Maggie looked over Patrick Quinn’s toxicology report. Lucy had virtually confessed to the murder, but the dots didn’t match up. The report noted that he had a large amount of duloxetine and alcohol in his system. According to his medical records, Patrick had a nerve disorder, but his prescribed dosage of duloxetine didn’t match what was found in his system. Had someone drugged his drink?
The CPS believed it was an open-and-shut case. Lucy’s fingerprints were on the knife that caused the fatal wound; but she lived in the house. Lucy admitted to stabbing Patrick, even though she didn’t recall significant or key events. She had been a victim of domestic abuse for years at the hands of Patrick and so logic dictated, according to the CPS, that she’d finally snapped. Maggie wasn’t buying it, nor was Dr Moloney. The state of Lucy’s face when arrested, the dizzy spells, and inability to stand for long periods, at least four hours after it was estimated that Patrick was killed. Lucy couldn’t have plunged the knife into Patrick, let alone get downstairs, grab the knife, and then make her way back upstairs to the bathroom.
Maggie was looking forward to meeting up with Dr Moloney to compare notes in the hope something obvious would come to light. She also planned to revisit the Talbot, Millard and O’Dowd cases: the only evidence that linked Lucy to these men was her work, but her phone records and computer were being interrogated and even the smallest thing could open a whole new Pandora’s box.
As part of the ongoing investigation, Maggie was a regular visitor to the prison. Trying to jog Lucy’s memory of that fateful night. Dr Moloney believed Lucy was hiding something. Maggie couldn’t understand why though. Why would Lucy risk spending the next ten years, to life, in prison? Did she want to punish herself? It was pure luck that her solicitor had convinced Lucy to plead not guilty and opt for a trial, on the basis that there were mitigating circumstances. Lucy would have been suffering diminished capacity, due to the years of abuse she suffered and the serious assault she had endured.
As a defence witness, Dr Moloney could put forth a convincing argument that it was all the years of abuse and the severe beating on the night in question that caused Lucy to snap. Maggie didn’t want that; it was a last resort.
She gathered the case files to look over them one more time. Maggie was determined to find the missing link and prove Lucy’s innocence, while also trying to uncover the real killer. Maggie would never be able to live with herself if the wrong person was convicted. Only one question remained: If Lucy didn’t kill then … who did?