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The Lake House
  • Текст добавлен: 5 октября 2016, 22:04

Текст книги "The Lake House"


Автор книги: Helen Phifer


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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

Chapter Fifteen

Will pulled up behind the two vans with flashing lights and ducked under the crime-scene tape that was sealing off the drive. Cathy was huddled to one side, her arms wrapped around herself, and Will didn’t think he’d ever seen her looking so scared. She was talking to the young officer who must have been first on scene and she smiled to see Will.

‘Thank God you’re here. This is a right mess. My daughter found it because I told her to take her sodding football out of the boot of the car. All the way home, around every bend, there was a thudding sound as it rolled from one side of the boot to the other.’ She shivered.

‘How is she? That must have been an awful shock for her.’

‘She’s inside the house with her two friends. I think she’s calmed down now. At least she’s stopped bloody screaming.’

Will walked across to the boot of the car and peered inside; he felt his insides turn to ice as two cold, dead eyes stared back at him. He couldn’t say because that was Matt’s job, but he would bet money that this head belonged to the body Stu had found this morning. He had no idea who this woman was. She hadn’t even been reported missing, but whoever she was she hadn’t deserved to die like this. He turned to Cathy who was relatively calm now that she’d got over the initial shock.

‘What are we going to do, Will?’

Before he could answer he heard Jake’s voice talking to the officers standing guard. He turned and saw Annie in the front of Jake’s car and smiled at her. He was going to kill Jake, bringing her here. He strolled over to Jake, grabbed hold of his elbow and dragged him over to where Cathy was.

‘What the fuck are you doing bringing Annie here – to a crime scene?’

‘She wouldn’t stay with Alex. What was I supposed to do? And do you not think she’s been to enough crime scenes? I think she knows what to expect and I’d rather she was here where we can all keep an eye on her. I made her promise to stay in the car.’

Cathy looked at them both.

‘So I’m asking once more, what are we supposed to do? It’s getting personal. Why would whoever this is put a head in the boot of a police officer’s car? They must have known that it was. I’m trying my best to think of a reason that someone might want to do something so sick and twisted but I can’t. Every single time it comes back down to him. He is the only person sick enough, with an axe to grind and a grudge as big as a mountain. We don’t know where Henry Smith is but I’m positive that he sure as hell knows where we are. We couldn’t be easier to find. We even had the bloody flashing lights and bells to give him a clue.’

Will felt a surge of anger so hot that he turned and punched the brick wall. He wanted to kill Henry Smith.

‘Argh.’

He began shaking his hand and Jake stepped in front of him so Annie couldn’t see what he was doing. Jake grabbed his arm.

‘You need to calm down. What good is it going to do if you give yourself a heart attack? We need to find this bastard and I mean like today, like now, because I know he’s coming for Annie whether we like it or not. She can’t be left alone and I’m completely serious. From now on you or I do not leave her side, and if work don’t like it then they can go fuck themselves. It’s us and Kav and I think Cathy will agree. We need to form our own little task force, and so be it if I lose my job, but we need to turn the tables and hunt him down. And when we find him this time he’s not going to get away. I’ll personally escort him back to that secure unit and throw away the key.’

‘You’re right. I totally agree. It would be too much of a coincidence to have another psycho on the loose, so yes, I’m with you. I’ll get everything together I can. There must be someone who saw him around the time he put the head in the back of Cathy’s car. I mean, come on, it was broad daylight outside a police station. Somewhere there must be a camera in the area that has captured him. We need to find out what vehicle he was driving because he didn’t just stroll through the centre of Bowness with a severed head in his hand.’

Jake nodded. ‘That’s a good point. He needs a vehicle to take his victims away and then drive up to Bowness. He’s playing us all, leaving the bodies in Barrow where you’re on duty and the heads for us to find. I’m not scared to admit I’m worried. He knows exactly what he’s doing.’

Cathy stepped closer. ‘I’m with you. He’s probably mentally unbalanced Georgia for God knows how long. She’s never going to want to look in a car boot again for the rest of her life. As much as I’m all for keeping to the rules, it’s gone past that now. If he’s willing to take such blatant risks as this we need to find him fast.’

She pointed to the boot of the car. ‘He doesn’t care and he has nothing to lose. I reckon he knows it’s only a matter of time before the net closes in and that makes him even more dangerous.’

She stopped talking as the chief superintendent’s black Land Rover pulled up outside her house. She looked at her ex-husband behind the wheel and turned away muttering.

