Amy Cooper Forever

by Craig Mullins

  Now, for the readers that have read this far you may be a bit confused. Earlier you may remember me telling you about all the fun I had with Amy on that final night, well I may have misrepresented it slightly. Not intentionally you understand. It was as I began writing about that night that my misconception reared it’s ugly head, I realised I had created a perfect evening in my mind. But when it came to putting pen to paper I knew I had to tell the story exactly how it was – warts and all. The truth was the night was not what I had dreamt it would be. I’d built the night up so much in my head, it was a last romantic evening with the girl I’d loved from the first moment I’d laid eyes on her, that it passed me by that it was the night I was to murder her in cold blood. Don’t get me wrong I don’t regret what I did, just the manner in which I did it. I should of taken care of the pair of them the night I caught them in the act. I know the right thing would have been to walk away and never look back from that night, forget she existed, carry on with my life without her being a part of it. If I had taken that route I would not have found the peace I now enjoyed, I’d have tormented myself over what could have been and the life she was living without me.

  I make no apology for misleading you earlier in the book, as I was writing it what I told you was true. Or at least the truth as I knew it then. I have evolved the same way the story has evolved, I believe you now have the true account of that night, I could have embellished and romanticised the evening but it would have been a lie.

  I started the drive back to my apartment listening to sixties music on the radio. It was upbeat and it made me feel good – not that I felt bad, the night had been successful, I had taken minimal risk, and I still had the morning to tidy up any possible loose ends. The one thing that would have been nice to finish the evening off would have been some female company, my body craved a release that self fulfilment would not satisfy. As much as I wanted to take Amy in this way I knew it was wrong. It would have been so easy, her prone body could not have resisted and that was the problem. No resistance meant no response, and I would have wanted her to feel every moment and to enjoy it. Though you may find it hard to believe I had morals, and taking Amy against her will was one line I wasn’t prepared to cross.

  My only solution was a quick detour to South Quay, I knew that late at night and into the early hours there were certain girls available for certain acts. It was twenty to one as I cruised along, the cargo boats moored to the right and the large industrial units to my left. I spotted what I was looking for a couple of hundred yards ahead. The sodium lights cast a yellow glow over the battleship grey Royal Navy frigate. Where there were sailors, there would always be girls. Sure enough as I drew closer in the shadows of buildings were groups of women – no, girls would be more appropriate. I pulled up alongside them, there were maybe half a dozen stood chatting. A quick scan and I settled on the one I wanted, she appeared to be the shyest and youngest. She separated herself from the main group but still tried to remain within their circle. I caught her eye and gestured for her to come over to my car. She was perfect, blonder than Amy but build and looks were close enough. She walked over and didn’t look back at the others, they appeared oblivious to her leaving them too. I promised her fifty pound if she would come back to my apartment for an hour, I told her it was only a couple of minutes away. She seemed thrilled with the offer and couldn’t get in the car quick enough. I drove back across the bridge to Southtown and my apartment. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her legs, her skirt was barely more than a belt and her top was low cut exposing immature breasts.

  I parked on the gravel outside my home and told her to wait for me at the front door while I grabbed a couple of bits from my car. I looked around to see if there was anyone about, the last thing I wanted was to be seen taking a hooker into my apartment. Inside I asked her if she wanted a drink.

  “Have you got vodka?” She asked.

  “Sure, you want anything with it?”

  “No thanks”

  I poured us both a drink, and set them on the breakfast bar. She grabbed her glass and the liquid flowed down her throat without touching the sides. “Payment before anything.” She said.

  “Of course.” I handed her two twenties and a ten, then I offered her a further twenty if she would agree to a special request. She took the seventy and the items I handed her and went to the bathroom. Five minutes later she came out and I wasn’t disappointed.

  I motioned for her to join me in the kitchen, she walked over and she looked stunning in the underwear I had removed from Amy less than two hours ago. As she stood in front of me I could tell that she was new to this type of work, this was even better than I had imagined. I was harder than I had been in a long time. I lifted her up and sat her on the edge of the breakfast bar, apart from her inability to fill out the bra top like Amy had she was perfect. As much as I knew I had no reason to give her any pleasure I wanted it to be like it was a couple of hours ago and that this was not some random hooker but my Amy.

  I started at her feet and kissed up each leg in turn stopping at the hem of the shorts. Before going any further I removed my t-shirt and jeans, then I gently massaged her through the shorts. I leant over her and lifted the bra up over her perky breasts, the nipples were hard and in turn I took each one into my mouth and chewed hungrily on them. All the while my hand pushed against the shorts. My groin was aching so much I thought I would explode. I felt a dampness come through where my hand was and knew I wouldn’t be able to forego my pleasure any longer. I tugged my boxers down and manoeuvred myself into position, with her legs over the end of the counter I moved the material of the shorts to one side to allow myself access to her hidden depths. She was warm and willing and very wet. I held an ankle in each hand and stretched her legs apart as I thrust deep and quick inside her. Her body started responding as I neared the point of no return, I closed my eyes and thought of Amy in those final minutes. So close to the end my mouth found her calf muscle and my teeth clamped on as I exploded inside her. She let out a scream, when I realised what I’d done I removed my mouth, I thanked god that I hadn’t drawn blood. With my desire sated, she took herself back to the bathroom to change back into her street clothes.

