Page 26 of The Serial Killer's Sister
Clearly this person isn’t going to go away. I curse quietly, pull on my dressing gown and hurry downstairs, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Henry surely wouldn’t ring the doorbell – especially not multiple times. It would draw too much attention.
He’s a serial killer, Anna – he wants to be noticed.
My hand hovers above the handle, then I thinksod it,and fling the door open. There’s no one there. I stick my head out, but I can’t see a retreating delivery person. And on the doorstep lies another envelope.
‘Where are you, you coward?’ My yell seems to bounce off the neighbouring houses as I bend to snatch the letter from the step, echoing my fear back at me. Then with the envelope gripped in my hand, and fuelled by rage, I stomp barefoot up the path and scan the area. I did take a while to open the door, so he could be long gone. Or, he could be in another house, watching me this very minute. I shiver, backing away from the gate. But I keep my head held high as I go inside – I refuse to let him see my fear.
I know I should call DI Walker immediately – and definitely before opening the new envelope as it’s clearly from Henry; it’s the same type as before with the same block writing – but I’m in no mood to wait, so I rip it open. I pull the paper from inside and unfold it. Two words are written on the top half of the page:
Tick, Tock.
Underneath this, the riddle DI Walker found inside the Tamagotchi is repeated. I frown. Why’s he sent me the same one twice? As I read it again, I realise it’s written in a different way. I’d scribbled the riddle haphazardly when I copied it down, and in this version the lines are arranged differently, and with the final line now underlined. My heart begins to race as my memory grapples to make the connection I know is there.
All of a sudden, something clicks into place, and I remember a puzzle just like this one. How could I have forgotten?
I know how to solve it.
Chapter 16
FINLEY HALL CHILDREN’S HOME
Despite the bridge incident, or maybe because of it, Anna continued to play The Hunt with Henry. She wasn’t willing to risk her friend getting hurt again. Although they weren’t frequent, each one over the past year had become increasingly complex. Henry was becoming even more cocky, doing his best to catch Anna out. Make her sweat more.
Now, a sense of dread fills Anna as she throws her bed cover back, sits up and catches sight of a small, ominous-looking gift box at the end of her bed. She stares at it, her pulse pounding. Henry’s been in their dorm again. He’s taken to sneaking in when they’re asleep – Kirsty caught him in there after breakfast a few months ago and, before Anna could see it, tore the riddle into tiny pieces right in front of him. Anna was beyond alarmed when Kirsty told her, pacing the room, anxiously twirling her hair, then shouting at her friend for taking such a risk. But Kirsty only shrugged; she said that Henry had laughed in her face and called her stupid.
Anna instinctively looks across to Kirsty’s bed now.Shit. She’s not there. Has he done it again? She pulls on a pair of jogging bottoms and a hoody, and rips the box open, snatching the paper from it. With the new riddle in her hand, she rushes down the stairs, asking anyone she passes whether they’ve seen Kirsty.
With her heart banging, Anna runs outside and casts her eyes wildly around the grounds, silently praying nothing bad has happened. There’s movement. She spots Kirsty with her brother Dean, smoking behind the middle cedar tree, and bends over, her hands on her knees, her breath heaving with relief.
‘Oi!’ Kirsty shouts, then ducks behind the trunk. Anna walks towards them, shoving the riddle into her hoody pocket as she does. Kirsty offers the cigarette to her as she rounds the cedar tree.
‘Thanks,’ Anna says, drawing heavily on it. ‘How come you’re up so early?’ Anna shoots Dean a cautious look. They seem to have been in deep conversation.
‘Couldn’t sleep,’ she says.
Dean takes the cigarette, finishes it, and stubs it against the bark. There’s an awkward silence and Anna senses they want to say something.
‘For God’s sake,’ Dean says, suddenly, looking behind Anna. Anna turns around to see Henry approaching. Her heart drops.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Anna says to Kirsty. She begins to walk towards Henry, but Kirsty grabs her arm.
‘You’ve got another riddle, haven’t you?’ she asks, her eyes narrowed.
‘It’s fine. I’ll do this one alone.’ She pulls away.
Kirsty and Dean carry on speaking, their words hushed,and Anna knows they’re talking about her and Henry. Probably about how weird it is that she allows her brother to manipulate her; how weird Henry is full stop. How dangerous he is. A shiver tracks up her spine. How can you be afraid of a twelve-year-old? But then she remembers a news story from a few years ago about a boy killing his sister and mum when he was that age, and realises she has every reason to be. She’s too afraid to ignore her brother, and he knows it.
‘You need help with that one?’ Henry says, his arms crossed as he leans against a tree.
‘Nope. I haven’t even started it yet,’ Anna says.
‘Well, don’t askthem. That’s cheating.’
Anna casts her gaze back and sees that Kirsty is watching, listening. ‘Whatever,’ she says to Henry. ‘Leave me to get on with it then.’
‘Be careful, Anna.’ He winks at her. ‘You shouldn’t trust them.’
Anna frowns. It’s a strange thing for him to say, particularly when it’s him she should mistrust the most.
