Page 63 of Their Burning Graves
‘Tricky because she can claim it was self-defence, after all he broke through the window and was waving a knife around. What I don’t like is the fact that she hit him hard twice across the back of the head when once was enough. If he hadn’t fallen forwards, Maggie wouldn’t have been stabbed. He’s a tall guy, he went down heavy with the knife in his hand.’
‘How do you know she hit him twice?’
‘All the way back she kept saying what a mess it was, and she didn’t mean to hit him twice. The DI thinks we need to charge her with GBH, so we can keep an eye on her.’
‘But isn’t she the victim?’
‘It’s complicated. Yes, she is but the only reason we brought Luke in earlier was because of her coming here and practically accusing him of killing the Lawsons. We have to take into account that she might have been setting him up, with an ulterior motive, which I should have thought about earlier. This is kind of my fault.’
‘Hardly your fault, you weren’t to know how he was going to react.’
Ben took his bag of food out to the small kitchen area down the corridor and warmed it up before coming back. He sat at Des’s empty desk, muttering, ‘Sorry, Des.’
Morgan was trying to figure it all out. She’d eaten her food in Declan’s car whilst it was still warm and he was catching her up on his latest love life news.
Ben looked at her. ‘How did you get back here so fast?’
‘Declan. He was finishing work and he kindly dropped me off.’
Ben smiled. ‘He’s a good one, oh here’s the key for Maggie’s house.’
She nodded, taking the key from him. ‘Have you spoken with Ava yet?’
‘No, I think it might be better for you to speak with her. She’s seen you a couple of times now, so she might feel more comfortable talking to you than me.’
‘Where is she?’
‘In the canteen with Tina and Sam. I don’t know how long we’re going to keep Heather for, so we might need to find someone to come and collect Ava. Can you ask if there’s someone who she’ll go with instead of sitting here for hours?’
‘Of course.’
Morgan left them to it. She’d much rather speak with Ava than Heather, because if she went into an interview with Ben she’d have to turn her phone off, and she was waiting for a call from either Col or the hospital with an update on Maggie.
The canteen was empty apart from Tina, Sam and Ava. They were all watchingLove Island, although it was clear Ava was distracted. Morgan shook her head; she’d rather poke her own eyes out but each to their own.
‘Ava, is it okay to have a chat about earlier?’
Ava turned to look at her, then nodded.
Sam turned the television off. ‘Are we okay to go get a brew?’
‘Of course.’
Both PCSOs left Morgan and Ava alone. The girl looked tired; she was sipping a can of Vimto.
‘Rough couple of days for you, how are you?’
She shrugged. ‘Tired, is Maggie okay? I feel awful. She came over and pushed me out of the door, told me to go and wait in her bungalow until everything calmed down. Last week everything was normal, and now it’s a complete mess.’
Morgan felt tired too, everything felt too heavy. ‘She’s in surgery. I’m just waiting on an update, but I’m sure she’ll be fine.’ Morgan had her fingers crossed under the table as she said it. ‘Does your dad normally lose his temper like that?’
Ava shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen him like that, him and Mum argue but it’s usually her that starts them. He always tries to keep the peace with her, because she doesn’t speak to him for days when they fall out and he hates the atmosphere. Did she tell you she hasn’t been taking her meds? She said they made her worse, but clearly they didn’t because she’s far worse now without them.’
‘Ava, I know you’re not stupid and you must know what this is all about, so I’m not going to insult you by pretending that you don’t. Was your dad having an affair with Sally?’
‘No, I think he might have wanted to, but Sally definitely didn’t.’
‘How do you know that?’
