Page 51 of Watching You

Body Eight of Eight

‘Get the team in,’ Lively shouted. ‘We need him restrained.’

‘Hold on,’ Connie said.

‘No, this bastard needs stringing up for what he’s done.’

Connie checked Karl’s pulse and breathing then took out her mobile and dialled Salter. ‘Christie, could you come in here, alone please. No current threat to life.’

Salter appeared within the minute. ‘Is everyone okay? What happened?’

‘We’re all fine,’ Connie said. ‘Could you stay next to Mr Smith, please? He’ll be coming round soon. And he’s probably lying on a hunting knife that’ll need processing.’

Salter found the knife under Karl’s stomach then cut the cable tie around Lively’s ankles and sat back down next to Karl on the floor.

‘I’m getting Beth out of here,’ Lively said. ‘We can give our statements later on.’

‘Sam,’ Connie said. ‘I need a word with you and Beth first. Christie, you can stay.’

‘Of course,’ Beth said. ‘Did you want me to take a look at Mr Smith? You hit him pretty hard, Sam.’

‘He’ll be okay. We’ll get him checked over by a doctor while we’re processing him. But Beth, you said something earlier, about Karl coming back again and again. What did you mean?’

Beth frowned and shook her head. ‘I’m not sure.

Just that … he seems to be everywhere. First when he was stalking Molly, then me with that video, then he followed me to the cabin up at Loch Voil.

And I’ve seen him since, I think. He was at a recycling centre once.

And since then I’ve suspected he was around, but … I can’t give you any specifics.’

‘At the hospital?’ Connie asked.

Beth’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t really know.

Whenever I see him, it’s like I get so panicked that I can’t remember it clearly later.

’ She walked to the sofa. ‘I’m sorry, Sam.

When he attacked me, I was so scared. I believed I’d killed him, and after the police didn’t help when Molly was being harassed, I didn’t feel I could go to them and explain.

I knew then, it was him or me. I hurt my arm, and he’d given me a fractured rib and a head injury.

I got back to St Columba’s for treatment then just blocked it all out.

If I’d known it was him you were looking for …

if I’d seen the photo … I feel so responsible. ’

She was trembling. Lively went to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

‘I think that’s enough,’ he said. ‘I think that’s enough,’ he said. ‘We’ve had our home invaded and a knife held to our throats, surely this can wait.’

‘I don’t think it can,’ Connie said. She went to sit down in an armchair opposite Beth.

‘Because I believed Karl when he said he didn’t kill those other people.

He’s going to prison, of course, for what he did today and for killing his father.

But he was genuinely surprised, outraged actually, when I mentioned the other deaths. ’

‘Aye, well I’ve never seen a killer put his hands in the air and say, “It’s a fair cop, you got me,”’ Lively said.

‘Me either, but they usually find it hard to fake surprise well. And normally they don’t need to do any acting. They just deny it and make us prove it in court. This was different, Sam, and I think even you know it.’

Lively stood up. ‘Where are you going with this?’ His voice was cold and hard.

Connie’s heart sank. ‘Will you bear with me a minute?’

‘I will not. This is ridiculous. It was you who told us what Smith’s motivation was, and you were right, too. Look at his face. It’s exactly what you thought. The similarity to the victims is right there.’

‘Sam—’

‘Don’t Sam me. You’re not my fucking colleague.’

‘Then I will, because I am,’ Salter cut in. ‘Sam, would you sit down and listen for a minute? If Dr Woolwine has something to say, she’s going to say it sooner or later. Better to hear it now.’

‘Sit down, sweetheart,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t know what you’re so worried about.’ He took a seat. ‘What is it, Dr Woolwine?’

Connie cleared her throat and kept her voice gentle. ‘Beth, have you needed any repairs to your car recently?’

Beth shrugged and thought about it. ‘Yes. I managed to get a dent in the front. I don’t even know what happened.

I think someone must have hit me when I was parked either at the hospital or while I was shopping.

Took them a day to beat it out and respray it, and it cost a fair bit. What’s the relevance?’

‘It’s an electric car, yes?’ Connie checked.

‘That’s right. Do you know something I don’t about how that happened?’

Connie sighed and Lively balled his hands into fists.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t care what mumbo-jumbo bullshit you’re about to spout, but this is absolutely fucking outrageous!’

‘Sam, you’re scaring me,’ Beth said. ‘You’re all scaring me, and I’ve been through enough.’

‘Yes, you have,’ Connie said. ‘Beth, how did you feel when you saw Karl again today?’

