‘Do you have a deck of cards?’
‘Yeah, somewhere.’ He pulled open one of the doors in the walled unit, behind which were books, CDs, DVDs and other bits. It didn’t take him long to find the cards.
Kate took the deck as he sat down, shuffling them. ‘Let’s say we’re looking at a six-card spread and, believe me, there are many variations.’ She tidied the cards neatly together. ‘I’ve been thinking about a Celtic-cross spread.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s a modification that arose over continental Europe, which would fit for most jurisdictions.’ She placed a five of diamonds face up on the table. ‘The A card,’ she pointed to the five of diamonds, ‘represents you – it’s at the centre.’ She placed the queen of spades over the first card, forming a cross. ‘This card, the crossing or issue card, represents the crux of the issue.’
‘How come you know so much about the Tarot?’
‘As I told Mark Lynch, I studied them for an investigation in the UK.’
‘I don’t know about this.’
‘Stick with me for a few minutes.’ She positioned a third card to the far left of the other two, the three of hearts. ‘This is the limitation card, the potential snag in your plans. It can represent your past, a challenging mother injecting defeatist thoughts …’ her mind slipped back to her own mother, and how her lack of self-belief may have been formed because of her grandmother’s harshness ‘… but, like the others, it’s open to different interpretations.’ Placing another card top centre, she continued, ‘The crowning or conscious card represents what you can control, and the unconscious card, which I’m placing at the bottom centre, is the killer’s unconscious or subconscious awareness. It’s the part of them they’re mindful of, an inner voice or layer that they recognise it would be foolish to ignore.’ The final card she positioned to the far right of the first card. ‘This card represents what is likely to occur in the future. It is not the final outcome, simply the next step on the journey.’
‘How is this of any use to us?’
‘If our killer is dealing with an issue, something deep set, possibly influenced by limitations from their past, they are acutely aware of the things they can control and, coupled with that, they have a perceived outcome in their mind. Everything stems from what went before. It’s the same with all human behaviour. The past forms the present and, carrying on from there, an individual’s future. If our killer is on a journey, and a concrete link to the Parisian case can be made, whatever happened in Paris nine years ago happened for a specific reason. It is also possible that the image created at each of the crime scenes is telling us something about the killer’s current mind-set.’
‘Which can change over time?’
‘Precisely. The depiction of the Hermit card could be the killer’s way of saying they were ready to retreat, adopting the life of the card through introspection and solitude.’
‘Kate, you said the Hangman reflected acceptance or the forming of a new point of view.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then Rick Shevlin’s murder could be the end of the road for our killer. They could be accepting their fate.’
‘Or they could be moving on, looking in a completely different direction.’
‘I don’t know …’ He stood up, almost agitated. ‘The way I see it, the big issue is not whether or not these crime scenes are messages from the killer, but the fact that we could be dealing with a murderer who has operated undetected for a long time and isn’t geographically contained.’
‘O’Connor, I’ll be honest with you. I have my reservations about Mark handling this case. He can be over-zealous to say the least.’
‘Letting the power go to his head, is he?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Well, from tomorrow morning, whether he likes it or not, he’ll be stuck with me.’
Kate noted the bitterness in his words. There wasn’t a whole lot more to add, and it was only when she walked towards the door to leave that she noticed the photograph to the side of the flat-screen TV. It was of a teenage boy. His resemblance to O’Connor was undeniable. Without thinking, she picked it up. ‘Who’s this?’
Taking it from her, he placed it on the unit in the exact same spot. ‘He’s my son. His name is Adam.’
‘A good, strong name.’ She knew to tread carefully.
‘It’s my name too.’
She waited.
‘I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve never mentioned him.’
‘You don’t owe me an explanation.’
‘Don’t I?’
‘You must have had your reasons for not saying anything.’