‘Jesus, that’s all I need. I can’t stand the prick on a good day and today’s a pretty shit one. Hold me back if I try to smack him, will you? I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. And don’t say a word about our conversation to anyone. I don’t want him getting involved. You know what a brown-nosing, glory hunter he is. The less he knows the better. It can be between us. We can cut our wrists with a piece of broken glass after and hold our bleeding hands together to seal the deal.’

Will finally broke a smile. ‘Thank you, it means a lot to me to know that we’re not on our own. When we’ve finished here we’ll go to Jake’s if you’re still up for it.’

‘Yes, I’m going to make the idiot take Georgia either back home with him so she can spoil his evening or to her friend’s house so she can get some sleep away from this mess.’

‘I’ll take Annie back to my house. You come as soon as you’re done, Will.’

Will walked Jake back to the car and opened the passenger door where Annie was sitting. He bent down and kissed her on the lips, not caring who was looking. He loved his wife and they could stuff procedures.

‘Why, Will? What’s the point of it all?’

‘Hey, you’re the psychic one, not me. Can you not figure it out?’

She laughed and it made him feel better.

‘I’m still not that great at the whole psychic thing. Sorry.’

‘Look, Jake’s going to take you back to his house. There’s nothing you can do. I will be there as soon as we’ve processed the scene and then I’ll come back with Cathy. Annie, I’m deadly serious. You are not to go anywhere on your own from now on. I’m not taking any chances. We don’t know for sure, but who else could it be other than Henry Smith?’

She lifted her hand and stroked the side of his face.

‘I won’t; I promise I’ll be a good girl.’

‘Well, that would make a refreshing change.’

He shut the door and stepped back so that Jake could drive away and take her back to his warm, safe house.

Will walked over to the chief super who was shooting daggers at the back of Cathy’s head.

‘Right, sir, we have a big problem, a really big problem.’

The chief super tore his attention away from his ex-wife and looked at Will. His face was pale and Will couldn’t help being a little bit glad that he was feeling as bad as Will was.

‘I think you might be right. What are we going to do? Because I’m not happy that someone is going round leaving severed heads in police officers’ cars.’ He lowered his voice. ‘As much as I dislike Cathy, I don’t like the fact that my daughter was the one to discover it. Is this a coincidence? Is whoever this is targeting my family? Should I be worried?’

‘No, sir. I don’t believe he was targeting her as such. I think he was targeting my wife, Annie. He didn’t know what car she was driving so he put it in the only one he could gain access to, which unfortunately was Cathy’s. I’m gravely concerned that this is the work of Henry Smith, sir, and I think he’s going to come after Annie again.’

‘Shite, now what the bloody hell are we going to do? This is a complete mess.’

‘Well we need to find him – and as soon as possible before he does something that I won’t be able to live with.’

‘Yes, right. Leave it with me; I’ll…erm…I’ll get a team together. We’ll have a briefing in the morning, eight o’clock sharp, and see what we can do.’

Will supposed it was better than he expected. At least he’d listened and wasn’t arguing. Two teams would be better than one. Surely between them all they should be able to find the murdering bastard and put him back behind bars.

1 January 1931

James opened his eyes and wondered where he was. Grey light filtered through the curtains and he turned on his side and saw Joseph’s train set on the floor. Then it hit him. He felt around for his wife but she had left him, so he got out of bed to search for her in the bedrooms. He made his way to the staircase and saw her slumped over in a heap on the bottom step. He rushed down the stairs, calling her name, scared that she had died from shock or something. She moved and let out a soft groan and he sighed. Sitting next to her, he pulled her close.

‘I was so scared when I saw you then, I thought…’

He didn’t finish his sentence; he couldn’t say the words out loud.

‘He’s not coming back, James. I went into the cellar to look for him myself last night because I couldn’t sleep. There’s something down there and it chased me. I only just managed to get to the top and slam the door shut, otherwise I wouldn’t be here now.’

‘Who is down there? Why didn’t you call for me and the police?’

He looked at his wife whose pale green eyes blinked back tears as she tried to find the right words.

‘I was too scared. What have you done, James?’ Her voice was rising with every word as the hysteria bubbled below the surface. It finally burst as she screamed, ‘What did you do? Why did you bring that monster into our home? And now our son has gone.’ Her tiny fists began to pummel his chest and he sat there and let her. He didn’t grab her wrists to stop her because he knew, deep down inside, that this was his fault, and if hitting him made her feel better, he’d let her hit him all day.

