Page 93 of Child's Play

‘I can read that look on your face,’ the woman said, folding her arms. ‘And I know you don’t understand.’

‘So, help me,’ Kim said, not bothering to lie. ‘Help me understand how an intelligent, gifted teenager fell in love…’

‘I didn’t fall in love with him when I was fourteen, at least I wouldn’t call it that. I clicked with him and if he did with me he made no sign of it. I know how he made me feel and it stuck with me.’

‘And how was that?’ Kim asked, wondering if they were moving into grooming territory. ‘How did he make you feel?’

‘He got me, totally and completely. He listened. He let me talk and he understood how I was feeling; my fears, my insecurities, my sudden bursts of anger, my hatred of—’

‘Bursts of anger?’ Kim asked, feeling a chill whisper up her spine.

‘My childhood was not normal, Inspector. From the moment I was able to name every country on a world map an hour after looking at it. I was three years old. I was pushed, I was prodded, I was tested, I was taken out of school and isolated and I was forced to study almost every hour I was awake and guess what, sometimes it pissed me off.’

‘And Barry helped you understand your feelings?’ she asked.

‘He did but he did more than that. He talked to me about other stuff. We talked about music, books, art. He wanted to talk to me the person and not me the genius. I always remembered it because no one else had ever made me feel that way. That I actually mattered.’

Bryant leaned forward. ‘Did he contact you later?’

Beth shook her head as her arms lowered. ‘No, I contacted him. It was after a particularly difficult period in my life and I reached out to him. He was grieving the loss of his wife but we met up and talked and that was when I fell in love with him. I hated the event, Inspector, but it was how I originally met the love of my life and I make no apologies for it.’

‘You hated it because?’

‘I was forced to do it once and there may have been kids there that enjoyed it, but not me. I’m not a natural competitor, so didn’t relish being set against children who may have felt as lonely as I did.’

‘But you had a brother?’ Kim said, remembering her mention of him earlier.

‘We were kept separate,’ she admitted. ‘He wasn’t gifted. I envied him. He didn’t have to perform and maintain expectations,’ she spat.

‘Is that what caused you to have some trouble a few years ago?’ Kim asked.

She frowned and then realisation dawned on her. ‘Oh, you mean my time away?’

Kim nodded.

‘May I ask why that’s relevant to the death of my husband?’ she asked.

‘When he’s been brutally murdered everything is kind of relevant,’ Kim said, not unkindly.

‘It was a mixture of things, officer. Suddenly found myself in my early twenties dealing with the fact I had no friends, no hobbies and no job when a family tragedy occurred. All came at once and I needed some time out.’

‘Understandable,’ Kim agreed.

‘I was institutionalised for seven months and it was the best decision I ever made. During that time I reinvented myself and came out as Beth the grown adult and not Beth the freak.’ She tipped her head to the side. ‘And now you’ve asked the question you came here for, may I ask a question of my own?’

‘You can ask,’ Kim said, standing. The woman was right. She had wanted to know what had prompted her stay at a mental health facility.

‘The body of a male found in Cleobury earlier today. Is it Freddie Compton?’

‘I can’t answer that,’ Kim said. Officers were still trying to locate next of kin.

‘If it was, that would make all three victims linked to the Brainbox event in some way or another?’

‘If it was, then yes, that would be a fair assessment, why?’

‘It just makes me wonder what the devil are you doing here and not there?’

Sixty-Five