Page 113 of The Mercy Chair

‘We’ll watch the Aaron Bowman video,’ Poe replied, ‘but then you’re telling me what happened to his sister. And if this was only a ruse to make me watch this sick shit, you won’t make it back to the station.’

Cobb shook the last video out of its sleeve and pushed it into the machine. He pressed down on the spring-loaded mechanism until it locked. The JVC didn’t have a remote and Cobb didn’t press play.

‘What are we waiting for?’ Poe said.

As he had done with the previous five films, Poe had his phone held up so he could document what came up on the screen. At least if the machine chewed the tape – a not unlikely possibility given how old Cobb’s technology was – Poe would have a record of what was on the cassette.

‘This is the last time Cornelius and I did this, Sergeant Poe,’ Cobb said. ‘In a moment you’ll understand why.’

Up until then, if Poe had been asked what he was feeling he would have said 50 per cent rage/50 per cent revulsion. Rage at what Cornelius Green and Israel Cobb had forced those boys to do. Revulsion at the sickening way the victims had died. He thought both emotions were a rational response to what he had witnessed.

But right now all he felt was unease. He suppressed a shiver. Despite the night’s lazy warmth, goosebumps popped up like hives. The murders Cobb had filmed were as nightmarish as anything Poe had ever seen. Any one of them would attract life without the possibility of parole and Cobb was admitting to six. What was Cobb about to show him? What was a step too far for a man like this?

‘What did you do, Israel?’ Poe said, his voice thick with fear. ‘What was different about Aaron Bowman?’

Cobb cleared his throat.

And told Poe a horror story.

Chapter 100

‘The first thing you need to know, Sergeant Poe,’ Cobb said, ‘is that Aaron Bowman wasn’t gay. He wasn’t in a relationship with another boy. He wasn’t exploring his sexuality that way.’

‘He was heterosexual?’ Poe asked.

‘If he was anything.’

‘Then why the hell did his parents put him through conversion therapy?’ Poe said. ‘I mean, I get from the way they treated Bethany that they had a cruel streak, but why put themselves at risk like that? You said the parents all knew what was going to happen.’

Cobb shrugged. ‘It was implied before they signed up and it was made implicit afterwards. They were shown the video of what their sons had done. This was to show they hadn’t been ripped off, but also to ensure their silence.’

‘What was in it for Noah and Grace Bowman then?’ Poe said. ‘Because as far as I can tell, it was a lose–lose situation. They risked going to prison for the rest of their lives and they psychologically screwed up their only son for no reason at all. Why would they do that? I get that they were stupid and they were bigoted and they were sadistic, but the way they hid their abuse of Bethany meant they did at least have some animal cunning.’

‘You’re still not seeing the bigger picture, Sergeant Poe.’

‘You keep saying that, Mr Cobb; that these videos provide the missing context. Fine, show me then. Press play and let’s see this big picture of yours.’

The VCR had a mechanical button, and the force needed to press play turned the end of Cobb’s finger white.

The familiar scene of the sectioned-off area of the old school basement flickered on to Cobb’s old-fashioned television, a cathode-ray tube set. The bulky things that looked like they had an arse. Cobb had more problems with the tracking this time, as if the film had been viewed more often than the others. He fiddled with a button Poe couldn’t see and the picture stopped jumping.

Poe noticed the difference immediately. The previous five videos had started with the victim already strapped into the mercy chair. This time it was empty.

Cobb pointed at the small boy on the right of the screen.

‘You can only see the back of his head,’ he said, ‘but trust me, that’s Aaron Bowman.’

‘Why’s the chair empty?’

Cobb ignored him. Instead, he paused the video and said, ‘Do you notice anything different about Cornelius?’

Poe got down on his hands and knees and shunted towards the television. He put on his reading glasses and leaned into the screen. Cornelius Green was holding Aaron, talking quietly into his ear. Aaron was shaking, probably crying, but Cornelius looked . . . ecstatic. There was no other word for it. He couldn’t have looked any happier if Jesus himself had just walked into the room wearing an ‘I love Cornelius Green’ T-shirt.

‘He’s not usually this excited,’ Poe said.

‘No, he is not,’ Cobb confirmed. ‘Do you want to knowwhyhe was so happy?’

Poe wasn’t sure he did. He nodded anyway.

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