He’d found the ribbons caught behind the wooden box. The colour – cherry red – caught his eye instantly. One inch wide, larger than the others, the ribbon had a perforated pattern running along both sides, which he would later discover was called a herringbone weave. It was the feel of it against his skin that he’d liked the most, not just the silk-like quality, which felt cool and smooth, but the herringbone edges, which delicately, but undeniably slowed the movement down, allowing for a more intense experience.
Now he rolled up the small cutting of ribbon and carefully placed it deep inside the pocket of his jeans. The ribbon was the first thing he had ever stolen, and it gave him a sense of power, just like that day in the sacristy. He hadn’t felt any guilt on either occasion. Even the fear of being caught became, eventually, part of the allure.
Once the Carina was as clean as it could be, he tidied everything away before switching off the floor lamp. The garage was trapped in darkness. He would need to return tomorrow – he had more plans for the car. It was a number of days since he’d visited Cronly, and it didn’t do to allow these things go unattended for too long. The time would soon come when he would have to consider selling the old place. He had already made discreet enquiries in the town. After all, even in today’s market, it would fetch a decent sum. For now, though, it would remain as it always was, except for one small detail – his late mother no longer lived there.
Home of Jessica Barry
Saturday, 8 October, 2.30 p.m.
O’CONNOR’S MOOD HAD NOSE-DIVED AFTER THEIR visit to Innes, and as they pulled away from the Devines’, Kate could see it had deteriorated even further. His shoulders were tense and he relieved his obvious stress by driving far too fast, his use of foul language upped a hundred-fold the more other people got in his way. She was about to say something when his mobile rang. He barked into it, ‘What?’ He listened for a second and then hung up.
‘Gunning,’ he said. ‘He says Jessica and her mother are ready to see us.’
Kate looked at the dashboard clock wondering what Declan and Charlie were up to. She had already been gone most of the day, a point which would be regurgitated by Declan when she got back. She jumped as O’Connor suddenly thumped the steering wheel, obviously caught up in negative thoughts of his own.
‘It would help everyone, O’Connor, if you would calm down.’ Kate’s voice was tense.
He glanced at her. ‘Yeah, well, let me clarify some things for you, Kate. I am calm, but I’m also fucking livid. Gunning should have picked up that scene from the girl’s window. She was abducted less than a mile from her house, for fuck’s sake, bleeding sick bastard.’
‘I assume you’re referring to the killer and not Gunning,’ she said, raising her eyebrows.
‘You assume right,’ he snapped back.
‘No need to take it out on me, O’Connor. My job is to analyse the killer and his actions. It’s your job to find him. Killers are just like the rest of the human race, they rationalise their behaviour to make excuses for what they’ve done. We need to work out what he’s thinking, and why.’
‘Well, Kate, most of the human race don’t do fucked-up things like this.’
‘Look, I’m just making a point. Whether we like it or not, the way his mind works is important if we have any chance of working out what he’s going to do next.’
‘The only thing I’m thinking right now is that two young girls are dead, and back there in that house there are three people trying to pick up the pieces because of someone else’s messed-up head.’
‘Which is exactly why we need to calm down and shelve the angry outbursts.’
O’Connor let Kate’s last sentence stew for a while before grabbing his phone again and calling CCIU to check for updates on Innes’ computer and confirmation, or not, of his alibi.
‘Right,’ he said, throwing the phone onto the dashboard, ‘Innes’ alibi looks rock solid, but the files on his hard drive were another story. Do you know Manning?’
‘No.’
‘He’s the top man in CCIU. He wants me to back off. It seems Innes didn’t like to do everything alone and he’s sharing images. The CCIU team are watching him closely, but there’s no clear link to either Caroline or Amelia.’
‘You don’t sound happy.’
‘I guess it was a long shot. I just hope CCIU nail the bastard when they’re ready to make their move.’ He took a deep breath. ‘What’s your take on what Emily had to say about Caroline losing weight, not thinking she was pretty?’
‘It’s not uncommon for girls to over-obsess about weight. Practically any young girl you meet on the street would have an opinion on their weight, good or bad, but probably bad.’
‘You don’t think it’s an issue, then?’
‘I said it’s not unusual, but it could well be an issue. Her sister obviously believed it to be a problem, otherwise why mention it?’
‘The mother, Lilli, seemed to think differently, though. According to her, she just wanted to eat healthily.’
‘We all see what we want to see, O’Connor, or rather don’t see.’
‘You think she’s keeping something back?’
Kate thought about her own mother, how even before the Alzheimer’s took hold, in so many different ways she never looked at life full on.
‘Kate?’
‘Sorry. What were you asking?’