Red Ribbons (27 page)

‘You okay, honey?’

‘Where’s Daddy?’

‘He’ll be back in a minute. Come on, superheroes need their sleep.’

‘I don’t want to sleep. I want Daddy.’

‘Here, I’ll read you a story; you pick, any one you like.’

He eyed her suspiciously and looked so earnest, with his black spiky hair and cartoon pyjamas, that in spite of everything, she smiled.

‘I want them,’ he said, pointing to the comics Declan had bought earlier.

It was a toss between Batman and Superman, so Kate opted for the latter. Superman now had heat vision, which could shoot laser beams, along with x-ray and telescopic abilities. As Kate attempted to get her son to settle down in his bed, it was Superman’s powerful breathing skills, knocking over cars and freezing objects on the spot, that kept Charlie blowing at her face, constantly telling her to freeze.

Sensing that he might have pushed her too far, he sheepishly asked for his
Bear
story about the lost bear, the one who is eventually found under the bed. He may have thought superheroes were the
best thing ever, but he wasn’t ready to let go of his favourite bedtime story yet.

Kate stayed in the room long after he had fallen asleep. She thought about Declan, about how maybe he had a point, that he had only said what she was already thinking but didn’t want to admit out loud. She had been tied up with work a lot recently, but work wasn’t the problem, and deep down she knew it. Obviously Declan did, too. There was a time when she never doubted that the two of them would always love each other, when everything between them was easy, as if it was simply meant to be. Had her feelings towards him changed so much? Had she stopped loving him? She had no idea what she could do about any of it right now, but whatever she was going to do, it would have to wait until the investigation was over. They’d both have to try and be patient until then.

O’CONNOR WASN’T THE ONLY ONE WORKING LATE – a couple of the CCTV guys were still going through footage at the back of the Incident Room when he arrived. He nodded to both of them, then phoned Gunning.

‘Any more on the Interpol searches?’

‘Lots of dead ends, nothing concrete, but I’m pushing hard. You know me, O’Connor, I like to get results.’

‘Yeah, well, we all do, but not all for the same reasons.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Never mind, keep me posted, that’s all.’

‘What about your end, anything fresh in?’

O’Connor was slow to give him too much information, even if they were both on the same side.

‘Looks like we might have a match with the boot print at the canal.’ O’Connor allowed the last remark to settle, knowing it would irritate Gunning. ‘The boss is thinking about whether we should release information on the ribbons and the plaiting.’

‘What’s holding him back?’ Gunning sounded glad with the change of direction.

‘You know the way this shit is seen, the media will jump on it – ribbons, plaiting, ritual laying of bodies – could make things a whole lot worse.’

‘I hear you. Like a hand grenade going off in the middle of a fire drill.’

‘I know. The photofit went out on the late news, so it’s a waiting game now to see what that drags in. Nothing concrete by late tomorrow afternoon and my guess is he’ll go public with the ribbons. The plaiting, I’m not so sure.’

‘So how’s your Ms Pearson getting along? She’s a real beauty, nice and sweet.’

O’Connor chose to ignore his last remark. There was something about Gunning’s voice that irked him, and he wasn’t happy about him mentioning Kate. Even over the phone, he came across like a posturing peacock.

‘Funny you should mention Kate. I have a job for you.’

‘Nolan wants me to keep working on the Interpol searches.’

‘I know he does, which is great, because we’re going to please both him and Kate with this one.’

‘I’m listening.’

‘The crucifix Caroline Devine was wearing, it may be nothing, but put it into the mix. Sounds like you have bugger all on the ribbons and positioning, so let’s see what comes up with the cross. I’m sending you over a replica photograph now.’

‘Right.’

‘And Gunning.’

‘Yeah?’

‘If you get anything, no running to Nolan with it, remember that I’m the Senior Investigating Officer.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of breaking the chain.’

‘Good. One other thing.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Kate isn’t
my
Ms Pearson, she’s a respected criminal psychologist who is helping to find a killer.’

Before Gunning had the opportunity to answer, O’Connor hung up on him.