The tears began to flow and her pounding on his chest slowed down as she slumped down, fear and exhaustion turning her into a crumpled wreck at his feet. She looked up at him.

‘How is that thing in our cellar – that creature that looks like a man – alive? James, you have to believe me. I’m not lying. This is the truth. I saw it and it chased me.’

‘I know you wouldn’t lie. I’m so sorry, Eleanor. I didn’t think it was real. I’m going down there now to look for it, see if I can reason with it.’

‘No. You mustn’t. You can’t because it wasn’t really a man. It had long, black shiny claws and sharp, pointed teeth. You know what it is. I only ever saw it once and it scared me so much. Why did you bring it into our home when I told you not to?’ She shuddered. ‘I can hear the sound of those claws scrabbling across the floor to get to me, echoing in my mind.’ He slid to the floor next to her, taking hold of her hand. James had never known Eleanor to get emotional or spooked, but at this moment in time she was terrified.

‘Tell me everything. I believe you.’

She nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a sodden handkerchief she pulled from her pocket.

‘It looked like that Windigo monster you had in your sideshow the night I met you. It was hiding in the corner and at first I thought it was afraid of me because it was hiding in the shadows, but then it got braver, and when it realised I was on my own it ran after me. I can hear those claws swiping through the air to get to me. I only just managed to get to the top of the steps before it grabbed me and then I slammed the door shut.’

She began to cry again and James held her. His stomach churned at the thought of the thing in the cellar taking his son and almost taking his wife. When she had cried herself out he kissed the top of her head.

‘I’m sorry, Eleanor. I had nowhere to keep it that was safe. For God’s sake, I thought it wasn’t real, that it was man-made. I can’t believe that it’s alive after all this time. How can that be? It doesn’t make any sense. I’m going to get Davey to fetch Farmer Mitchell and as many guns as he owns, and then we will go down into the cellar and hunt for this thing. I promise you I will shoot it dead myself, even if I have to go down into the drains. I don’t care. We can’t tell anyone what you saw; we’ll say it was some kind of giant water rat.’

‘Why, because people will think I’m mad?’

‘No, because no one will want to help unless they don’t know what it is they’re dealing with. People like to know what’s what. It’s easier to believe it’s something we know rather than some kind of monster.’

‘What about you, James? Do you believe me or do you think I imagined it?’

‘I believe every word you said. I told you I will hunt it down and find it if it’s the last thing I ever do. I’m also going to put some more bolts on the cellar door, just to be sure that whatever it is can’t get out.’

‘Thank you for believing me. I’m so scared for Joseph. It must be able to come and go, so it might have taken him somewhere. He must be so terrified on his own.’

James didn’t want to tell her that he didn’t think it had taken Joe because it felt like it. Something like that would need to eat. What would it live off? A piercing pain shot through his heart and he almost doubled over with the severity of it. After a minute he straightened up and realised that what had just hit him had been pure, raw grief for his son.

James got dressed then went outside to the outhouse where his tools were kept. He found what he needed to make the cellar secure and stop whatever it was from escaping. He believed everything Eleanor had said, confirming his worst fears. He knew she felt like she was losing her mind but she would no more lie than she would hurt a hair on their children’s heads. If she said she had seen a monster, then that’s what it was. It must have a way in and out of that cellar. If it came in through the drain, it must lead somewhere. It had to live somewhere. He’d never heard another person speak of such a thing in the area so it was very good at hiding itself. He wondered how long it had been living below the ground like that and what it lived in.

It had been more than a year since he’d moved it in, never checking on it once because he didn’t think he needed to. He imagined it had a huge nest somewhere deep in the earth that was full of human bones and he felt the bile rise in the back of his throat, because at the top of that pile would be his son, Joe. He stormed back into the house where he began banging and screwing an assortment of bolts and padlocks onto the cellar door. If it wanted to come into the house it would make so much noise he would have his shotgun at the ready for it the minute it burst through the door.

Eleanor had washed and dressed Martha and was reading to her in the drawing room. He’d looked in on them on his way in and his heart had filled with sorrow for his son, who should have been sitting next to them. A loud hammering on the front door made him stop what he was doing. Lucy rushed to open it and he saw the two policemen from last night.

‘Good morning, Mr Beckett. Is there any news? Has Joseph turned up with his tail between his legs?’

