‘Now you’re getting somewhere,’ said Steve, an annoying smile on his face. ‘The killer of the little girls, who may have Joe, and the person who’s been trying to warn those in a position to protect them. Or, in Gillian’s case, not warn her, because it’s too late for that, but tell her what really happened. What did the voice keep saying to Gillian? “Mummy, Mummy, find me”? Maybe she was supposed to take that literally – find the grave.’
‘How does Harry fit into it?’ Evi asked. ‘He’s not a parent.’
‘Harry is responsible for the church,’ replied Steve.
‘The killing ground,’ whispered Evi, as a sudden vision of Joe’s pretty, pale face and long, skinny limbs swam in front of her. She blinked hard to get rid of it.
‘Exactly,’ said Steve. ‘Now, it seems to me the killer cannot be this woman you’ve been calling Ebba. Someone with a severe case of congenital hypothyroidism just wouldn’t have the mental and physical capacity to plan and carry out three abductions and murders. Let alone catch a bus to Blackburn and take a young boy from King George’s Hall. Agreed?’
‘Yes,’ said Evi. ‘Yes, of course. You’re right. But she could be the one who’s been trying to warn people.’
Steve was leaning towards her. ‘Think about what these voices have been saying. What did she say to Tom? “Millie fall”? He took it as a threat, but turn it around and it could just as easily be a heads-up. Now then, when did you last take your medication?’
Evi had to smile. ‘I missed my six o’clock fix,’ she admitted. ‘In too much of a hurry to get here.’
‘Can I get you something?’
‘No, really, it’s not too bad. I’m trying to lower the dose anyway. Steve, if Ebba had nothing to do with the abductions, if she’s been trying to warn people, she probably knows who the killer is.’
Steve nodded. ‘Seems to me that if you find Ebba, you find your abductor. If you find her before the killer can get Joe to the church, you might be in time to save him.’
71
HARRY OPENED THE DOOR TO THE CHURCH CRYPT. THE stale smell of things long since forgotten came stealing up towards him. He picked up the flashlight and the box of tools he’d brought from his car.
The darkness below seemed to have grown denser. Rushton and his team would be up here as soon as it was light. They’d be able to turn the church and the crypt upside-down. It would be stupid for him to do anything that might jeopardize that search. On the other hand, dawn was eleven hours away. Joe could be down there now.
But it had been so much easier to walk down those steps when it was daylight outside, when he hadn’t been alone and before the corpses of murdered children started turning up. Last time he’d stood here, evil hadn’t come close enough to stroke him on the back of the neck. He shone the torch down. It was a powerful beam, but even so he couldn’t see more than a dozen steps. He was still on the first.
The door key was in the lock. If he went down and left it there, someone could close the door softly, turn the key and… the key went into his pocket. He took a deep breath, pulled his shoulders back. This was ridiculous. He was a grown man. It was just a cellar. Was this to be the night he learned he was a coward?
In the beam of the torch the darkness seemed to be moving, as though gathering its forces, waiting for him to dare, knowing he probably wouldn’t. He was a man of God. In a church. Was this also to be the night he learned his faith was a sham?
‘Though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,’ whispered Harry, and immediately felt worse. Anyone listening would know he was lying. He was very afraid. ‘I will fear no evil,’ he tried again, ‘for you are with me.’
He was still on the top step and Joe, tiny six-year-old Joe, could be below, cold and terrified, trapped in one of those stone chests.
‘For you are with me,’ repeated Harry. He hadn’t moved. ‘Oh, fuck it,’ he said, and went down.
72
‘TAKE IT EASY,’ SAID STEVE, LEANING DOWN AND speaking to Evi through the window of her car. ‘It’s a long way and there’s a hard frost forecast.’
She didn’t need telling that. She could see Steve’s breath spiralling away into the darkness. The frost was already starting to gleam on the dry stone walls that lined the narrow road. ‘I’ll be careful,’ said Evi. ‘And thank you.’
Seeming reluctant to let her go, Steve crouched lower and leaned both forearms on the window ledge. ‘A couple more things occur to me,’ he said. ‘These girls were taken for a reason. When children are abducted, the obvious motive is to fulfil a sexual need.’
Evi had to bite her lip. Joe was there again, hovering like a little ghost in the driveway. ‘I know this child, Steve,’ she said. ‘He has dark-red hair and freckles and-’
‘Stop it.’
Evi blinked hard.
‘His mother can weep about his red hair and freckles. You have to stick to the facts if you’re going to be any use to him. Now, Megan and Hayley were both found wearing the clothes they were last seen alive in. Does that suggest sexual abuse to you?’
‘Makes it less likely,’ agreed Evi. ‘So if the killer’s motive isn’t sexual, we’re looking for something else?’
‘Second, the place they’re killed is important. There is a reason why they’re dropped from the church balcony.’
‘I agree,’ she said. ‘So does Harry. He thinks it’s all about the church.’
‘Third, there is a link between these victims, including Joe,’ said Steve. ‘Whoever took them had a connection with all of them. Otherwise, he or she would have gone much further afield to find their victims and in doing so would have reduced the chances of being caught. He or she stuck to home ground, suggesting to me it couldn’t be just any girls, it had to be those particular ones. Find the link and you’ll find the killer.’
‘Or find Ebba.’
‘Exactly. Will the GP talk to you, do you think?’
Evi shrugged. ‘I have no idea,’ she said. ‘He might think I’m ambushing him when I turn up at Saturday-morning surgery.’
‘Well, you have to give it a try.’
‘I know. Are your knees up to prolonged crouching?’
‘No part of my body is up to anything much these days. Call me when you’ve spoken to him.’
‘Will do.’
‘And stop beating yourself up about Harry. Up until this morning you did everything by the book. People don’t get struck off for a moment of poor judgement.’
‘I’m so grateful, Steve.’
‘Now are you sure I can’t get you anything for the pain?’
Evi shook her head. ‘It’s not that bad, really. I’ll have something as soon as I get home.’
‘OK.’ Steve stood up, then seemed to think of something and bent down to the window again. ‘There’s something about Joe that’s bothering me, Evi. He doesn’t fit. The detective’s right about that at least. He’s needed for something else.’
73
TOM WAS SHIVERING. THE GLASS WAS COLD AND THE WALL was cold and everything was cold but he couldn’t move. Not until he’d seen the thin beam of light travel up the churchyard path. He started counting. Ten, eleven, twelve. By thirty, his dad would be home.
He heard the sound of a key turning downstairs and the front door opening. His dad was coming back from his look around the graveyard and he would have Joe in his arms, cold, tired, annoying as hell, but Joe all the same. His dad had found him, he just knew it. Tom was running across the carpet, opening his bedroom door, reaching the top of the stairs. Gareth stood in the hall below, still wearing his heavy outdoor coat. He glanced up. He was alone.
Tom watched as his dad took off his coat and slung it over a chair in the hallway before climbing the stairs. He reached the top, put both hands on his eldest son’s shoulders and turned him round. The two of them walked back into Tom’s bedroom. Tom climbed into Joe’s bed; his dad didn’t comment. He knelt on the carpet and stroked his son’s head.