A momentary quiet filled the room. Salgado broke it when he could no longer take the weight of the silence.
‘Okay, you say it could have been Marr or Garland. I buy your theory. Absolutely I do. But that still doesn’t quite explain why Garland was searching in Scotland. Why didn’t Marr do that?’
‘To cover themselves,’ O’Neill suggested. ‘No trail, electronic or otherwise.’
‘Yes. I’ve no doubt it’s that,’ Narey agreed. ‘If and when we get Marr, I’ll bet we find some interesting LA searches on his computer. Somehow, these two bastards met someone as bad as they are. Garland probably couldn’t believe his luck when he met someone just like him.’
CHAPTER 27
Narey and Marr. He trying to clamber into her head and she manoeuvring for a further glimpse into his. It wasn’t a game, more a battle of wills. A fight to the death.
Lennie Dakers was her corner man, taping up cuts, willing her on, cautioning her not to drop her guard.
When we last spoke, you told me about Brianna Holden dying. Then you said that none of what you told me was true. Which was it?
You decide.
No. How about you tell me? The video feed that you’re salivating over comes at a price. And that price is conversation and information.
I am not salivating. I’m watching. But I’ll talk. I said I would.
Thank you. How do I know you’re telling the about any of this? You could just be making it all up.
I could be. I’m not.
Prove it. Because I’m not sure I can believe any one person could be responsible for the number of killings that you’re hinting at.
Of course she could believe it. She’d seen it too often. But she wanted him to believe he was special, and to boast about it.
I can tell you things that no one else could know.
That made her breath catch and her pulse quicken.
Then tell me. Don’t indulge your sad little fantasies though. No bullshit. Just tell me something only the person who killed them could know.
You know that’s not how it works. I’ll tell you what I want. If you want to hear it, you’ll listen.
The sour taste in her mouth made her want to spit. She knew she’d listen. She had no choice.
I phoned the police the day after Ellen Lambert was killed. I can remember pretty much word word what I told them. You can check that, right?
Right.
I phoned at 2 in the afternoon. I told them I lived on the street but didn’t want to get involved. I said that I knew that a neighbour named David McLean had regularly been going in and out of Ellen Lambert’s house. That they had been having an affair and that lots of people in the street knew. I told them I’d heard that Ellen was going to tell McLean’s wife. After that, I hung up and left them to it.
Narey already knew that had been the substance of the anonymous phone call that had put Jim McMurray onto McLean’s trail. The contents of the call had never been made public.
How did you meet Ellen Lambert? How did you find her?
‘Flatter him,’ Dakers advised from her left.
How could you possibly have persuaded her to let you into her life or her home?
It was easy. It is when you know how.
Did you find her on a dating site? On Igloo or Amber or something?
I might have. Or Ethan might have.
So, he did it? How could he charm her enough that she trusted him? We know Ellen didn’t go out much after being hurt in the past.
Maybe we do our homework. Maybe we’re just charming. She was lonely and needy. Ethan complimented her. He was nice to her. Sometimes that’s all people need.
What sort of homework?
She was on Facebook and on Instagram. Her life was on there. An open book. So, we liked what she liked. We hated what she hated. We made her laugh. Ethan even learned lyrics to Take That songs so he could slip them casually into conversation. She loved that.
And she just invited you to her home?
It took a lot of work. We had to earn it. It took three weeks to make her trust us enough to invite me over. She was wary and we’d nearly given up but she weakened. She was desperate, you see.
Why do you say she was desperate?
She’d been on her own for four years since she was last cheated on. Ethan consoled her for that and expressed his astonishment that anyone could do that to her.
While you were planning something much worse?
I suppose so. She invited us over. Just for a coffee and a chat. She trusted me to behave, she said. I told her when I’d arrive. To the minute. She opened her door and by the time she realised I wasn’t who we’d said I was, it was too late. She was so surprised when she saw me that she couldn’t work it out. She got stuck mid-sentence and by then I was inside.
Didn’t she scream?
She couldn’t. I made sure she couldn’t. When I took my hand off her throat, she told me she was expecting someone. That he’d be there any minute. I had to laugh. Was it Danny Cook? I asked her. I laughed at the look on her face. ‘I’m Danny. Aren’t you pleased to see me?’ She wasn’t. Then she did start to scream so I grabbed the fireside poker and hit her with it.
That hadn’t been the plan. I’d intended to string it out. Make it last. See how she coped with it. It was over far too quickly. One smash. Job done. And when I hit her, her face changed. She didn’t look like the same person anymore. In that split second, I lost all interest in her. I made sure no one was around, and I left.
Weren’t you worried you’d be seen going in?
No. I don’t worry. And she was trying to make sure her neighbours didn’t see me, so she told me to use the side door.
How can you do this, Matthew? How can you kill people and make it sound like it barely matters?
It doesn’t make any difference to me. They’re only victims.
They are people.
Not to me.
You don’t like people?
No. I don’t think I ever have.
There must have been someone. A wife, your parents, children?
Doesn’t mean I liked them. Not really. Not like they meant something. They were just there. Like furniture.
How could you marry someone if you didn’t feel anything for them?
People are different. I feel differently, doesn’t make it wrong.
Did your wife know that you didn’t like her?
Pause.
I didn’t say I was married.
But you were. You pretty much said that.
Pause.
I didn’t say it. I have people in my life. Everyone has. That’s all I meant. They are fittings and fixtures.
She made a note on the pad in front of her. Was married.
Matthew, why did you lose interest in her after she didn’t look as she had before?
It had been minutes since Marr had typed the line and the delay in answering perhaps suggested it took him by surprise.
What?
You said she didn’t look like the same person.
I don’t remember saying that. You must have got it wrong.
I’ve just reread it. That’s what you said.
She just looked different. From what she had before.
I don’t believe you. Who didn’t she look like anymore?
Her. She didn’t look like herself. Ellen Lambert.