‘You look ever so pretty, Lottie. Like a princess.’

The little girl popped a sweet into her mouth and chewed as a passing nurse waved to her with a smile.

‘Can I have a quick word with you privately, Meg? You can bring Dale up to date when you both get a bit of time to yourselves. Is that okay with you, Dale?’

Dale nodded as the two women went towards the dayroom at the end of the corridor.

‘What’s this about, Laura?’

‘I wanted to let you know that Heath’s been charged. Kidnapping, false imprisonment and attempted murder.’

‘That’s good news, isn’t it?’

‘He’s pleading not guilty despite the weight of evidence. It’s going to trial.’

‘That means I’m going to have to give evidence.’

Kesey nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m sorry, it does. Mad not bad. That’ll be the defence’s focus. Only a jury can decide.’

‘Court holds no fears. It’s not something I’m worried about. Actually, I’m rather looking forward to it. I’m going to tell that jury exactly what he did.’

‘You and me both.’

Megan hugged Kesey, pulling her close. ‘I’ll always be grateful to you. You saved us. You gave us our lives back.’

‘Oh, you’re welcome. Don’t even mention it. I’m just glad to be of service. It’s all part of the job.’

50

Kesey sipped her hot coffee as Lewis slurped his beer, swirling it around his mouth before swallowing. Lewis wiped his lips with the back of one hand before speaking, ‘It’s good to see you again, boss. How’s the arm, is it any better?’

‘It’s still not great. He severed the nerves. But I’ll be back in work as soon as I get the all-clear. Convalescing isn’t for me. I’m bored silly.’

‘You should have listened to me. I was right all along.’

‘Oh, here we go. I was wondering how long it was going to take.’

Lewis grinned. ‘I’m just saying, that’s all.’

‘You are winding me right up. We can’t make arrests based on gut feelings. That’s not the way things work. You know that as well as I do.’

Lewis hesitated, his expression becoming more serious. ‘I still can’t believe the bastard pleaded not guilty, not with all the evidence you found. Heath really thought he was going to get away with it.’

Kesey added single cream to her coffee before stirring. ‘A big part of me still thinks he is insane. A secure mental hospital may have been a better option than prison. You should have heard him at the house. He could well be schizophrenic like that one psychiatrist said, that would make sense of it all. I don’t think anything else does.’

Lewis shook his head. ‘Nah, the cunt knew exactly what he was a doing. He planned everything in intricate detail. All that talking to his dead mother stuff was a load of shit. Prison’s exactly the right place for him. He deserves nothing less.’

‘I can’t say I agree, to be honest, but the jury did, that’s what matters. What do I know? Even the expert witnesses were split, one, one way, one the other. Mad or bad, that stuff’s not an exact science.’