Shot of Silence (Justice Again Book 3) by M Comley (the unexpected everything .txt) 📕

officer demanded to know what was going on via the comms unit. Word came back that all was good and that the gunman had been apprehended. Moments later, the four officers and James Boyd emerged from the church.

Katy had a niggling doubt about the way things had gone down, it was too smooth for her liking. She kept a close eye on Boyd. He appeared to be mumbling. In the end, her fears proved to be unfounded. He was loaded into the back of the vehicle, accompanied by the rest of the team.

“We’ll drop him off at the station for you. My guys have searched him and found no other weapons on his person,” the commanding officer said.

“Great news. Thanks for your assistance today.”

“It was our pleasure.”

“All right if we go and check on the priest?”

“Yep, you’re clear to do that.”

Katy smiled her thanks and set off with Patrick.

“They worked smartly and efficiently,” Patrick noted.

“They sure did.”

Katy stepped into the church and called out, “Reverend Davison, are you here?”

A door creaked open behind the altar, and a pale old man wearing a dog collar and grey suit appeared. “I heard the shots. Please, tell me no one was hurt.”

“They weren’t, and it’s all down to you. I can’t thank you enough for getting in touch when you did. Do you have time for a brief chat?”

He gestured for them to take a seat on the front pew and let out a long sigh. “I’m so pleased I could help.”

“Do you know James Boyd? Is he a parishioner?”

“He’s been in here a few times in the past week. His confessions have rankled me. As you know, I’m not at liberty to tell the police what the general public confide during a confession, but I think the church will make an exception to that rule in this case, considering what he’s done. He’s not well, and no, that’s not me trying to make excuses for the confused man.”

“How do you know?”

“There were always two of them in the confessional, never just one man.”

“Split personality?”

“I believe so, yes. The other voice came out occasionally when he was stressed. It scared me at times, but I could do little about it.”

“It must have put you in an awkward position, sir, I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. All is well now. Will you take his mental state into consideration whilst questioning him?”

“Yes, I’ll ensure the interview takes place with an appropriate representative by his side. Perhaps you can divulge why he killed those people?”

“His marriage collapsed, that sent him over the edge.”

“I suspected that might be the case. Okay, thank you for your time. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine. Thank you for showing up and dealing with the problem so promptly. I guess we can all sleep well in our beds tonight knowing that he’ll be off the streets.”

She held up her crossed fingers. “Take care, sir.”

Katy and Patrick left the church and drove back to the station. First on the agenda, Katy visited Roberts to break the news. He was delighted and relieved that everything had gone well, although a little put out that he hadn’t been involved in the final shootout.

Next step was to arrange for a psychiatrist to give them a brief evaluation before the suspect could be interviewed. In the interim, the news wasn’t good. Boyd had melted down in his cell. He was found lying on the floor, a gaping wound to his head. He’d regained consciousness and kept saying over and over, “It wasn’t his fault. He needed to rid himself of the voices.”

Charlie dropped by the station after her exam.

Katy bought her a coffee and told her to take a seat. “Jesus, you look rough.”

“No sleep has that effect on people,” Charlie replied, clearly grateful for the caffeine fix. “I think it went well, though.”

“Glad to hear it. Any idea when the results should be back?”

“A couple of weeks. Enough about me, how are things around here?”

“Oops…we’ve got him. Or should I say we had him.” Katy raised a hand to prevent Charlie’s interruption. “He’s on his way to the hospital after smacking his head against the wall. He’s not a well person. I can’t see us getting the conviction we’re after on this one.”

“Ugh…not good. On the bright side, he’ll be off the streets and London will be safe again.”

Katy raised an eyebrow. “You reckon? I need to ring my hubby now. Get my own life back on track.” She took her cup through to the office, leaving the rest of the team to celebrate the arrest and Charlie’s good news.

Epilogue

A week later, and the case had been wrapped up and filed away as closed. Life was a little more settled for Katy now that Georgie was out of the woods and had been transferred to the children’s ward, the next step before they allowed her to go home at the end of the week. AJ had been astounding. His strength and understanding floored her at times. She was so lucky to have him by her side.

He was spending less time at the hospital now at madam’s request. Georgie had insisted her recovery would depend on the hours of play she could fit in with the nurses and the other children on the ward. Who were they to argue with her? This had allowed AJ to concentrate more of his efforts on getting his business off the ground. It was a few days after Christmas, their first where they hadn’t all been together to share the festivities at home, but neither of them were perturbed about that. As far as Katy was concerned, every day would need to be a celebration in their house after the trauma they had been forced to endure over the past week.

Katy had received the news that Ben Thompson was now on the mend. It had been touch and go there for a while, but the doctor had told her that he was one