Page 118 of Twisted Lies

On the way out, it occurred to her that she’d never been in this position before.

She had the motive, the killer and all she needed to find right now was the victim.

One Hundred

‘Okay, what the hell are we supposed to do now?’ Stacey asked as the boss and Bryant sped out of the room.

‘We’re supposed to follow the logic of his previous murders and try to identify where he might have taken her,’ Penn said, wheeling his chair around so they were both looking at the same screen.

Stacey loaded Google Earth and zoomed to the last location that Leanne’s phone had registered a signal to the tower.

‘Jeez, Penn, how do we…?’

‘Okay,’ he said, looking at the board. ‘Let’s look at the locations he’s used. He found an abandoned building to roast Keith Phipps. It was far enough away that no one would hear the screams but big enough that the smoke from the fire wouldn’t be a problem. He found a deserted spot in Somerset to stretch Dennis Burke. He found a similar spot to torture Dean Mullins with the rat, which was close to where he could access the loose rocks to torture Sarah.’

‘You know, there are easier ways,’ Stacey said, sitting back.

‘Go on,’ Penn said, standing up.

‘Well, we thought he was using these sick forms of torture for pleasure at first, and now we know they were used for extracting information. But why so elaborate?’ she asked as Penn started to pace the room. ‘He could have used just one location to do the same thing to all of them. Why the big show of— Penn, what the hell are you doing?’

‘I’m being him,’ he said, walking the space between the two sets of desks and turning. He was gathering speed. ‘I’ve killed people. I’ve watched people die horrific deaths to get the information I want. No one has given it to me. The more I think about what was done to Emily, the more the rage is filling my body. No one is telling me where Karen is. She’s the only one who can tell me where he is.’

Stacey watched as his pace turned frantic. The words were coming faster.

‘If I can just find Karen, I’ll know where he is. Finally, I have Karen. I need to know. I have her now. She’s going to tell me. Everything I’ve done has led to this. I’m so close I can feel it. She’s the only thing that stands between me and finding the person who did those horrific things to my little cousin and—’

‘Penn,’ Stacey called out, unsure what he was trying to achieve.

Penn stopped pacing and stared at her.

‘He won’t have taken her far, Stace. His impatience and excitement would have been driving him to get it done. He’d finally got Karen, the key to everything, in his possession and he would’ve wanted to start work on her immediately. We should concentrate on locations close to the last point of contact. Now, if we had some idea of what he might have had planned for—’

‘Hang on one minute,’ Stacey said as Penn retook his seat beside her.

She clicked back on the article she’d read about the injuries inflicted on Emily’s body by Boy X.

Burning – Check

Dislocation – Check

Rodent Activity – Check

Hit with a brick – Check

That left only one form of torture beyond the sexual assault.

‘Penn, I think there’s a chance that Jacob Powell has skinned Leanne alive.’

One Hundred One

It was almost seven when Bryant pulled into the car park of a McDonald’s in the general area of where Leanne’s phone had last pinged the tower.

‘Guv, I’m not sure how we’re gonna—’

‘Well, let’s all go and have a drink and wait for someone to find her body then, shall we?’ she snapped.

‘I was gonna say I’m not sure how we’ll cover the whole area between the two of us, but feel free to snap my head off.’