‘Go!’ Lucy ordered her, nodding towards the stairwell.
Shelby did as she was told.
‘He’s mine. You can’t take him…’ Imelda screamed and lashed out, writhing around in fury. But Lucy was on her, straddling the woman as she pinned her arms down. Seconds later Holder and a couple of her other colleagues came bursting through the door to her aid.
‘Imelda George, I am arresting you for the murder of Liza Fitzgerald. The assault on Shelby Cooke and the abduction of Riley Cooke. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
‘Fuck you!’ Imelda spat as Lucy slapped the handcuffs on the woman and finished reading her her rights.
‘Charming!’ Lucy said, stepping aside and letting her colleagues take the woman to the awaiting patrol car downstairs.
‘You got her!’ Holder grinned, seeing how flustered and emotional Lucy looked.
‘No. We got her!’ Lucy said, taking a deep breath. She could relax at last.
51
‘You did a great job, Lucy!’ DS Morgan said, closing his office door, and hoping to speak to Lucy now that they both had a spare five minutes. ‘To say that spirits are high is an understatement,’ he quipped, knowing how ecstatic his entire team were now that Imelda George had been arrested. The cases were solved. It was a great feeling, no matter how short-lived until the inevitable next big case came in.
‘No, Sarge, we did a great job. All of us. Holder included,’ Lucy said earnestly, knowing that she couldn’t have done all that she had without the backup of her team around her.
She’d acted on a hunch, and Jay-Jay Andrews had given her the information she needed. It had been a team effort bringing Imelda George in. Though Lucy was glad that her superior was pleased with how she’d handled the job. Riley Cooke was safely back with his mother. That was the best result any of them could have wished for.
‘What do you think will happen to her, Sarge?’ Lucy asked, wondering about Imelda George’s fate now that she had been arrested.
‘They’ve detained her under the Mental Health Act, so I’d hazard a guess that it won’t go to court. It’s clear to everyone involved that the woman isn’t of sound mind. It’s certainly no surprise to me,’ DS Morgan said simply, as if he hadn’t expected the outcome to be any different. It had been clear that they’d been dealing with a very messed-up, depraved individual from the very start of the investigation. He’d suspected that this might be the case all along. ‘I think she’ll be detained indefinitely. Still, it’s a great result. She’s off the street and we found her before she caused Riley Cooke any harm.’
‘I know, thank God we got there when we did. I dread to think what could have happened otherwise. Things could have been so much worse,’ Lucy said. ‘I’ve just heard back from the hospital; Shelby Cooke was lucky. She only suffered a minor flesh wound. They’ve let her go home.’
‘That’s great news,’ DS Morgan said, relieved that Imelda hadn’t managed to do any more damage than she’d already inflicted upon the Cooke family.
‘Are you coming for a quick celebratory drink then?’ DS Morgan said, grabbing his coat as he spotted his colleagues starting to pile out of the office.
‘I can’t, Sarge. I said I’d pop round and see how Shelby’s doing. I just want to make sure that she’s okay, you know. After everything that happened.’ Lucy knew it sounded silly, but she wanted to see with her own eyes that Shelby and Riley Cooke were okay. Until she did, it still felt like unfinished business.
‘Sarge, before you go…’ Lucy said, glad that they had a few minutes to talk away from the rest of the team. ‘I just wanted to tell you that I’ve decided I don’t want my mother’s case reopened.’
‘You’re sure about that?’ DS Morgan perched against his desk, knowing full well that a decision like that wouldn’t have come lightly. ‘Because I meant what I said, you know. Whatever resources you need, however many officers you need, if you say the word, I’ll reopen it. And it’s not guaranteed, of course, but there’s always a chance that we can solve it this time.’
‘I know that, Sarge. And I’m grateful for that. But I’m certain. And trust me when I say, I gave it a lot of thought. I spoke to Zack, and he said he’d be happy to do the profiling, and I had the E-fit drawn up. But, I dunno…’ Lucy sighed.
She knew how much this case had affected her boss, how he’d spent so much time over the years tormenting himself for not catching her mother’s killer. There was no one else in the world, aside from herself, who would like to see her mother’s killer brought to justice as much as DS Morgan. But she also knew that her boss respected her decision, too, and that he wasn’t going to talk her into doing something that she wasn’t ready to do.
‘I thought about doing it. Dragging it all up again, reopening the case. But part of me thinks that it just wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Not now. Not with the way things are with my nan’s health. I don’t know how much time she has left, Sarge, but the time she does have, well, I want to be here for it. In the present. Spending it with her. Not trapped in the past, consumed with this case, driving myself
