Chapter 55

‘What the hell?' Penn said as he turned the car into Sycamore Drive and saw Logan strong-arming his mother along the pavement.

On closer inspection, Logan appeared to be helping his mother back to the house. A limp in her left leg indicated she'd taken a fall. Yet there was something in his brain telling him that his glance back at the road had given Logan a chance to adjust his hold, and his first impression had been right.

‘Tiff?'

‘Yes, I saw it too.'

Penn stepped out of the car and approached the two of them. Logan's hand was now firmly on Olivia's elbow, offering support.

‘Everything okay?' Penn asked, looking to Olivia, who wouldn't meet his gaze. Her whole body seemed drained and shrunken.

‘We're fine. Mom just went out to post a letter and fell on the way back. Damn flip-flops. She will insist on wearing them all the time.'

Penn was growing more uneasy as Olivia nodded while staring at the ground. She had the air of a woman twenty years older.

‘Logan, may we speak to your mom alone?' he asked as Tiff moved forward to support Olivia on the other side.

‘I'm afraid not. She's not up to it. She hasn't been well, and now with this fall…I'm sorry, but I just need to get her inside and make sure she's okay.'

Penn blocked his entry through the gate. ‘I'm sorry, Logan, but I really must insist.'

Logan's expression changed in the face of an authoritative voice challenging him. The fire in his eyes showed how quick he was to anger. But Penn was not prepared to back down this time. Something about this woman was broken.

‘You have no right to insist. She's done nothing wrong. She briefly knew some guy who fell in the lake. It's not a crime, so can you kindly get out of my way, so I can get her safely into the house?'

Despite talking to Logan, Penn had been watching Olivia's body language. Although she hadn't yet lifted her head, there was a new tension to her body, despite the trembling he could see in her legs. She was definitely listening.

‘Step aside, Logan,' Tiff instructed in a voice Penn hadn't heard before.

‘Absolutely not,' he raged, grabbing his mother's arm even tighter. ‘And once I get Mom settled, I'm making a formal complaint about the conduct of?—'

‘Okay, Logan, you leave me no choice,' Penn said. ‘Olivia Dench, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of James Nixon. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.'

Olivia had finally raised her head, her eyes wide with shock.

‘I'm sorry, Olivia, but you're going to have to come with us now,' Penn said. ‘Logan can't come with you. Do you understand?'

Olivia's eyes rolled back in her head as she began to fall to the ground.

Penn was sure that before her body had given out, he'd seen one expression. It was the same look he'd seen on that little boy all those years ago.

He would swear he'd seen relief.