Page 19 of The Serial Killer's Sister
It takes them fifteen minutes to get back to their room, Anna adamant they should walk slowly. In that time, she makes Kirsty say the alphabet forwards and backwards and do all the times tables, just to convince herself that Kirsty isn’t suffering from concussion, to feel better about not reporting the fall to the first-aider. She’d feel terrible if something happened to Kirsty because of her.
Anna’s brow creases as she pushes the door open.
‘Did you leave that there?’
‘No.’ Kirsty says. The girls stand just inside the room, both rooted to the spot. ‘But it is mine,’ Kirsty says, pointing to the object in the centre of the floor. ‘And isn’t that the paper you tore up this morning with it?’
Anna gently nudges Kirsty further in so she can close the door. She casts her gaze around to see if anything else has been disturbed, then takes a few tentative steps to the middle of the room. Anna picks up the paper.
‘It’s Henry’s riddle. But it’s been sellotaped back together,’she says. She picks up the toy. ‘Here.’ Anna hands Kirsty’s Tamagotchi back to her.
‘What a dick,’ Kirsty says, turning it over in her hands. ‘He’s taken the battery out. He’s killed my cat.’ She hangs her head, and for a moment, Anna doesn’t know what to do. Guilt that it’s her brother who has caused her friend’s sadness crushes her. If she’d just done The Hunt as usual, he wouldn’t have destroyed it.
‘I’m sorry, Kirst.’ Anna puts her arm around her friend. ‘I know you’ve had it for the longest time.’ And this fact suddenly hits Anna. She’d assumed Henry had chosen the Tamagotchi because he thought it was hers, but everyone knew it was Kirsty’s – she was always checking it, making sure her cat was fed and played with. Henry was well aware it didn’t belong to Anna.
‘Your brother clearly doesn’t like being ignored.’
‘No, I don’t think he does.’ Anna swallows down bile as an awful thought occurs to her. ‘Did you see him earlier? When you were walking to the lake?’
Kirsty’s forehead crinkles, then she gives a small gasp. ‘I passed by him. He was standing by the cedar.’ The girls look at each other, eyes wide with shared understanding. Anna strides to the window overlooking the grounds and scans the area. She doesn’t have to look far. Henry is leaning up against a tree, arms crossed, staring up at the girls’ window, and if Anna isn’t very much mistaken, he has a smug look on his face. She keeps eye contact for as long as she can bear, then just as she’s about to break it, she sees Henry cross his chest with his finger, then put it to his eye. She backs away with a shiver.
Placing something of Kirsty’s by the discarded clue is more than a sign he’s displeased. It’s a warning.
Henry was angry with Anna for not playing. She hurt his feelings.
So, in turn, Henry hurt Kirsty on the bridge. It was his revenge. And leaving Kirsty’s Tamagotchi here is to show Anna he means business. It’s his way of telling her that if she doesn’t play, someone she loves gets hurt.
Chapter 12
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 hellwas 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.