Beth looked down at her hands, then drew her arms around herself. ‘Scared. Terrified, in fact. Like it was all happening again.’

‘But you didn’t overreact. You stayed calm, handled the situation, like you did at the cabin?’

‘I suppose so,’ she said.

‘Can I ask, what did they find when they did the CT scan at the hospital?’

‘Nothing of note. They believed I was concussed but not badly. I was kept in briefly for them to check on me, mainly because a dislocated arm can cause lasting damage if it’s not corrected professionally.’

‘Did they do an MRI?’ Connie asked.

‘No. There was no indication that one was needed. I’m afraid I don’t understand, what does it matter if I had an MRI or not?’

Connie rubbed her forehead. ‘You treated Archie Bass. That’s where you two met, if I’m not wrong. I believe you spoke to him, Sam, before he was anaesthetised. How did he react when he saw you, Beth?’

She shrugged. ‘He was losing blood fast and confused. Patients are often distressed directly before surgery.’

Lively’s jaw dropped.

‘Sam?’ Connie asked. ‘You just remembered something.’

He shook his head. Beth reached out gently and put her hand on top of his. ‘Whatever this is, it seems to be important. I’d like you to just say it.’

Lively dashed a sleeve across his eyes. ‘All right. Fine.’ He glared at Connie. ‘But you’d better have a bloody good explanation.’ He looked at Beth. ‘Bass was okay for a moment. Then you came in. He started freaking out when he saw you.’

‘I really don’t understand any of this,’ Beth said. ‘I’d never seen Archie Bass before that moment.’

‘I believe you,’ Connie said. ‘I think you saw Karl Smith, and I think your brain told you he was in disguise. I believe you felt that you were being stalked again. Persecuted, and with good reason. And I think your brain told you to do exactly what you did in the woods. It was him or you.’

Beth dropped Lively’s hand and stood.

‘No,’ she whispered. ‘No! You’re saying you think I killed him. That I stabbed him! That’s insane. I’d know – I’d remember.’

‘Were you at the hospital the day Vic Campbell died?’

Beth turned to Lively, tears streaming down both their faces, and Connie wished she was on any other case, anywhere in the world.

‘I was,’ she said. ‘But I didn’t hurt that boy. Tell me I didn’t. Please?’

‘I need you to look at some photos for me and tell me what you see,’ Connie said. She took out her phone again, tapped in a search term and got a series of images up. ‘Here.’ She handed the phone to Beth.

Beth took it and breathed deeply before casting her eyes down on the screen.

‘Is this a joke?’ she murmured. ‘Why would you do this to me?’

Lively took the screen from her and flicked through the different photos as Beth moved across the room.

‘What’s the matter?’ Lively asked. ‘Who are all these people?’

Connie looked at Beth. ‘Who do you see when you look at the photos?’

‘Well, half of them are him. I mean, he’s disguised, but you can see him clearly. Are you trying to catch me out, because—’

‘I’m not,’ Connie said. ‘I promise. Would you show me which ones are Karl?’ She stood up, took the phone back from Lively and walked it to Beth.

‘Here,’ Beth pointed. ‘And here, this one, that’s him again—’

‘What the fuck is going on?’ Lively asked. ‘There are no photos of Karl on there.’

Beth put her hands to her mouth and shut her eyes tight.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Connie said. ‘It’s not your fault.’

‘I didn’t do it,’ Beth muttered from behind her hands.

‘In all the ways that count, you didn’t,’ Connie told her. ‘Have you heard of Fregoli syndrome?’

Beth shook her head.

‘She didn’t kill anyone! Are you insane? Fuck me. Christie, tell her. This is some science fiction bullshit,’ Lively said.

‘It was probably caused by the injury to your temple,’ Connie said.

‘Fregoli syndrome often results from a lesion, the one that caused your concussion, but a CT scan wouldn’t have been detailed enough to show it.

With Fregoli delusion, your brain tells you you’re seeing the same person over and over again.

You see the real faces but believe wholeheartedly that you’re seeing someone usually very important in your life, often someone associated with a trauma.

People who suffer from Fregoli delusion feel victimised, and in your case, I think you were transported directly into that moment of fight-or-flight when you felt you had to kill Karl Smith to survive. ’

‘She’d remember it,’ Lively said. ‘There’d have to be some sign of what she’d done.’

‘Actually that’s why I think it was you, Beth,’ Connie said.

‘You’re a surgeon. You know how to kill fast and efficiently.

You didn’t leave any forensic trace, not because you were being devious, just because your natural intelligence kicked in, and you never hurt anyone more than was necessary to kill.

