CHAPTER 44
One Week Later
Jess sat at her desk contemplating this deeply disturbing case. Mary Delaware, thought guilty of murder, was not the puppet master behind this horrendous scheme. The revelation threw the case into disarray; leaving her to grapple with the unsettling realisation, that justice, up until this point, had been elusive.
Mary Delaware was an unfortunate pawn that Martin Brass had framed because of her years of allegiance to the abusive priests that had destroyed his and his victim’s lives: Father O’Malley and now his deceased accomplice, Father Andrew Doyle. That fact the latter had been hiding in plain sight still plagued her conscience, his timely suicide ensured he would never face justice. Mary on the other hand, had submitted a miscarriage of justice appeal to the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission, which the Court of Appeal would hear: a place that had ruined many a coppers career.
In the aftermath, Brass’s motives remained shrouded in darkness, a complex labyrinth of pain and retribution, supposedly kept at bay by antipsychotic drugs. The case became a haunting enigma, challenging Jess to confront the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator in a narrative that echoed the intricacies of Agatha Christie's classic tales.
She knew as the investigation progressed, Martin Brass, the seemingly tormented victim, harboured a chilling secret that would reshape the entire narrative. Once a fragile soul, he had transformed into a masterful puppeteer, carefully orchestrating a façade that concealed his true intentions.
The wheels of justice turned slowly, but their pursuit of Martin Brass would be relentless.