Eden and Tracy made their way back to Trentbridge police station.
Sadie O’Connor had been booked in and was being held in the police cells.
“Let’s go and have a coffee and prepare some notes and then we’ll take her in for an interview.”
“That should be fun. I bet the first thing she asks for is a brief.”
“Her husband is in the hospital with a broken leg. And Lennox is there as well. That just leaves Tyson. I expect he’s out there somewhere plotting, but I don’t see how she’s going to talk her way out of this one. All those witnesses and the high-quality CCTV. I think we’ve got an iron-clad case for attempted murder.”
“Yeah. Shame we can’t get the whole family off the streets.”
“One good thing. Once we arrest her, we’ll have a chance to search the house. I wonder what goodies we’ll find in there. This could be the lucky break we’ve been hoping for all these years. Finally, we might get the chance to put at least one of the O’Connor clan behind bars for a good few years. Give the population of Trentbridge a well-earned rest from the mayhem.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Sadie was escorted into interview room one by two uniformed police officers.
“Hello, Sadie. Please take a seat.”
Eden started the tape.
“Interview with Sadie O’Connor at Trentbridge police station. The time is three forty-two p.m. Those present are DI Eden Gold, DS Tracy Archer, Sadie O’Connor and her lawyer Alannah Vale. I would remind you, Sadie that you are still under caution. You have waived your rights for a solicitor to be present at this time. Can you confirm this for the tape please?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Good. Now would you like to talk us through the events that happened at the Milton Motel earlier today?”
“Yeah. I went out for a coffee, and someone attacked me. So I defended myself.”
“Really. The witnesses and CCTV we have seem to show a different story. We can clearly see you walking into the coffee lounge of the Milton Motel and pulling out a gun.”
“No, that’s not me. Look, she has blonde hair and I have dark hair.”
“For the purpose of the tape, I’m showing Sadie a blonde wig that was recovered at the scene. When we send it to the forensics lab I expect we’ll find a lot of your hairs attached on the inside.”
“Yeah, of course you will. You’ll get some of mine and put them there. You’ll stitch me up just like you always try to do with my family.”
“We don’t do that sort of thing Sadie, as you well know.”
“Now, the CCTV clearly shows you with the gun with the intention of shooting someone and the owner of the hotel jumping in front of your potential target to save her.”
“Serves the bastard right.”
Eden ignored the comment and went on. “It then shows you aiming at her again, but this time the owner knocks the gun from your hand to one side, resulting in you accidentally shooting your own son, Lennox. Then the owner knocks the gun out of your hand, and his wife picks it up and calls the police who arrive on the scene and arrest you.”
“Naw. That’s bullshit. I know nothing about all that. I just went there for a quiet coffee. If I’d known it was going to lead to this I would’ve stayed at home.”
“Sadie, we have the CCTV, we have the gun which I’m sure will have your fingerprints, we have the hand swabs that will show powder residue from you firing the gun and we have witnesses, lots of them. There’s no getting away from this. We’ll be charging you with attempted murder.”
“It’s a lie. Nothing to do with me. I’m saying nothing more.”
“Okay, Sadie, that’s your right. But it will harm your defence.”
“Go and fuck yourself.”
“I think we’re finished here. You’ll be taken back to your cell while we prepared the documents but be in no doubt, Sadie, in a few minutes we’ll take you through to the custody suite where you’ll be charged with attempted murder and possession of an unauthorised firearm. Take her away.”
The two police officers escorted Sadie back to her cell.
After all these years, it seemed like the police were finally getting somewhere in catching the O’Connor family.
Chapter Forty-One
THE FULL STORY
Roger Maynard wasn’t sure what he should do. Should he report Tyson’s drowning or not?
If he did and was arrested, would Kevin O’Connor be able to get to him? Roger wasn’t clued up on these things but he’d heard about prisoners on remand being found dead in their cells. He recalled seeing a programme on TV recently where a prisoner had been found hanged in his cell and they proved there was no way he could have done it himself.
For now, Roger had put Tyson’s body into the large commercial freezers that had been installed for the restaurant that formed part of the centre. He had also emptied the swimming pool so that no one else would fall in.
He had to decide his next move. He was about to phone the police and report Tyson’s death when his phone rang.
“Hello, son. There’s been an incident at the motel. Some woman, I think she was the wife of that thug who kidnapped your mother and me, she came here and tried to kill Francis and me.”
“Are you both alright?”
“Yes. The man who runs the hotel jumped in the way and got shot in the shoulder. Otherwise, I think Francis would be dead. He’s in hospital, but they say he’ll be alright. The police caught the woman and her son who she accidentally shot.”
“What was Francis doing there?”
“I called her because I was worried about you. With your mum gone, Francis is the only family I’ve got, apart from you, so after everything that happened I asked her over for a
