The Devil's Due: A Cooper and McCall Scottish Crime Thriller by Ramsay Sinclair (good inspirational books .TXT) 📗

“It’s Lucy, by the way,” she interrupted our small amount of silence first.

“Huh?” For a detective, I was a tad clueless in everyday life.

“You introduced yourself but didn’t ask who I was. I would’ve thought that part was important, seen as I’m your only witness.”

“Right. Yes. Very important. Lucy.” I nodded, letting the name roll off my tongue. The name suited her immensely. “Well,” McCall motioned at me a ten-minute sign from across the street, to which I agreed with, “is it alright if I ask you a few questions?”

She kept quiet but bowed her head gracefully to signal that indeed it was. “Yeah.”

Laura’s body was carried out at that exact moment, capturing everyone’s attention. Laura’s neighbours gathered behind the line, increasing their frenzy. Jimmy couldn’t understand that his mother's body lay on the stretcher, but it also captured his attention.

I noted down Lucy’s behaviour as she became an onlooker to a rather grim task. I couldn’t gauge her reaction from the back of her head, but before long, she sobbed again. This time, she could barely speak.

“Shh,” I comforted Lucy as best as I could. A heartbroken whimper left Lucy in pieces, and it reminded me of McCall earlier in the bathroom. This death had made too many people in the bay cry today, and I didn’t appreciate that.

I was protective of the town I called home and the good people who remained in it. I wrapped a comforting arm around Lucy’s heaving body, and she flew into my jacket of her own accord. Just like McCall, Lucy buried herself into my chest. It must be something about this jacket.

“D-Do you have any water?” Lucy croaked and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

“I, uh. I’ll find some.” I longed for a break, anyway. The surge of emotions on that wall was too much for a guy like me to handle. We always kept a stash of water in our Volvo, in case of emergencies.

The wheels wonkily clipped the pavement, and the car itself was parked at a diagonal. My third-rate parking skills. Sure enough, a stray bottle of water rolled about the floor nearest where McCall sat.

Our bottled water had gone warm from being held in the car all night long, but I was sure Lucy would appreciate the gesture. A disruptive scream filled the night air.

“Laura! Laura?” a new woman cried out, pushing past several constables. Her nimble figure ducked below the tape, surprisingly agile for someone roughly older than me. Her mousy, brown hair barely flowed, no life left inside and her face coloured a grey tinge at the sight of the coroner's vehicle.

“That’s my aunt!” I could hear Jimmy’s declaration from miles away. The officers allowed the plucky woman through, and the first thing she did was envelop Jimmy in a huge hug. McCall would have that problem covered.

“One water,” I handed over the plastic bottle to Lucy, who watched their family reunion guiltily.

“Thanks.” Lucy did appreciate it. Exactly how I imagined she would. It took a while for Lucy to reserve her tears to the point that we could hold a conversation. Once Lucy was stable enough to give me a run-down report of the night, I fired away.

“Right.” I altered my stance accordingly. “Did you see anyone leaving the building, or ever notice Laura showing up at school with anyone odd? Preferably a man with size nine feet.” I muttered the last part to myself.

“No, not since she and her husband split. I only found out earlier. Laura worked with the church, so that’s where she’d should have gone before collecting Jimmy from school…” Lucy trailed off, a downcast expression flattering her lips.

“Do you need a minute?” my rare compassionate side sowed.

“I’ll need a lifetime,” Lucy comprehended the full consequences of her night.

“So Laura went to church. Then what?” I pressured eagerly.

Although Lucy didn’t know exact answers to my questions, she did well to build an overall depiction of Laura. Her daily habits, leads to check out, people to ask.

“I don’t know. She’d probably walk down to school.” Lucy’s voice wavered momentarily. “They don't have a car. Jimmy, the little boy, told me.”

“Which way would Laura normally walk?”

“I have no clue. I tried calling Laura before I came over. I had no idea she would be—" Lucy composed herself.

“Okay. How did you discover her body?” Lucy’s eyes widened at my question.

“I’m not guilty, if that’s what you mean!” her voice squeaked, worried that I could suspect her.

I certainly did not as the woman had fallen to pieces about three times now. No killer is that good at acting… I hoped. Lucy looked like she’d never told a lie in her life.

“I didn’t. Merely a question to walk me through what happened before our teams arrived on the scene,” I assured gently.

“The door was already open. Erm, Jimmy pushed his own way through, the typical cheeky kid.” Lucy laughed. Probably the first time all night. It sounded soft and relaxed me immensely. “I heard the young baby upstairs, screaming and crying. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t burst in. I knocked on every door before I entered.” Lucy admitted frankly.

“To which you found Laura in the bathroom,” I finished the sentence off for her. Lucy’s knees probably would have buckled if she were not sat down.

“Hold on,” I had a second realisation. Lucy drank a large sip of water to soothe her aching throat. “You mentioned over the phone that you didn’t think it was suicide. Why?”

“I don't know, too many years of reading dodgy murder mysteries. Probably.” Lucy shrugged in hindsight. “Laura’s shoes were left downstairs, caked in mud, but when I checked upstairs, another muddy boot print had been left on the bedroom floor. It didn’t make sense that Laura would take her shoes off downstairs, after being upstairs. Logically.”

“Well, you’re right.” I nodded. “We’ve got a team sampling the boot print. It’s not hers. Laura’s, I mean.”

“Her husband?” Lucy