“You think Colin might have taken some inspiration from Edwards, in killing Claire?”
“Very possible.”
“Whereas, you’re thinking that Edwards killed Amy Llewellyn all those years ago and just never admitted it?”
Ryan looked at Anna for a long moment. She had summarised the situation commendably, but for all that it made sense, there were gaps that needed plugging.
“I wish it were that simple. I can’t tell you how much I’d like to wrap it all up in a pretty bow like that and take it to the Crown Prosecution Service.”
“What’s missing?”
Ryan leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling as he worked through the loopholes in his mind.
“On one side of the scales, Edwards has admitted that he had a relationship with Amy Llewellyn and we have a statement from a shopkeeper which confirms that he bought the same bracelet found on Amy’s body – in fact, he bought ten of them. On the other side of the scales, no bracelets were found on any of his other victims, so why buy in bulk? Besides which, he claims he didn’t kill Amy, although he wanted to. He says he gave Amy up, voluntarily, to some unknown person.”
“He knows who killed her?” Anna was horrified.
“So he claims,” Ryan said conversationally. “But let’s not get carried away. It could still have been him. He’s had time to settle into his surroundings and to find that prison is not to his taste. He doesn’t want another prosecution to add to his existing sentence, so perhaps he’s regretting the fact that she has been found after all these years and he’s trying to divert suspicion from himself.”
“He’s in prison for life,” Anna said.
“Yes,” Ryan nodded. “But he’s likely thinking that he can somehow reduce his tariff on the grounds of ‘good behaviour’. This is a man who thinks that ordinary rules don’t apply to him. He believes that he will be able to circumvent the system.”
“He’s dreaming.”
“And then some,” Ryan agreed, with a short, mirthless laugh. “But if we do believe him when he says that he gave Amy up, foregoing the opportunity to kill her, then that would explain why none of his DNA was found on her body, or on the bracelet. The trace samples are so small that, if he had touched it, even once, there would be a chance of something being found. Yet, it wasn’t. We’ve got three samples on the bracelet: one belonging to Amy, another one belonging to an unidentified male and a final sample which was confirmed as a match to Colin Hart, just this evening.”
“It matched? Then, surely, that confirms he killed her?”
“No,” Ryan shook his head. “It adds weight, but the downside to the Low Copy Number DNA testing is that, with the samples being so small, it could have come from Colin coughing over the bones when he found them. He might have touched the bracelet when he found it on Sunday, which is almost certainly what he would argue in court. We’ve got added weight, but it’s not an airtight case.”
Anna felt his frustration keenly.
“What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I know for certain is that our killer wants attention. He wanted Amy to be found, or at least he wants to be credited for her murder. Claire’s murder told us a lot about his psychology; he managed to copy Edwards’ MO, firstly using a pressure syringe to sedate her, then using adrenaline and antibiotic to keep her alive while he dissected her, until she died from massive cardiac arrest. That was Edwards’ style. But, to cap it all off, our perp has also managed to copy the ritual style we found at Holy Island, by slashing the torso. Not forgetting that all of these girls went missing or died around June 21st, which is the summer solstice.”
Anna listened intently, imagining the kind of mutated mind that could conceive of so much pain.
“It’s like he’s giving you the finger.”
Unexpectedly, Ryan laughed.
“Got it in one.”
“How will you handle it?” Anna saw the visible signs of strain and wondered what else had been said while Ryan had been cooped up in a room with Keir Edwards.
Ryan shrugged it off.
“Same way I always do,” he replied. “First thing tomorrow, we’re bringing Colin back in for questioning, this time under arrest on suspicion of murder. In the meantime, he can enjoy his last night playing Scrabble with Mother Hart, who probably has no idea what a naughty boy her son has been.”
While Ryan listened to mellow jazz music with Anna, another man allowed himself to enjoy some peace and solitude, after a punishingly long day. Finally, he could retreat to his own corner of the world, away from the daily stresses of his everyday life, away from other people. He could sit and ruminate.