It was 7am in the morning, I
was half way between the land of dreams and the real world. The buzzing sound grow louder and louder pushing me further and further away from subconsciousness. I opened my eyes and observed it was already bright through the window shutters. The buzzing continued. It only stopped when i opened the door.
The two gentlemen at the door were casually dressed in slacks, open collar shirts and one wore a blazer. No ties.
They were fresh faced whereas she looked like she had tumbled out of a dryer, ceased up to the tip of her short cropped hair.
"Good morning," They said in greeting.
She mumbled a reply she was not sure what it was.
"Are you Doberman?" the one in front asked politely
"Yes" she said finally finding her baritone voice. "What is this about?"
"Nicky Doberman"
"Yes again."
"We are from the metropolitan police, we'd like to ask you a few questions," He said, flashing his badge. That woke her up but her expression didn't change in the slightest way. She took in their casual appearance and the badge hanging out in front of her. Sergeant Dawson...it read beneath the golden embossed shield on the badge.
"Come in" she said as she released the chain on the door.
They two men strolled into the decent sized lounge as she ran her hands through her short brown waves knowing she would need a coffee for this so she went to put the kettle on.
She offered coffee out of habit rather than a real desire to as she crossed over to the kitchen, the oversized PJs she had on swept the tiled floors of the kitchen, a reminder that they didn't belong to her.
When she got back she handed a cup of coffee to Sergeant Barleys only. Sergeant Dawson had declined the offer.
"Sorry to disturb you so early in the morning Nick." Sergeant Dawson said "But this does concern a very pressing matter."
"I'm sure it does" she mumbled deliberately not correcting him when he called her Nick instead of Nicky.
We were wondering if you could give us a brief account of the events at the Marybone station on the morning of September the 5th.
"I believe you were at the station when the victim Mrs Wetherbee took her life."
"Of course, she said. but i already told the police what I know. Nothing."
Nevertheless Sergeant Dawson throw out a load of questions concerning the event some she recalled having answered on the day, a few were new and far fetched she thought to be directed at someone who knew absolutely nothing about the deceased. His questions were open ended but mostly leading questions...he was quite experienced evidently. And as he continued in his questioning the tensions in the air grow, not simply at the questions but at the fact he kept calling her Nick.
Finally she interjected, "Officer my name is Nicky not Nick. Although some of my friends do call me Nick I would prefer if you referred to me as Nicky."
"Apologises i didn't think it made much of a difference really" he replied puzzled "It is a Nick Doberman we have registered here I think. He said this as he browsed swiftly through a palm top which he lifted from the his side pocket.
"Your records should also tell you Nick Doberman lives with his twin sister Nicky Doberman. Short for Nicholai but as you can image it can be a mouth full so i prefer to be called Nicky."
There was a long silence in which both officers did a double take of her physical appearance, they had mistaken her for a man which didn't surprise her in the least. She kept her hair short which only served to exaggerate her strong facial features and at the age of 13 her voice had cracked leaving her with a baritone voice. Her breasts had never developed any further than the flat chest they were at that age either. And at the age of 27 she still felt more comfortable in her brother's clothes than she did in hers, and even now the shirt of the PJ hang so loosely you could not make out her womanly form beneath it at all. It had been the pain of her brother's youth finding most of his clothes in her wardrobe.
"Are you here to see me or my brother?" she inquired quietly
"Miss Doberman," Dawson stood up his face registering complete surprise that not only had they been questioning the wrong person but also that she was a woman. "I do apologise for the laxity on our path with regards to your presence at this residence."
"That's alright, it happens all the time. I only moved here a few months ago and i will soon be finding a place. However, i still don't know what my brother has to do with the lady that jumped in front of the train 2 days ago. He was no were near the station. I know because i left him here at home".
"Miss Doberman", Sergeant Dawson interjected cautiously. "We have reason to believe your brother had some sort of intimate relationship with the deceased."
"Oh". Was the only reply Nicky could muster. She hadn't seen that one coming.
TO BE CONTINUED
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