Page 105 of The Mercy Chair

‘You don’t think there’s a causality between what Cornelius did and what happened to him?’ Poe said. ‘No cause and effect between the torture he inflicted and his own murder?’

‘I’ve already told you he was a manipulative man with terrible instincts; he collected enemies the way other people might collect bottle tops. I assume he was also involved in things he didn’t need my help with.’

‘He was killed for something else he’d done?’

‘There will be many people who had cause to see him dead, Sergeant Poe, but I don’t think the boys were ever one of their number. They were never angry with him. Not really, not when they saw what he was trying to achieve. Even if it didn’t work, it came from a position of faith. As a result, no, I don’t think I’m in any danger.’

Poe believed that Cobb believed that. While he was distraught at what he’d revealed, he didn’t seem concerned about his own safety. Poe knew it was time to wrap up. Cumbria CID would have to follow up on this. They would push Cobb hard, but if he went ‘No comment’ during interview they wouldn’t be able to charge him. He was right; there were no more living witnesses.

There was just one last thing to do. Poe reached into his pocket and pulled out the age-progressed photo printout of Bethany Bowman.

‘If you go “no comment” on all this after you’re arrested, you’ll probably get bail,’ Poe said. ‘Despite what you believe, I think you need to take your Osman warning seriously. If you see this woman, you run away as fast as you can. You’re a weedy runt of a man and she’s got a stun gun. So you run and you don’t stop until you get to a police station.’

He handed the printout to Cobb.

‘Who’s this?’ he asked.

‘That’s Bethany Bowman, Mr Cobb.’

‘But . . . no one has seen Bethany since she ran away from home. No one knows what she looks like now.’

‘Wrong,’ Poe said. ‘Wedidn’tknow what Bethany looked like now, but then again, no one had asked Tilly to develop an age-progression program with a ninety-eight per cent accuracy rate. Eve gave me some old photographs of Bethany and Tilly put them through her program. She handed me this not thirty minutes before I came to see you. By tomorrow evening, Bethany’s going to be the most famous thirty-year-old in the country. So, do me a favour and sleep with one eye open from now on. I would hate to think she might get to you before your trial.’

Cobb scrabbled around on the coffee table until he found a pair of reading glasses. The lenses were greasy and he wiped them on his shirt. Poe wasn’t sure that would make them cleaner. Cobb stared in disbelief at Bradshaw’s age-progressed image of Bethany Bowman. He flinched. What little colour he had drained from his face. His mouth formed a perfect ‘O’, and he began blinking wildly. He looked like a condemned man. His hands started to shake so much it was as if the photograph was rattling.

‘You’ve seen her, haven’t you?’ Poe said. ‘Where? I need to know where and I need to know when, Mr Cobb. What was she wearing, what was she doing? Have you talked to her?’

‘Nooooo!’ Cobb cried out, shaking his head and baring his teeth.

‘Are you OK?’ Poe asked, standing up, aware the sudden change in Cobb’s demeanour was similar to the change that had come over Nathan Rose. Right before he’d jumped through a loft hatch with a tow rope around his neck. If Cobb was about to do something stupid as well, Poe was ready to stop him. No way was he taking the easy way out.

‘Tell me where she is!’ Poe urged.

Cobb shut his eyes and took deep, measured breaths. He did this for almost a minute. Poe didn’t interrupt. After a while his manic expression faded into one of serenity, like he’d been meditating. His eyes opened.

‘Bethany Bowman didn’t kill Cornelius Green, Sergeant Poe,’ he said. ‘And if you circulate that image you’ll look extremely foolish.’

‘You seem very sure.’

‘I am.’

‘Why?’

‘Because Bethany Bowman is dead,’ Cobb said.

‘And how could you possibly know that?’

‘Because I’m the person who killed her.’

Chapter 92

‘Israel CobbkilledBethany?’ Doctor Lang asked, astonished. ‘But . . . but . . . why?’

‘If you’re looking for something more sophisticated than he and Cornelius were extremely vile, vile men, I’m not sure I have anything,’ Poe said. ‘Nothing that makes sense anyway.’

‘I don’t understa—’

‘They tortured vulnerable boys, Doctor Lang,’ Poe said, snipping her protest. ‘They took in boys who were gay, or confused about their sexuality and, while they were tied to a chair, Israel showed them pictures of naked men and Cornelius whipped their feet with a hosepipe.’

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