WHEN KATE WOKE UP, DECLAN WAS ASLEEP IN THE BED with his back to her. She had no idea what time he had arrived home, but judging by his snoring, he wasn’t moving anywhere in a hurry. She walked across the hall to check on Charlie, and he too was out for the count. She knew that the interruption to his sleep last night would mean a lie-in. Normally, she would have relished the chance for longer in bed, but not today. She made her way to the kitchen and sat at the table with her coffee and phone in front of her. She didn’t have long to wait.

‘Morning, O’Connor.’

‘Right, Kate, meeting with Jessica set up. They’re expecting you.’

‘Great, I’ll head straight over.’

‘By the way, I gave your report to Nolan and Donoghue and they’re not happy.’

‘Why not?’

‘They were hoping for more. What they want to know is what he’ll do next.’

Kate swallowed her annoyance. ‘It doesn’t work like that. It’s been one full day since I’ve been officially involved. Do they want me to fabricate patterns?’

‘I’m just saying—’

‘What we have is what we have. I’m going to talk to Jessica, if any more comes out of that, you’ll be the first to know. But, O’Connor, there was one other thing I didn’t mention last night.’

‘What’s that?’

‘In the report, I’ve noted that he repeats behaviour.’

‘Yeah, I saw that.’

‘It goes back to Amelia being perceived as a loose end. Even though she disappointed him, he carried out part of her burial the same way.’

‘So?’

‘That tells us far more than the details of the burials, the ribbons and positioning being his signature. It tells us about
him
. He likes the familiar, routine, takes comfort in doing things the same way. If the crucifix is an indicator of Caroline’s elevated status, the lack of it on Amelia, her disappointment to him, didn’t deter him from assigning familiarities, similar behavioural patterns. As I said, he likes routine.’

‘Listen, Nolan’s thinking about going public with the ribbons and the plaiting, how do you think our guy will react?’

‘Depends on how it’s presented. He’s particular, probably likes the idea of being somewhat elusive, taking pride in how he handles things. If Nolan releases information about the ribbons and plaiting, there’ll be a side of him that will feel complimented in some way. He has an ego, O’Connor. By the way, I saw the photofit from Jessica on the news last night, it wasn’t very distinctive.’

‘I know, sometimes these things work for you, sometimes not – but you never know with photofits, it’s all part of flushing him out. They’re pushing his link with the swimming pools too, so plenty of phone calls in, the guys are working as fast as they can.’

‘All right, I’ll ring you after I’ve spoken to Jessica. Have you the statements in from Amelia’s family and friends?’

‘Pringle will have them for the morning session. I’m running late. Talk later.’

‘Sure.’

As she put down the phone and sipped her coffee, Kate knew well why Nolan and Donoghue weren’t happy. She wanted to know what his next move would be too. The killing of both girls formed
the beginning of a pattern, one that could be relied upon heavily, if murder was his main motive or if the crimes were sexually driven. His stalking of Caroline, and possibly Amelia, meant he had been looking for something from both of them. The development of a relationship, even non-sexual, all pointed one way: he was looking for emotional closeness. Would he repeat the same pattern soon, or was he reassessing his choices all the time? She would need to consider the statements from Amelia’s family and friends, but right now she had Jessica to contend with. If the girl was holding something back, she’d have to get it out of her.

≈

Perhaps it was being under tighter police security that had changed the girl, but this time when Kate met Jessica Barry, the girl looked very different. She wore no make-up and when Kate arrived, she was curled up on the sofa in soft white pyjamas with pink daisies. Kate couldn’t make up her mind whether she looked more or less vulnerable without her war paint on, but with it gone, Kate could see how pretty she was. Rather than the overconfident stance of the previous day, Jessica looked anxious. Looking at her, Kate felt that whatever walls she had tried to build up to protect herself had come tumbling down.

Mrs Barry offered to make some tea, but Kate turned it down, knowing that being alone in the room with the girl was never going to be on the cards. Child protection regulations prevented them talking one on one, but Kate didn’t mind – she felt that, on this occasion, Mrs Barry’s presence in the room was a help rather than a hindrance. Any distance Jessica had originally displayed towards her mother was now gone, along with the make-up and the rest of her adolescent front.