  “I left the underwear in the bathroom.” She said as she made her way to the door.

  “Would you like a lift back?” I thought it was only polite to offer. She declined and that was the last I saw of her. I never even found out her name.

  It was the perfect end to a memorable day, the only day I ever killed. The only day I ever wanted to kill. Adam’s fate would be worse, killing him would have been too easy.

  FORTY THREE

  “Are you ready to continue Adam?”

  “Yes. Where was I?”

  “Amy had asked you to leave.”

  “Right – my original plan had been to leave, but with Amy the way she was I stuck around to make sure she was alright. I caught up with her about an hour later, I’d stayed off the booze so my head was clear. I asked her to take a walk with me and to my surprise she agreed. I’d never seen her like that, she was vulnerable. She’d always been strong and confident. She held my hand as we walked to the end of her garden. We found a bench and we sat in silence for what must have been fifteen minutes. Then it all came out, she’d speak for a while, then cry, then speak some more. But what it all boiled down to was that she loved someone else. She felt guilty about sleeping with me which was why she was the way she was after we had sex.” He was silent but Sian didn’t want to say anything in case it put him off what he was telling her. “She said she realised while we were doing it, said that it had been in front of her all the time but she just hadn’t realised it. She thought she had probably loved him from the first time she had seen him but had been too young and immature. She apologised for what she said to me earlier in the evening but she had to find him to tell him how she felt.” He stopped but Sian could see something on his face, it was a look she had seen on witnesses faces before. It happened when they didn’t know whe
ther what they wanted to say had any relevance to the case. She watched his inner demons battle it out. “Something else happened that night. I don’t think it has any relevance but when me and Amy were… you know… someone opened the door. I looked up and I saw him standing there and he just watched, he must have been there for thirty seconds as I carried on, I smiled at him and he shut the door and left.”

  “I want you to think before answering my next question.”

  “OK”

  “Did you know the boy that opened the door?”

  Without hesitation he answered “Pinky, Amy’s friend.” It was the way he said friend that told Sian he had no idea that it was Pinky that Amy was in love with.

  Sian felt a tingle deep inside her at the prospect of being proved right, she reached into the folder and withdrew a photograph. She slid it across the table, it was the picture of a young man. “Do you recognise him?” She asked.

  “That’s Pinky.”

  That was the answer she had hoped beyond all hope she would get. This was the missing link, now everything clicked into place. She was disappointed that it had taken her this long for justice to prevail. Though she knew it wasn’t over yet, she first had to convince her boss that she was right, if she could accomplish that they would then need to persuade the CPS.

  Her drive back was much more sedate than her earlier one. She kept going over in her mind the events that had led her to this point. If she hadn’t decided to move from her flat to the beach side bungalow, she’d never have sorted through her boxes of previous cases. She believed that some larger force was directing her to fight for Adam’s freedom. If all the pieces hadn’t lined up then she never would have believed that the person behind the mutilation of Amy Cooper was ‘Pinky’ she didn’t know him as that but it was definitely him.

  She arrived home shortly before midnight, exhausted but with a renewed vigour. Tomorrow she would take what she had to her boss, hopefully it would be enough to convince him that there was reason to probe deeper. She was certain he would be as shocked as she was when he found out that it was possible ‘Pinky’ had murdered Amy Cooper.

  FORTY FOUR

  Today was the day Pinky had planned on finishing his book. He’d told the inmates that if they gave him peace and quiet to finish his manuscript then he would have a surprise for all of them for christmas. They had all agreed to keep the noise to a minimum, so by eight thirty he had started his final chapter. He was excited at the prospect of his book being finished. Excited and scared. He knew that at some point he would be charged with Amy’s murder. On the positive side he would finally get credit for his work.

  Chapter 13

  I feel I have been completely honest with you my readers, I have held nothing back and I hope you have enjoyed my tale. There are a couple of things that I think I should make clear before we come to the end of our journey together.

  Firstly, I loved Amy Cooper, and I believe I will always love her. I will admit that there were times when I didn’t respect her, I even came close to hating her. But beneath all of my anger there was always an undying love for her. I don’t regret what I did.

  Secondly, I am not a psychopath. I didn’t kill Amy for the sake of killing, I had my reasons and the fact you have read to this point must mean that you understand. Whether you agree with my reasons or not I really don’t give a fuck. I did what I had to do for my own sanity. I know that there will be some of you out there that will call me a murdering bastard or an unhinged psycho, that is your prerogative. There will be others of you, especially those of you that have been hurt the way I was that will applaud me. That leaves one other group, and to those I apologise. You are the ones that will think I didn’t go far enough in punishing Amy or Adam. You will see it as a missed opportunity, may even think of me as weak. I did what I had to do for me, not anyone else.