‘Good morning, officers. I would give everything I own to be able to say yes to that question. Have you any news?’

‘I’m afraid we haven’t, sir. We’ve organised a search party to come and meet us here in half an hour so we can search the gardens and woods again. Two of the local boatmen have kindly offered to check the lake.’

James flinched at the thought of them finding his son floating in the cold water, and he knew it was a very real possibility. He nodded at them both.

‘That’s very kind of them and yourselves to sort this out. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate it.’

Eleanor walked out holding Martha’s hand. She looked at James, then continued walking to the kitchen, pausing to look at the new locks and bolts that he had fixed to the door. She nodded her head in approval. The men waited for her to reach the kitchen and then the officer who was in charge lowered his voice.

‘Can I ask why all the locks?’

‘My wife is terrified that our daughter might go down there looking for her brother and it’s too dangerous.’

‘Once we have the search party organised we’ll give it one last once-over if that’s okay with you?’

‘It is. I’ve already organised some neighbours to come and help me search the cellar. Davey has been to ask Farmer Mitchell to come over with some guns.’

‘Can I ask you, sir, why you need guns? We’re looking for a missing nine-year-old boy, not hunting.’

‘I want to make sure everyone is safe. This might sound really strange to you but my wife believes some animal came out of the drain in the cellar and may have taken Joe away deep down into the drains somewhere.’

‘And you believe your wife, do you, sir?’

He nodded his head. ‘I do, officer, one hundred per cent, and if you are a wise man then you should believe her as well.’

The two policemen looked at each other as if to say he’d lost his mind, but James didn’t care. He had told them as much as he could and if they didn’t believe him that was their choice. He wouldn’t feel bad if whatever it was helped itself to them after he’d warned them. Davey walked in with Mitchell, who took his cap off and nodded at James.

‘I’m sorry to hear about Master Joe. I’ve brought guns and ammunition.’

‘Thank you, Mitchell, that’s very kind of you.’

‘It’s the least I could do.’

James turned to look at the policemen. ‘Would you mind if we go down and start to search for my son?’

‘Not at all, but be careful with those guns. I don’t want you blowing your limbs off. Sanders will accompany you down there while I wait up here for the others to arrive.’

James noted the look the younger man gave his older colleague. He wasn’t impressed and didn’t want to go down into that cellar either.

‘Would you excuse me while I go and speak to my wife?’

James didn’t give them a chance to reply. He turned and walked to the kitchen where he kissed both Martha and Eleanor on their heads.

‘I want you to stay in here with Martha, Lucy and Mary. I’m going into the cellar with Davey, Mitchell and Sanders the policeman. The other policeman is waiting up here for the rest of the search team to arrive. I want you to shut this door and push a chair under it so you are all safe. If anything should happen, God forbid, you take Martha and you run from this house as far away as possible. I will come and find you as soon as I can but you are not to wait here for me. Do you understand, Eleanor? You and Martha are the most precious things in my life and I will not knowingly put either of you in any danger.’

She nodded her head, then stood up and kissed him. She didn’t care that the staff or Martha were watching. She loved this brave, foolish man more than life itself.

Chapter Sixteen

Henry wondered what was happening right now, and who had been the lucky recipient of his gift. He had finally driven back to the caravan park after spending some time alone and was ready to see Megan. He parked the van and pulled his hood up as he strolled back down to his home. Megan flung open the door, jumped down the three small steps and threw her arms around his neck.

‘Where’ve you been? I was convinced you’d got caught. I’ve been so worried about you. Why didn’t you ring?’

‘I had to wait for the right opportunity to dispose of our package. Do you have any idea how busy Windermere is at this time of day?’

He was secretly pleased that she had been worried about him. Relationships had never been his strong point in life and his psychiatrist, Doctor Grace Marshall, had commented several times about his lack of female companionship over the years. She’d asked him if his frustration was sexual, which he’d found far too much of an intimate question to ask someone she barely knew. He went inside and Megan followed, shutting the door behind her then turning the lock. He sat down and she walked over and sat down on top of him.

‘Jesus, Henry, I have needs, you know. I like sex and you’re almost turning me into a nun.’

He smiled, then grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her mouth towards his. She pulled away from him and grinned.

‘Now that’s more like it. Oh, before I forget, there were a load of coppers at the house next door earlier.’

The passion left Henry as soon as it had come. He sat up and pushed her off his lap, turning to look out of the small window that looked onto his hole in the hedge.

