chewed it. ‘I’m sorry, Jenna. It doesn’t matter how many times we go over it, the facts aren’t going to change.’

I lowered my head and squeezed the fingers of my right hand with my left, trying to hold back the anger surging inside me, fighting for release. I knew we were being watched, our conversation listened in on, and the knowledge kept me from screaming with all the fight I had left in me. The most important fact – the only one that should matter to him – was the fact that I was innocent.

‘But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?’ I asked between gritted teeth. ‘It means there’s nothing linking me to the knife. So why have I been charged?’

Yet again I was asking questions that had already been answered, raising arguments already presented during my interview, yet still I refused to accept what was happening to me. It all seemed so unfair.

‘They’ve had the forensic results back a couple of days now,’ he reminded me.

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