Page 15 of The Serial Killer’s Sister (The Serial Killer’s Daughter #3)

I clutch the Tamagotchi in my hand. If I don’t play, someone will get hurt.

Someone I love – that’s the deal. That’s the message I remember all too well from the last time Henry was ignored.

Even though it’s now some seventeen years later, I can’t afford to see if the same would apply again.

What if he targets Ross? He knows where we live; it wouldn’t take much to show me what he’s capable of.

Tears stream down my cheeks. I let them freefall and drop onto my top, my head bowed. Years’ worth of pain, frustration and fear all releasing in this moment.

A hand lays on my shoulder. I let out an involuntary shriek and jump around.

‘Sorry, sorry.’ DI Walker steps back and puts his palms up.

‘My God, don’t sneak up on me like that.

’ I glare at him, taking in his dishevelled-looking, tired appearance.

The case is obviously causing strain, but what the hell was he thinking creeping up behind me?

I could’ve lashed out at him and added assault of a police officer to my growing list of offences.

‘It appears I’m not the only one sneaking around.

’ He narrows his azure-blue eyes at me in a playful way, and I relax a little.

If he’s angry I’ve come here without informing him, conned my way in to the home, then he’s hiding it well – or perhaps he’s secretly chalking it up as another mark against me.

I look around him, up towards the doors I’d walked out of with Natalia. There’s one lone uniformed officer standing stiffly as his head moves left to right, presumably scanning the area. ‘Where are the rest of your team?’

‘We’re stretched to the limit on this one. Everyone’s scattered around, trying to cover as much ground as possible in the little time we have left.’

‘Yes, of course.’ My only knowledge of murder cases has come from what I’ve read and seen on TV, but I’m aware everyone will be working around the clock to apprehend Henry. Of course, it also means they could be keeping tabs on me; maybe more so than DI Walker is letting on …

‘They’re not best pleased you gained entry by false means, Anna.’ DI Walker gives me a reprehensive glare.

‘No, I’m sure they aren’t. I considered telling the truth, but …’

‘Lies are easier?’ he says. I’m not sure if this is a trap – getting me to admit to lying now will give him ammunition later down the line. But I have been caught out, so admitting it won’t really harm me further.

‘Something like that,’ I say with a shrug of agreement.

‘Like telling me you didn’t know what the riddle meant?’

I shift from one leg to another, a tingling sensation making them restless. How long has he been watching me? Did he see me get the toy from the tree? I grip it tightly in my fist, not quite ready to share my find.

‘I wasn’t sure enough that I was right. I didn’t want to waste police time – not when you’re so stretched.’ Our eyes lock and although it’s unspoken, I sense battle lines have been drawn.

‘Well, were you? Right, I mean?’

I avert my gaze. ‘It would appear so.’ Telling DI Walker more about the treasure hunt game isn’t something I can hold back any longer.

I need to explain it because I know it’s key to finding Henry.

‘Welcome to The Hunt, detective,’ I say, forcing a smile.

‘If I don’t follow the rules, bad things happen.

’ I turn away from him, begin walking further down the lawns towards the treeline.

I hear his heavy thudding footsteps and then he’s beside me, doing a funny kind of side-step so he can talk and watch me at the same time.

I wonder what he’s thinking – if he suspects I’m holding back.

‘Is it possible that you didn’t follow the rules before, and that’s why he murdered the five women?’

‘Oh, wow.’ I stop dead. ‘You believe it’s my fault those women died?’

‘No. Not your fault. I’m seeking a reason why he’s been doing it. You saying bad things happen if you don’t follow the rules strongly suggests a cause; that’s all I’m saying.’

I start off again, ducking between a gap in the hedges. I swear it’s the same gap we used to walk through before when we were sneaking off for a forbidden cigarette by the lake. Each step I take, the heavier I feel. By the time I reach the bridge, the weight will be too much to bear.

‘There haven’t been any games since leaving here,’ I say, finally.

‘And besides, the point of the games was to hide something of importance for the other to find. And when his game was ignored once before, it was some one important that got hurt. He wouldn’t choose a random person with no link to me to kill.

It’s not his style. It would have to be someone I loved. ’

‘Like Ross.’

I shudder. ‘Yes, like Ross.’

We’re at the bridge that spans the narrowest part of the lake.

I sit in the middle of the stone wall and wait for DI Walker to do the same.

He hitches his trouser legs up so he can bend his knees easily, then plonks down beside me.

