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‘Not at all. She was taken from Chance’s Park on Wigton Road. She’d been chasing a dog and her mum wasn’t paying attention. Lucy said that a man with a long coat gave her some sweets then just drove her around in his car. Dropped her off at Houghton Hall Garden Centre. She was only gone three hours. Didn’t even know people were looking for her.’

They’d chatted for ten more minutes, then spent half an hour reviewing the interview footage.

It took forty-five minutes for Carrigan-King to get everything she needed. Cowell hadn’t held anything back. Hadn’t tried to minimise the impact his actions had had on Lucy’s family, the wider community and the already stretched resources of the police. Didn’t offer any mitigation. Just told her that he and

his sister had been forced into doing challenges and abducting a little girl had been the next one.

Chapter 44

‘Surely there’s a point where the blackmail threshold is passed,’ Nightingale said when Poe had finished.

He knew what she meant. Whatever it was on his computer that Robert didn’t want made public – and Bradshaw still hadn’t found anything – it couldn’t possibly be worse than the offences he was committing to keep it private.

‘Ordinarily I’d agree with you, ma’am,’ Poe replied. ‘But I think there was also some sibling rivalry at play, and by this time our man had successfully subverted any moral code that either of them had left. It seems implausible but the evidence is compelling – when it came to the sixth challenge they were both willing participants.’

‘What does he say about the murders?’

Poe invited Bradshaw to take the room through the final challenge.

‘Thank you, Poe,’ she said. She sent another image to the monitor. ‘This is a screenshot that Robert Cowell took of a conversation he had with the site administrator. It took place in an untraceable private chatroom.’

She blew up a section of dialogue near the bottom.

SITE ADMIN: THIS IS YOUR FINAL TASK. DO THIS AND YOU’VE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE BLACK SWAN CHALLENGE.

RC: WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?

SITE ADMIN: KILL A STRANGER. DISPLAY THEIR BODY PARTS.

RC:

‘Robert hadn’t replied when he took this screenshot so we don’t know how he responded,’ Bradshaw continued.

‘And it’s hardly subtle,’ Poe said. ‘Kill a stranger? Tilly and I were expecting something a bit more … I dunno, psychologically complex.’

Bradshaw nodded. ‘This instruction has none of the induction, habituation or preparation associated with Blue Whale.’

‘It did the job, though, it seems,’ Nightingale said. ‘I gather he’s denying the murders?’

‘Absolutely,’ Poe replied. ‘Said that as soon as he saw the final challenge he took a screenshot then turned off his computer. Claims he hasn’t had any contact with the site administrator since then.’

‘Why didn’t he come to us?’

‘He couldn’t. Not without his other crimes being exposed.’

‘Convenient,’ Nightingale said. ‘And he’s still claiming his kite was stolen?’

‘He is.’

‘What about the printer test-page you found in his bin?’

‘He has no explanation for it. Didn’t even try to account for it.’

‘He didn’t try to shift the blame onto his sister?’

‘No. Said that she’s innocent as well.’

Nightingale turned to the chief constable.