‘How have you been, Jessica?’ Kate asked gently.

‘So-so.’

Mrs Barry nodded in acknowledgement.

‘Good. These things are difficult.’

‘That’s what I’ve been telling her,’ Mrs Barry agreed, appearing more confident.

‘Jessica, yesterday when Detective Inspector O’Connor and I spoke to you, we both felt there was something you were holding back.’

‘I helped with the sketch, didn’t I?’

‘I know you did, and I understand they’ve got lots of calls from the public already. But I’d like to go back to the man, Jessica, the one from the swimming pool. How well did Caroline know him?’

Jessica looked over to her mother, but Kate pressed on. ‘Jessica, I’m not trying to say anything bad about Caroline, I just want to see if there was anything else about this man that might be relevant.’

‘Jessica, you can trust Kate,’ her mother said softly. ‘Anything you say will be treated with the strictest confidence. Isn’t that right, Kate?’

‘Of course. Nobody is setting themselves up as judge and jury here.’

Again Jessica looked over at her mother, who gave her another reassuring look and nodded her head.

Jessica pulled her body into a tighter curl and traced the outline of a daisy on her pyjama leg. ‘Caroline met him again afterwards, after that time at the swimming pool.’

‘How do you know?’

‘She told me. Well, she didn’t exactly say they’d met up. She just said in passing that she’d met him, nothing sinister or anything. It was just a chance thing, it wasn’t important.’

‘Did she meet him more than once?’

‘She might have.’

‘Jessica?’

Jessica gave a little sigh of frustration. ‘They talked, that’s all. I think she felt sorry for him. She was really good at swimming, you know, he said lots of encouraging things to her, about never giving up. She said he was a good listener, she liked him, said he was nice, that he was kind to her, sort of like a teacher.’

‘And what did you say?’

‘Not a lot. She knew I didn’t like him. I mean, I’d only seen him once, but when Caroline set her mind to something, that was it. She didn’t think he was odd, she thought he was grand.’

‘Did she tell you his name?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe she thought I didn’t want to know, maybe she thought I didn’t understand, maybe she was right …’ Her voice trailed off.

‘So how did she talk to him? Was it over the phone?’

‘No, I don’t think he had one. I don’t know, but he lived nearby, she’d see him around when she was out; like I said, nothing planned or anything.’

‘Why didn’t you say all this before?’

‘I dunno,’ Jessica said, shrugging her narrow shoulders. ‘I guess I felt like I was betraying her or something. She didn’t do anything wrong.’

‘I know she didn’t, Jessica. Listen, what happened to Caroline was an awful thing, but it could happen again, so what you tell us will make a huge difference. You say you think he was local.’

‘I’m not sure, like, but he must have been if he was around here all the time.’

‘Kate, my daughter is obviously distressed. Perhaps that’s enough.’

‘I realise that, Mrs Barry, but if this man was with Caroline, we need to know everything Jessica can tell us. I don’t like to sound dramatic, but another girl’s life could depend on it.’

Mrs Barry looked at her daughter, then gave a tight nod for Kate to continue.

‘Jessica, is there anything else? Anything at all?’

‘No, not really, except …’ she paused.

‘Except what?’

‘Well, I don’t know if it’s important.’

‘Tell me anyway.’

‘Her chain.’

‘The one with the crucifix?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What about it?’

‘It was just a cheap thing, but Caroline liked it.’

Kate held her breath as Jessica spoke, feeling they were getting near to something now. ‘He gave it to her.’

‘Are you sure?’ Kate asked.

‘Pretty sure.’

‘As a present?’

‘Yeah, like it was nothing, it wasn’t anything.’

‘But Caroline liked to wear it?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Why do you think that was?’

‘I dunno, because it was pretty.’

Kate frowned, knowing there was something else the girl was holding back. She had to be careful here and not spook Jessica into withdrawing again.

‘She didn’t just wear it because it was pretty, did she, Jessica? You know why she wore it, don’t you?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Well, maybe not, but just say it anyhow.’

‘It was what he said about it.’

‘What did he say?’

‘It’s stupid.’