The whole case has been quite unlike anything else any of us have ever seen, and that’s why. ’

‘But those poor people,’ Beth sobbed. ‘I worked so hard to save Archie Bass. Why didn’t I see him as Smith again if I’d tried to kill him the night before?’

‘Probably the sterile setting or the fact that he had all sorts of tubes, wires and a mask on. Fregoli delusion is very rare, but it also tends to mess with your memory. It’s like the rest of your brain knows it’s not possible, so everything gets jumbled.

You were just reliving that day with Karl at the cabin over and over again, and fighting for your life each time.

You’d have been a in fugue state during each attack and for some time afterwards. ’

‘But Divya Singh,’ she cried, doubling over. ‘How could I have done such a terrible thing?’

‘Your conscious brain had no idea it was Divya Singh. It’s unlikely you knew you were killing at all. You were, to all intents and purposes, fighting a ghost,’ Connie said.

‘Her family won’t care about that,’ Beth sobbed. ‘I wouldn’t. It was so violent, so brutal.’

‘I know this is hard,’ Salter said gently. ‘But we need to establish the facts before we explore Dr Woolwine’s theory in any more depth. Dr Waterfall, do you remember visiting Jupiter Artland?’ Salter asked.

Beth dashed tears from her cheeks and nodded. ‘Several times. It’s a place I love. But I couldn’t give you the dates.’

‘Did you ever go home and find yourself more muddy or dirty than usual after a trip there? Have to wash your clothes or really scrub your hands?’ Salter continued.

Beth gasped. ‘I couldn’t figure out why. I thought that maybe I’d fallen over, something to do with my head injury, but I didn’t have a headache and my vision was fine.’

‘You fucking did it!’ Smith moaned from the floor. ‘ You are the killer!’ He looked across to Connie. ‘I told you she was a murderer. I told everyone at the hospital too. No one believed me.’

Salter twisted his left arm behind his back and put her other hand on the back of his neck while pushing his head back to the floor, then got her weight on top of him to keep him down.

‘You need to shut the fuck up, right now,’ she told him.

‘Because the truth is that you caused all of it, whether you meant to or not.’

‘We need to get you to a hospital,’ Connie told Beth. ‘Salter, can we move Beth without making an arrest?’

‘Oh God,’ Beth sobbed. ‘What have I done?’

Connie went across to her and wrapped her in a tight embrace. ‘You’ll get through this,’ she whispered. ‘I know this feels terrible and I know you’re going to be in a very dark place for a long time, but this wasn’t you.’

‘Please don’t tell Molly,’ she cried. ‘I’m so sorry, Sam. I didn’t know. Please just don’t tell Molly what I did.’

Connie stepped aside and let Lively take over.

‘She doesn’t even remember that her daughter’s dead. What’ll happen to her?’ Lively asked Connie over Beth’s shoulder.

‘We’ll do all we can to unravel it,’ Connie said. ‘It might not be easy and it won’t be fast, but don’t lose hope, okay? Beth’s going to need you.’

Everyone’s attention was elsewhere when it happened.

Karl slid the knife into his neck with no fuss and no sound. It hadn’t occurred to any of them that he might have been carrying a backup blade. He’d taken it from his pocket with his free right hand, slowly, gently, and slid it into the soft tissue at the side of his throat.

‘Fuck!’ Salter shouted. ‘That’s so much blood. How do I stop it?’

‘Oh God.’ Connie ran to her side and pressed hard on his neck. ‘Lively, run out and bring in the paramedics!’

Beth stepped over and got down on the floor.

‘Apply pressure here and here,’ she instructed them. ‘Let’s get his head raised. Wait there.’ She raced into the kitchen, slamming cupboards before running back with her hands full of gauze and bandages. ‘Let me work.’

She did her best to stop the flow of blood, packing the wound and holding it until the paramedics got there.

‘Don’t give up,’ Beth said. ‘Karl, stay with me. Listen to my voice.’ She was still checking for a pulse with her free hand as the paramedics took over.

The puddle on the floor had become a small lake.

‘Beth,’ Lively said, trying to pull her away. ‘Darling, he’s gone.’

‘No, I can still save him,’ she said. ‘Do you have emergency blood in the ambulance?’

The paramedics looked at one another.

‘He’s passed,’ Connie said. ‘You weren’t responsible.’

‘But if I could at least have saved him … just one life—’

‘That one wasn’t yours to save,’ Lively said. ‘Come here.’ He took her in his arms again and held her until the paramedics moved Karl Smith’s body and they began the long, painful process of processing a woman for crimes she had no memory of committing.