‘Garland was convinced of it because his father claimed it himself. Zac was happy for other people to think he was the Dahlia killer, but he was determined to have Ethan believe it. It’s one way to make your kid proud of you.’
‘The psych that’s been working with me, Lennie Dakers, has no doubt that’s what did the damage to Garland – the effect of believing that his father was a notorious killer, the man responsible for one the highest profile murders in the US. And crucially, he says, a murderer that was never caught. The power imbued by that knowledge left him feeling invincible, uncatchable, smarter than all of us. Nurture and nature at work, getting the worst kind of nurturing from the man that also gave him his DNA. For Ethan to be how he was, it didn’t matter that Zac hadn’t killed Elizabeth Short, it only mattered that he believed it.’
‘Rachel, I don’t mean to be rude but you’re a bit harder to understand when we’ve both had a couple of drinks.’
‘That’s funny. I was thinking you’re easier to understand.’
O’Neill laughed. ‘Touché. What’s Glasgow like, Rachel? I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland but never been. I guess like most Americans I’ve got an idea in my head that’s probably completely wrong.’
‘Well, you should come.’
‘I’d love to!’
‘Then do it. You can stay with us and I’ll show you around. Listen, if the idea about Scotland in your head is Brigadoon then yes, you’re completely wrong. And if you’re thinking it’s like Trainspotting then you’re still completely wrong. The truth is maybe somewhere between the two. Scotland is a small country but manages to squeeze in a whole load of very different places. Different cities, different islands, scores of different accents. Glasgow isn’t Scotland but it might be the best and worst of it. You’ll find out.’
‘I can’t wait to. If you’re serious, I’m booking a flight.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘Cool. Now what about Anderson? Have you got anything out of him?’
‘He’s admitted to four murders and denied any memory of another three. He’s lying, and he knows we know he’s lying. He’s playing games simply because he’s irritated at being fooled. He’s trying to take back control.
‘But what really gets to me is how matter-of-factly he describes what he did. No emotion, no remorse, as if he was telling us how he changed a tyre on his car. He will describe the most terrible thing and be genuinely surprised if we find it shocking or dreadful. He thinks it’s the most natural thing in the world that he and Garland operated together. To him, it makes complete sense.’
‘I think it would have done to Garland too. I really regret we never got the chance to do the same with him as you can with Anderson. It’s going to leave a lot of unanswered questions. And a lot of families not knowing what happened to their loved ones, or why. Of course, if he hadn’t died from that heart attack then we might never have known about any of this.’
‘You’d have got him eventually.’
‘Maybe. Maybe not. That’s the thing. It scares me how many of them are out there. Unknown serial killers. Murders that we don’t even know are connected. It scares me how many men are like Garland, like Anderson – emotionless, pathological, compulsive killers. Little or no reason to what they’re doing and therefore so much harder to catch.’
‘No point in it scaring you. They’re there whether we’re scared or not. Our job is to catch the fuckers.’
‘It doesn’t really scare me. Scared is for other people. It’s our job.’
‘I know.’
‘I know you know.’
They both laughed and took gulps at their wine.
‘Why do you do it, Rachel? Why do you put it all on the line, time after time? Go after people like Garland and Anderson?’
‘Obviously I could ask you the same question.’
‘Well, obviously, but I asked you first.’
‘Fair enough. I guess I’ve thought about this before. First, my dad was a cop, so it was in the blood. I grew up taking it for granted that the good guys went after the bad guys. For a long time, I thought my dad was a superhero – and he was, to me – but then I came to realise that he was just an ordinary man doing extraordinary things. The bottom line is, someone’s got to do it. And I want it to be me. It’s my job.’
O’Neill raised her glass in salute before sipping from it.
‘Okay, Cally, your turn.’
‘Oh, much the same. You know the quote about how all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men – always men of course, not women – to do nothing?’
‘Supposedly by Edmund Burke, but he never said it.’
‘Right. Well that. Whoever said it first, it’s right. I think people have three choices. Be the bad guy, be the good guy, or do nothing and hide your head in the sand. I don’t like sand in my face.’
‘Nor me. I guess that’s why we have to do it, because no one else will. It has to be someone like us.’
‘Someone like you. Someone like me.’