More hesitancy. More letters typedanddeleted. Thenareply.
Yes.
Tell me.
Her name was Irene Dow. I killed her.
‘Good,’ Dakers chirped. ‘He’d nowhere else to go.’ Narey kept at him.
You could have read about her in the media.
You could just be telling me what you think I want to hear.
I’m not.
Prove it. Tell me something only Irene Dow’s killer could know. Prove it now or I stop the video feed.
The pause was long enough to convince Dakers that a deception was coming, and he made a face to make sure Narey knew of his doubts.
I used a screwdriver to puncture her arteries at the wrists. The holes were small. The screwdriver was quite blunt, so I had to force it in. Is that enough?
Narey sat back in her chair, suddenly tired. He’d sliced off another chunk of what remained of her soul.
‘It’s true,’ she told Dakers. ‘I’ve read the Dow file. It’s true and it hasn’t been made public.’
Yes, she typed to Marr. It’s enough for me to believe you killed her. Thank you. But I want more.
No. You leave the feed on.
Let’s talk about Eloise Gray.
No.
I’ll turn it off. You know I will.
Silence. Anger brooding. Resentment rising.
Okay. What about her?
Why did Ethan choose her?
Her message was read. But he hesitated.
‘He’s thinking,’ Dakers said from behind her. ‘Thinking of a way to avoid it. Give him no room.’
I can’t be sure. She was Ethan’s choice. How can I guess his thinking?
‘Equivocation,’ Narey said it before Dakers did. ‘He’s avoiding saying a lie, avoiding saying the truth. He knows. We’re right.’
She typed.
You don’t have to guess. Do you? You know.
Hesitation.
Do I?
More equivocation.
You do. You know about Ethan Garland’s father. So you know why he choose Eloise. It’s because she looked like her, isn’t it?
Hesitation. Lots of it.
Like who?
You know who. And you tell me now or this feed goes off.
Hesitation. Words typed. Words deleted. More words typed.
Elizabeth Short. She was chosen because she looked like Elizabeth Short.
Narey sat back in her chair, momentarily stunned. She turned to Dakers, who nodded encouragement. ‘Go on.’
When did you learn what Garland’s father had done? Is that what brought you and Ethan together?
I’ve told you enough.
I think it was. I think you met in an online forum about murderers. Am I right? 4chan or 8chan or the like?
I’m saying nothing. We had a deal. It will be my turn to walk away if you don’t leave it on. I told you before, I’m not stupid.
No, you’re not. You’re an intelligent man, I know that. Setting up this messaging service shows that. Not everyone would know their way around a computer enough to know that.
A pause.
I think they would. Maybe most people would. It’s not that difficult. Even you might be able to do it. Okay, I’ve done what you asked. I don’t need to talk to you anymore. Keep that feed open.
The green light died.
Dakers turned to her. ‘“I think. Maybe. Might.” More equivocation. He’s hiding something.’
‘Yes. And I think I might know what.’
CHAPTER 50
Narey, Giannandrea and Wells were working it hard. Every lead was being chased down, even if most of them turned into cul-de-sacs.
Lee Fairley had lain low since his disappearing act from Langside. He’d only left his flat twice, but on one of those two trips he’d again given his surveillance team the slip. He was being tailed along Merrylee Road when he entered the White Elephant bar and restaurant. When he hadn’t re-emerged half an hour later, the DC following him went inside to be told the man had come in then walked straight across the restaurant and out the side door by the conservatory.
The DC went out the same door and emerged next to the car park, seeing immediately that all Fairley had had to do was step across a short wall and he was into an area of housing and away. Maybe he’d taken a shortcut, maybe he was just messing with his surveillance because he was pissed off at being watched. Either way, another hour later, he calmly returned home as if nothing had happened.
Fraser Anderson remained missing, whereabouts unknown. By the nature of his job, he didn’t need an employer as such, could work from home and never have to see another soul. Like Fairley, all he needed was a computer and an internet connection. No need for anyone to see his face or know if he was who he said he was.
They were trying to get information out of banks but that was never easy at the best of times and not in the timeframe that they were working with. Nor did it help that the chances of Anderson working under an assumed name to avoid the dark cloud associated with his service attack on the city council were pretty high.
Without being able to speak to him, all they had to go on was Erin Anderson’s brief on her ex-husband’s changeable character and the psychiatrist’s report from Carstairs. It ticked enough boxes that Narey was most definitely interested.
Angry when challenged. Controlling. Volatile. Possible borderline personality disorder. Potentially escalating violent tendencies.
Kerri Wells dug deeper into the John Paul Kepple case, discovering the priest that Kepple demanded to see, Father Kiernan, had left the area shortly after that, got transferred to a diocese in the south of England and died five months later. He was found at the foot of the stairs in the chapel house with a broken neck. Wells spoke to the local cops and it seemed they thought there was something suspicious about it but that they’d no evidence that it was anything other than a fall. Wells and Narey thought otherwise.
Kayleigh McGrath called again, putting Narey in touch with a friend who had some info on Andy, Brianna’s unknown one-time sort-of boyfriend. Mel Campbell had been with her in the Social the night she’d met the guy and had hazy recollections of him.
Narey went to the supermarket where the woman worked and they chatted in the car park, standing under a shopping trolley shelter as the rain lashed down around them.
‘Sorry, I know this isn’t ideal, but I didn’t want to do this in the shop,’ Campbell explained. ‘Too many nosy buggers in there. So, you want to know about this guy that Bri met? Kayleigh says it’s important.’
‘It might be. I honestly don’t know yet. But anything could be hugely important, so thanks for taking the time to talk to me.’
‘Sure. Of course. Well, the first thing is that we were all pretty drunk. We’d been drinking in my place before we went out, prosecco and gin, so a couple of drinks in town and we were fleeing. Plus, it was a few years ago now. So, I might not be remembering it right.’
‘Just do your best.’
‘Well, the reason I remember it was this guy wasn’t exactly Bri’s type. He was a few years older and not great looking, not the kind of “wow” guy she usually went for. But, like I said, we’d been drinking. She talked to him for ages and the rest of us thought she was taking the piss out the guy. But she came back over and said that he was really nice, and they were having a right good chat.’