‘What were they doing?’

‘I don’t know, but there were four women and that young woman who helps the old bird out. They were looking into the boathouse windows and all the outhouses.’

‘Shit, shit, why didn’t you phone me and tell me?’

‘What, and have you drive straight past them? I’m not totally stupid.’

‘No, you’re not. I didn’t mean that. What were they doing that for?’

‘I don’t know but it didn’t look serious. They were all laughing when they drove away in the van.’

‘How do you know that? You can’t see the drive from here.’

‘I snuck through your hole in the hedge and watched from the corner of the boathouse to make sure. They didn’t go inside it. In fact they spent longer in the house than they did outside.’

Henry began to pace up and down, making the caravan rock slightly.

‘Are you mad at me, Henry?’

‘No, of course not. Why would I be? I’m just a little bit puzzled as to what they wanted.’

‘Well, whatever it was, it couldn’t have been important or they’d still be there. Maybe they were looking for that freak I saw last night.’

She stood up and took hold of his hand. She led him to the bedroom and he followed her. She was right. They had nothing to worry about. If they knew he was here they wouldn’t be searching the house next door. This place would have been crawling with plain-clothes officers. He let Megan undo the buttons on his shirt and push him down onto the bed, trying to stop worrying if this was the beginning of the end.

***

Will and Cathy watched as the recovery truck drove away with her daughter’s car for a full forensic search, which would be carried out first thing in the morning by whichever CSI was on duty.

‘Christ, it was a pile of shite anyway, and I certainly don’t want the bugger back now. I can’t get rid of the image of that head rolling around, thudding against the boot every time I turned a corner.’

Her daughter had been driven away by her father, who had dropped her off at her friend’s house. Cathy knew he wouldn’t be bothered mollycoddling Georgia all night so he’d have been glad to get shut of her. She went inside her house and made sure it was locked up then went back out. She’d got changed into some joggers and a T-shirt. Will was just putting the screwed-up ball of crime-scene tape into her bin.

‘I didn’t think you’d want that left across your drive for the neighbours to gawp at.’

‘No, I don’t. Cheers. Come on, let’s get to Jake’s. I’m starving and I need a glass of something strong. I’m still in shock, you know.’

‘I can imagine, and I think I need a glass of something as well.’

She got into his car, which smelt of his aftershave and peppermint chewing gum.

‘Annie’s a lucky woman. You always smell so damn good.’

He laughed. ‘I suppose she is, but then again she could say that I’m a lucky man.’

‘Yes, you are, but I won’t hold it against you. Now get me to Jake’s and feed me because I’m like one of those little mogwais from that film Gremlins. If you feed me too late I turn into a monster.’

They arrived at Jake’s less than five minutes later and he’d opened the front door before they got out of the car.

‘All right, Will, boss?’

‘If you have something for me to eat you never have to call me boss again. I’m starving.’

They followed him inside to be met by the smell of Chinese takeaway and Cathy squeezed his arm.

‘I bloody love you, Jake Simpson. Did I tell you that I think you’re one of my best officers?’

‘Ha-ha, yes, you did…never. But flattery gets you everywhere. I wouldn’t have thought you’d have much of an appetite after seeing that…’ He left the word hanging in the air.

‘No. Well, an hour ago I wouldn’t have, but a girl’s got to eat. I have to keep my energy levels up if we’re fighting serial killers.’

They laughed, but it wasn’t funny and they all knew it.

In the kitchen, sitting around the dining table, were Kav, Alex and Annie. There were trays upon trays of food laid out and Cathy groaned.

‘Remind me to get invited round here more often.’

Jake opened the fridge door and pulled out some bottles of lager and a bottle of wine, then he set about flicking the caps off and pouring wine into both Annie and Cathy’s glasses. They all sat down and did nothing but eat for the next twenty minutes. When the plates had been cleared and the table was empty it was Kav who started the conversation.

‘Plan of action from what I can see is: Annie, don’t try to be a hero. It’s gone past that shit. I think we’re talking about a life or death situation here. I’m sorry, but you are not to be left alone at any time. You are no match for Henry Smith and I think that the nurse, Megan Tyler – the one who helped him escape – has now become his accomplice, unless that head in Cathy’s car belonged to her.’

Annie nodded and sipped her wine. ‘I agree, but why are you so sure that it’s him? We don’t know that and there isn’t anything that ties him to the scenes as yet. How could a nurse go from being a caring person to a killer’s sidekick. What if it’s some copycat?’