We both watch an electric-blue dragonfly hover between us, its wings creating a sound like a tiny drill.

This was always my favourite spot to come when I wanted to be alone.

Somewhere I could give space to my thoughts and allow them to ‘be’.

Once I’d acknowledged them, they would leave my overcrowded head and blow away on the breeze across the water.

In all the years of therapy that followed my time at Finley Hall, I never found a better way to manage my darker thoughts than that.

It must be the nostalgia of this spot; I hold my arm out to DI Walker now and uncurl my fingers to reveal the toy.

‘You’d best bag this.’ The pulse in my throat throbs as I watch for his reaction.

‘What is it?’ He pulls a glove from the inside pocket of his jacket and takes it.

‘How many of those gloves do you have stuffed in your pockets?’

He laughs. ‘Always be prepared.’

‘And it’s a Tamagotchi,’ I say. ‘A craze around the time we lived at this place.’

‘Ahh, yes.’ He nods, gives a half-smile as he holds it up, examining it. ‘I remember these little buggers. Virtual pets. You had to remember to feed them and play with them, or they’d die.’

‘Yep. Henry used this one, or one like it anyway, as a warning.’

‘How?’

‘I found a new riddle one morning and just decided I wasn’t going to play any more. Me and my friend carried on with our day. We didn’t even look at the clue.’

‘I assume you’d never ignored one before?’

‘No. I’d wanted to, but Henry … well, Henry was persuasive.’

‘He didn’t like being ignored.’

‘He did not.’ I turn around and look over the bridge into the rippling water. ‘That’s where …’ I take a steadying breath. ‘That’s where he left her.’ I point below and to the side – by the foot of the bridge.

‘Your friend died?’ DI Walker’s eye widen.

‘No, no. She was hurt, knocked unconscious.’ I suck in a lungful of air, the detective’s assumption hitting me hard. ‘I guess there’s a possibility he’d intended to kill her, though. I never thought about it like that. We assumed it was a warning and we never tested him again.’

‘Are you still friends with … what was her name?’

‘Kirsty,’ I say, then quickly add, ‘we lost contact after this place. Everyone scattered – there was an online group someone started up in the early days, but that petered out pretty quick. She wasn’t on there, though, as far as I remember.’

‘You didn’t ever try to look her up again? Make sure she was okay?’

His question sounds judgemental, like I’ve done my friend a disservice by not keeping in contact. DI Walker has no clue what it’s like – I shouldn’t expect him to, but knowing he is judging me is hurtful and I’m immediately on the defensive.

‘As I said, everyone scattered. We all had our histories, DI Walker. Had pasts we didn’t like to talk about and wanted to run from.

She was no different. Some people don’t want to be found.

’ I cough to clear my throat – expel the emotion that’s threatening to choke me.

‘None of the women, Henry’s victims, were named Kirsty, were they?

’ DI Walker stares at me – through me – and my stomach twists.

‘No,’ he says, standing and turning to look over the lake. ‘Have you thought more about the date – the thirteenth of May?’

‘I didn’t find anything in my diaries.’ I blush, despite my attempt at being blasé. I get up too, hoping he won’t notice my lie if I’m moving rather than sitting next to him.

‘And it’s not the date you finally stopped playing and Kirsty was hurt?’

I don’t answer straight away, and he looks hopeful.

‘No. That was autumn, leaves everywhere. Cold. We’d been talking about Halloween. So, definitely not May.’

‘Why does your brother want to ruin your life now, Anna?’

‘That’s the question going over and over in my mind, too.’ I shift uncomfortably, redistributing my weight from one foot to the other.

‘Well, where to next?’ he asks.

‘I don’t know.’ We walk off the bridge, back towards the main house. DI Walker is still holding the Tamagotchi in his gloved hand – he hasn’t placed it into an evidence bag.

‘What’s the clue?’ he says, turning the toy over.

‘It was just that. The same, or at least similar to the Tamagotchi he left in the dorm after he hurt Kirsty. I assume it’s him just letting me know it’s not over.’

‘I don’t know. It seemed to me like the riddle was important – like, a starting point. He sent you here because it’s somewhere you both know. Seems strange he wouldn’t continue his game – send you off in another direction, keep you playing.’

‘Perhaps he’s watching us now.’ I shudder, turn my head this way and that, checking every inch of visible ground. There are no lurking figures that I can see. ‘It could be a test, to see if I’d come on my own, not involve the police.’ I huff. ‘Which I did try to do, but now you’ve ruined that.’