She had trawled the internet with a slew of key words until she found what she was looking for.
FAMILY OF BANKER WHO SLAYED FOUR COLLEAGES IN KNIFE RAMPAGE BLAMES ‘WORK STRESS’
By Laura Mulley
A high-ranking account manager at an investment company who murdered four colleagues and injured one other has been named as Emily Shinkin.
Oxford University graduate Shinkin, 27, entered the offices of Barnett-Vincent Brothers in London’s Bank area on Monday morning armed with a hunting knife, and stabbed three men and one woman to death as they arrived at their desks.
In a statement made last night, her family blamed the killings on ‘a moment of madness’ and claimed their daughter had been pushed to the brink by greedy bosses who had no interest in their staff’s well-being.
Her father, Hugo Shinkin, said: ‘We were devastated and ashamed to learn of our daughter’s actions and our prayers are with the families of the victims. However, we believe the blame cannot be placed entirely at Emily’s door.
‘Despite reaching out many times to both her line manager and the Human Resources department regarding the extreme level of pressure she was expected to work under, Emily was repeatedly ignored. They must accept their share of responsibility for this terrible tragedy.’
I was her boss, thought Emilia.I was the one who ignored her. At least she hadn’t been named. While most people suffering from stress didn’t react in such extreme ways as Shinkin had, Emilia was nevertheless wracked by guilt for something she’d sparked but couldn’t remember.
She pulled at the waistband of her jogging bottoms, enabling her to trace the faint scar across her abdomen where she had been slashed by Emily’s knife. According to Ted, she was fortunate not to have been killed. He’d also informed her that in the aftermath of the murders, Emilia had been forced to take a leave of absence while an internal investigation was launched into her practices. However, her reaction to losing her colleagues was to fall into a deep depression. And later, when it became apparent she was being set up as a company scapegoat, she agreed to sign a compromise agreement and receive a substantial payout rather than try and fight her way back to her desk.
But no sum of money was high enough to compensate for her culpability. Ted recalled that over the following weeks he had grown so worried about her that he had hired a mental health specialist to visit the house and offer her treatment after her refusal to seek help of her own accord. Then soon after, Emilia simply vanished oneafternoon. He had reported her to the police as a missing person and after an anxious two months, Emilia had finally resurfaced days earlier in a London hospital after being hit by a car.
Emilia fastened her bottoms again and conceded that perhaps Ted had been right in wanting to shield her from the truth. Perhaps thiswasan opportunity to start afresh rather than trying to recapture the memories of someone who had contributed to the destruction of so many lives.
Her opinion of her husband was also starting to drift. If she couldn’t remember the past, it meant he was alone with their shared memories. He would rather she forgot about their lives before the accident than have her relive what destroyed her, which was completely selfless. Perhaps in time, even if her memory remained evasive, she could learn to love him all over again. She was slowly learning to feel safe in his company and that must count for something.
Loneliness was proving the hardest part of Emilia’s journey. Sometimes she watched as groups of staff or visitors sat together around canteen tables sharing food and talking. She craved being part of something. From what Ted had recounted, Emilia had very few people to do that with in the months before her disappearance. She’d put her career above all else, including him.
I’ve been a terrible boss and a terrible wife, she reasoned.But once I return home, I’m going to make up for it. I have a second chance to be whoever I want to be.
Emilia suddenly decided she had spent too long cooped up inside her room. Stopping to buy a coffee from a machine downstairs, she picked a vacant seat on a bench in the empty hospital gardens.
‘Do you mind if I join you?’ The woman’s voice startled Emilia.
Please do.,’ she replied and moved along the bench. The woman put her hand in the centre of her back and lowered herself and her swollen belly slowly onto the slats.
‘Lovely afternoon, isn’t it? Are you a visitor or a patient?’
‘Patient,’ Emilia replied, pointing to her plastic ID bracelet as she pulled up the sleeves of her top.
‘Same here. Pre-eclampsia. My baby isn’t growing as she should.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘They say it’s unlikely I’ll go full term; I might need a Caesarean in the next few days if my blood pressure doesn’t start dropping.’
The two women chatted about their shared hospital experiences, from the bland food and uncomfortable mattresses to the antiseptic smell that clung to their clothes.
‘Well, I hope things go well for you,’ Emilia said. ‘My husband’s coming to pick me up soon so I should start packing.’
‘It was nice to meet you,’ the woman replied as Emilia prepared to leave. ‘Can I offer you a little word of advice, Emilia? Do not trust your husband.’
‘I’m sorry?’ Emilia replied, sure she had misheard.
‘Your husband, Ted. He is not who he says he is. You’re not married. In fact, until you were admitted to hospital, you had never seen him before.’
Chapter 20
BRUNO, OUNDLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