  Now with that cleared up I’ll go back to my story. With Amy out of my life I felt I would be ready to continue unhindered. I decided that for the immediate future my life would carry on as if nothing had changed. I would stay at my job, in fact that was a necessity as it formed part of my plan and had done from the outset. I saw Amy once more before she was buried.

  It was a few months later – after she had been laid to rest that my new life truly started. And that new life has lasted twenty four years.

  I appear to be at the end of my story for the time being. What happens next will happen, all I know is that I have laid out the facts as I believe them to be true. What the authorities choose to do with it once they become aware is up to them. I am happy to take credit now for my work. I may write another book to let my readers know what happens from this point onwards, also there are stories I have left out of this one because I didn’t want it to appear self indulgent. So for now I will say Adieu because I am certain that our paths will cross again.

  THE END

  Pinky looked down at the words he had just written, had he really just finished his first book? He placed his pencil to the side and sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. He had never been so proud of an accomplishment, at least not since the birth of his two daughters. He could hear Chef and Fiddler talking quietly, he appreciated that they had all remained quiet to let him finish his work. He looked at his clock, three forty-five, his stomach told him that he had missed lunch. If he was to be totally honest he couldn’t care, he was so excited about finishing that eating was the last thing on his mind. He wouldn’t say no to a glass of single malt though – maybe later! He opened his desk and took out the other two full pads, it seemed like a lifetime since he had written on the front cover of the first pad. He remembered back to when he wrote the words ‘Velvet Heart’, he had to admit he still wasn’t certain about the title. As he contemplated it he traced his finger around the large red heart he had drawn. He fought back the tears as the words began to resonate and the full implications of his novel sank in. The words would always be true regardless of what happened next, ‘Amy Cooper’ above the heart and ‘Forever’ below. Forever was a long time but he knew he would never stop loving her. By the time he had cleared out his desk, and placed everything in his satchel style bag it was five o’clock precisely.

  The day had gone quicker than he’d thought, he wouldn’t be seeing the inside of this cell for twelve days. His cell was the only one in the block without a door, as the duty guard he shared it with the others that worked on a rolling rota. He was currently on the day shift, Mark Walker had turned up fifteen minutes earlier with his trademark takeaway coffee in hand to begin his shift. It was the same ritual every time, a quick conversation about the previous eight hours, any issues etc. Pinky knew that Mark generally spent his time here watching porn on his iPad with headphones. The job requirement was generally babysitting a bunch of psychopaths, the rest of the guards used their time here to surf the internet, watch telly or sleep. Pinky tried to make his time productive. Unlike the others he liked the company of the inmates, he found he could have more informed conversations with them than any of his colleagues. It had been like that his entire working life, he’d worked for morons and sadists. There had been a couple of colleagues he’d liked but had never got that close to them.

  “Have a good Christmas Mark.” He said as he made his way out of the cell.

  “You too mate.” Pinky could see that he was already engrossed into whichever genre of porn was his current favourite.

  He walked up to the cell with Chef behind the bars, “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” He said as he extended his hand into the cell, he knew this was prohibited behaviour but it was Christmas. Chef took his hand and placed his other over the top of both of them, “You too my friend, and get your book out there, maybe one day you can be like us and spend all your days and nights in here.” They both laughed, Pinky knew none of them believed his story, they were all convinced he was writing a novel. Pinky had sworn to them on many occasions that his book was an autobiography but his assurances had been met with derision and laughter. />
  “Have a good Christmas the rest of you and don’t worry, I will come good on my promise to reward you for being well-behaved today.” He said as he walked down the corridor and was buzzed through three security doors before he reached the car park. It was dark and raining, but he was done for nearly two weeks. He ran across to his car, his satchel tucked inside his jacket to protect his work. He pressed the remote switch on his key fob and watched as the light flashed on his Renault Clio, although six years old he loved his little car.

  He was happier than he had been in a long time, and sang along to the songs coming from the stereo system – something he hadn’t felt like doing in a long time. He knew that once his book was published there were enough people that would believe in its validity for him to be arrested. A part of him couldn’t wait for it to happen, the prospect of being shackled in front of his family made him hard. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his wife, he did, just not the same way he had loved Amy Cooper. It took him fifty minutes to get home, the traffic on the A40 was horrendous but not enough to dampen his excitement. As he pulled into his driveway he smiled as he saw his wife through the living room window, it looked as if she was placing presents under the tree. He leant back in his seat, just wanting one more minute in his own private heaven. One more minute until normality took over. He was contemplating whether to let his wife read his manuscript, he laughed to himself as he imagined her reading it while sitting next to him in bed. He had often wondered what she would think of him when she knew what he’d been responsible for.