‘If it’s a copycat they would be doing exactly what Smith’s done in the past, Annie – slitting throats, not severing heads. Think about it. He wanted you dead and you almost killed him. He’s had almost two years to think about his revenge and, all of a sudden, he’s dropped off the radar.’

Will nodded. ‘I think Kav’s right. We can’t afford to take any chances. If it isn’t Smith and it’s someone who isn’t remotely interested in you, then there’s no harm done, is there? But if we don’t take precautions and something were to happen…’

Annie finished, ‘Then none of you would be able to live with yourselves. I get it and I’m touched that you care enough to want to help, but I don’t expect anyone to put themselves at risk for me.’

Cathy tipped her head back and downed her wine, holding the empty glass out to Jake. ‘Look, it’s a complete pain in the arse. You’re a complete pain in the arse, Annie, but I’d rather be prepared and look an idiot if nothing happens. So you all have my permission to keep your radios, CS gas, tasers, body armour, batons – whatever you think will help at home – on you at all times.’

Jake winked at Annie, deciding not to tell Cathy they already had everything. He didn’t want to push his luck. Will stood up and asked Jake for a notepad and pen, then he walked across to the breakfast bar and began to make a list.

‘Why would someone abduct women and shave off their hair – the first victim had her hair cut off in clumps; this one had her hair completely shaved – then kill them and cut off their heads? What’s the point of it all?’

Kav stretched forward. ‘The point is the shock value. He wants to have a huge impact on whoever finds the head. I think if Jake hadn’t stumbled across that first one there would have been an anonymous phone call to the police stating that they’d found a head, but you saved them the trouble. The one today was purposely planted in the car of someone who worked at the station. And why? Well, we all know why. Because whoever did it knew that Annie would find out.’

Annie lifted her hand to her mouth. ‘He won’t know about the Mini, will he? If it was him he would have been looking for my red Mini. He probably thought the Mercedes belonged to one of the supervisors and that the Clio was mine.’

They all nodded in agreement.

‘So here’s the million-dollar question: where is he staying? Is it in Barrow or Bowness? And where could the two most wanted fugitives in Britain be living relatively incognito at this moment in time? They wouldn’t be able to rent a house. You need references and money to do that. I doubt they could afford to stay in a hotel or guest house. They would need more anonymity than that would afford them.’

‘What about a camp site or caravan park? They would pretty much be able to come and go as they please, especially this time of year, and it would be much cheaper to stay there than anywhere else.’

‘I think you’re right, Annie.’

Will leant across and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Tomorrow we’ll compile a list of the nearest ones and take them one at a time. We can send plain-clothes officers in to speak to the staff and show pictures of them around, see if anyone can recognise them.’

Cathy burped. ‘Excuse me. I think we might be on to something but this has to be hush, hush. If he gets an inkling that we’re searching for him it might make him panic and do something rash. I vote that we don’t even mention his name in any of the press releases. Keep the links to him tenuous at all times. We’ll keep it to ourselves for the time being and work our way through what you’ve just suggested. The only problem is: do you realise how many fucking caravan and camp sites there are? We’re in camp-site city. It could take months.’

‘Then we ask Grace Marshall for a favour, get her to do a geographical profile, see if she can narrow it down. It’s the least she can do seeing as how he walked out of her hospital without so much as a second glance back.’

Will was busy scribbling it all down. Alex stood up to go and check on Alice. There was nothing he could do. It was all way out of his league and he felt like a spare part. When he’d left Jake turned to the others. ‘So do you think he knows about us, where we live, what cars we drive?’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, if he didn’t know whose car belonged to whom then he doesn’t know much. He knows me and he knows Will, and I’m sorry, but he probably remembers you, Jake, from the trial, but he hasn’t got a clue where you live, or about Alex, or you, Cathy. His main focus is me and I think he’s just winging it, to be honest. I also think that that nurse who helped him, Megan, is helping him now, because it’s not easy to carry a body to a car and through a field on your own. The only reason he never took Emma Tyson to the old mansion was because he couldn’t carry her through the woods, so we need to be on the lookout for Megan as well. If she’s helping him to kill women then she could be just as dangerous – maybe even more than him. You hear of couples who get together and there’s something in the dynamics of the relationship that makes them thrive off each other and kill for pleasure. I think it’s the both of them.’


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