I nod again.
“By your father?”
Nod.
“Are you being threatened?”
Nod.
Detective Inspector Grayson scribbles down some notes in a pad. “These are just for me, personally, to remember your responses. They will be inadmissible.”
He plays the video again. I watch as Duncan and Bullock fight, as Dad paces the floor, gripping onto his gun, eagerly watching.
Then Frank stands up. The camera, from its position, only shows Frank’s back. There’s no way to see what is in his hands.
Grayson pauses the video. “Is Frank telling your father to stop the fight?”
I nod.
“Does he have a gun pointed at your father?”
I meet Grayson’s eyes, but don’t give a response.
“Did he have a gun pointed at you when he was still sitting?”
I… shake my head.
Grayson plays the video again. I watch Dad’s arm twitch. I watch Frank hit the floor dead. I watch myself sprint away. Duncan whirls on Bullock, takes him down, stabs him in the leg then breaks his arm.
Frank’s body is lying away from the camera, and we can only see him lengthways. Still his gun isn’t visible. My sigh of relief exits through my nose.
The sprinklers start, muddy up the image, but I see that I come back into the gym, and then Duncan moves on Dad, and I kneel down beside Frank.
Grayson pauses it again. “At this moment, are you feeling for Frank’s pulse?”
I nod.
“And did you do anything else?”
I shake my head.
“Did he have a weapon?”
I shake my head.
Grayson leans back in his chair and regards me. I struggle to keep myself as calm as possible.
I just lied to the police… I lied to get Dad locked up. If I tell them that Frank had a gun, then Dad will have been under duress, self-defense, whatever.
Dad’s going to go to prison for a long time because of me.
“So are you telling me that as soon as Frank stood up and asked your father to stop – I presume that’s what he’s doing – your father shot him without provocation?”
I nod.
“He murdered Frank Marsh in cold blood?”
I take a deep breath, and nod again. A tear leaves my eye, and I wipe it away quickly, but I’m unable to stop my lips from trembling.
I don’t want to cry right now, but it all seems to be trying to come out right now. I don’t want to give myself away first and foremost, but I also don’t want to regret this decision.
I had to do it. I had to.
“Will you testify to this?”
I consider it, then shake my head.
Grayson sighs. “Let me tell you how this will go down in court. The jury will see this video, will see your father shoot Frank. In the absence of any mitigating factors, your father will be convicted for murder charges, and will be sentenced to life imprisonment as per sentencing rules in Victoria. Or, if he is extradited, he will likely serve a similar term in the United States.”
I nod, showing my understanding.
“If Frank had a gun,” Grayson says, leaning forward. “And if you took it, then you are liable to charges of obstruction of justice. You can go to jail for that. If you lie under oath, you risk yourself to charges of perjury, which you can also be jailed for.”
I nod.
“If Frank had a gun, your father will have been acting under provocation, and possibly self-defense. You understand that he can be acquitted of all charges in that event?”
I nod.
Grayson pinches his brow, sighs, then taps his pad idly with his pen. “You’re free to go, Ms. Marino. Stay in Melbourne, please. We’ll contact you if we need to.”
I blink. “I can go?”
“We won’t be pressing charges.” He rubs his brow. “I see no reason to.”
“You believe me?”
“I believe you were a victim. As for the events that transpired tonight…” He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“What about Duncan?”
“He’s free to go as well,” the detective says. “All he’s guilty of is trespassing, but that was under mortal threat.” Grayson walks to the door and opens it. “We’ll be in touch.”
I get up, walk past him, and in the hallway see Duncan. I rush to him, and he to me, and he wraps me up in his arms, kisses my forehead.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, my voice wavering.
“Yeah,” he says. “They stitched me up. Come on, let’s talk outside.”
Together we leave the police station, and Grayson watches us all the way out, chewing on the end of his pen.
Chapter Forty Six
We walk outside into the cool morning air. The sun is rising on the horizon, casting an orange glow across the waking city.
Duncan pulls me along with him, throwing glances over his shoulder.