Page 62 of Dying Truth

‘Thanks, Ted. I get the picture. So are these kids evil, the ones that get a thrill from killing?’

Ted’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, my dear, that is a very big question and I’ll attempt to answer it as best I can.’

He took another sip of coffee, and so did she.

‘It is generally felt that it is possible for kids to grow out of the behaviours that led them to kill in the first place, and there is evidence on both sides of this argument. The court-appointed psychiatrist for Mary Bell said she displayed classic signs of psychopathy but has never re-offended, and Eric Smith still has no ability to express emotion after twenty-four years, leading the courts to believe he will never be rehabilitated.’

‘You said there were three types,’ Kim said.

He nodded. ‘The second type targets their prey for innocuous reasons – annoyance or anger.

‘Also before your time was BrendaAnnSpencer, a sixteen-year-old girl who used a rifle to shoot eight children in San Diego. The school was right opposite her house. When asked why she’d done it she claimed that she just didn’t like Mondays. She showed a complete lack of remorse and no serious explanation. She was annoyed. For her it was that simple.’

Kim found it difficult to comprehend that eight children had lost their lives because a kid had got out of the wrong side of bed.

‘And the last group?’ she asked.

‘These are the ones that kill specific targets out of anger, hurt or wounded pride. Just in 2014 there were two girls, not named, who were dubbed the ‘Snapchat Killers’. They tortured and murdered a girl named Angela Wrightson and took photos while they were doing it. They even took selfies from inside the police van.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Kim said.

‘So, how many victims do you have?’ Ted asked.

‘I have two children dead, in a few days. One definitely murdered and made to look like a suicide and the other I’m not sure yet.’

‘Are the two of them linked?’ he asked.

‘Not obviously,’ she said, as her thoughts returned to something he’d said.

‘You mentioned Mary Bell being potentially labelled psychopathic or showing tendencies. Even as a child?’

‘Oh, we’re getting into dodgy ground now, my dear,’ he said, draining his mug. ‘No mental health professional will be bold enough in this day and age to fix such a label to a child while there is still the possibility they will grow out of psychopathic behaviours.’

‘So, does it exist, Ted?’ she asked, pinning him for a straight answer.

‘It’s not something I can—’

‘Ted, can a child be a psychopath, sociopath or whatever it is you want to call them?’

‘Kim, it’s not as cut and dried as that.’

‘Come on, Ted. You’ve treated enough kids in your time. Did any of them fulfil these criteria? Were any of these children evil?’

‘I’ve never treated an evil child,’ he said.

‘But they do exist?’

Ted looked at her long and hard. ‘Kim, I’m really not qualified to say.’

Kim knew there was no point pushing him any further.

On the subject of evil in children he might not be qualified to say.

But she certainly knew someone who was.

Forty-Two

Dawson sat outside the address of Carrie Phifer and wondered if he’d made some kind of mistake.