by Helen Cox
‘How old were you at this point?’ asked Drake.
‘Fifteen, almost sixteen.’
‘And what did you do out there with them? Describe a typical day for me,’ said Halloran.
Ayleen offered a dismissive wave. ‘It was mostly just chores: cooking, cleaning, gardening and looking after the chickens. The camp was self-sufficient when it came to food but we all had to pitch in to make that possible.’
‘Was there any other livestock, besides the chickens?’ asked Halloran.
This struck Kitt as a rather odd question but she assumed Halloran must have had a good reason for asking it.
‘There were a few other animals. A couple of cows for milk. Sheep for wool.’
‘And did you ever eat any of the animals that you kept?’ Halloran pushed.
‘We, er, yes. Once in a while. Sometimes we killed a chicken or cooked grouse or rabbits that wandered into our enclosure.’
‘And how were the animals killed?’
Ayleen looked at Halloran, her next words slow, cautious. She clearly suspected a trap but hadn’t worked out yet what the trap was. ‘One of the members would be asked to slaughter it so that the rest could eat.’
‘Who did the slaughtering?’ asked DS Drake.
‘We took it in turns. Anyone who was over sixteen took their turn.’
‘So, if you got there when you were fifteen and didn’t leave for six years, you spent five years slaughtering animals at the behest of Justin Palmer?’ said Halloran.
‘Yes, but—’
‘And did you only ever kill these animals for food?’ said DS Drake.
Ayleen paused for a moment before responding. ‘No. Sometimes they would make us kill the animals as a thanksgiving sacrifice to Silvanus.’
‘Sounds to me like good preparation for ritually killing larger mammals,’ said DS Drake looking at Halloran and speaking as if Ayleen wasn’t even in the room. ‘It might have been forced at first, but she probably came to enjoy killing defenceless little animals.’
Halloran nodded. ‘And when it all stopped, she missed it. That feeling of power. It’s not surprising that, after that, she moved onto killing humans.’
‘Humans?’ Ayleen repeated, and then suddenly realizing where this conversation was heading, she shook her head and slammed her hand down on the table. ‘No, that’s not true. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to kill the animals. They made me do it. I can still hear the noises the poor things made when we killed them. I wouldn’t have done something like that voluntarily.’
‘But you did do it for five years,’ said Halloran. ‘And we’re supposed to believe that didn’t have an effect on you? Didn’t give you a taste for killing?’
‘I didn’t kill anybody.’
‘But you tortured them, didn’t you?’ said Halloran.
‘What? No, I did not.’ Ayleen had the gall to look outraged at the insinuation.
‘Well, perhaps tortured is a bit too much of a strong word. Let’s say you coerced and punished them. Gave them what you thought they deserved.’
‘No. No. No!’ Ayleen half-screamed.
‘I don’t believe you, Ayleen,’ said DS Drake. ‘And do you know why?’
Slowly, Ayleen shook her head.
‘Because we know that you were a godmother at the camp. We’ve got it on record and we’ve got a person willing to testify to it. We know that you were the one putting strange substances into people’s food. Intimidating them into killing animals, and into fighting each other. We know you were the one dishing out the punishments. We know what you did.’
Ayleen began to shake. ‘Look. Look, I know I wasn’t completely honest. And I . . . I may have done some things that I regret, but I’m not your killer.’
‘If you really weren’t trying to throw us off the track, then why did you lie to us about the killer coming after you because you escaped from the Children of Silvanus?’ said Halloran.
‘Because,’ a tear slid down Ayleen’s cheek, ‘I didn’t want to admit to the real reason the killer is probably after me.’
‘And what reason is that?’
‘They are probably after me for payback for what I did. All the things I did that I shouldn’t have done.’
‘How far did you take it?’ said Halloran. ‘Did you coerce people into killing animals? Into fighting each other to show their obedience and allegiance?’
‘You don’t understand,’ Ayleen said. ‘You don’t understand how scary it was. If you disobeyed Palmer, if you didn’t do as you were told, you disappeared.’
‘Like Penelope Baker,’ said Halloran.
Ayleen’s eyes widened. ‘You know about Penelope?’
Seventeen
Halloran stared even harder at Ayleen than he had before. ‘Yes, we know, but we want to hear the truth from you.’
‘Is it just Penelope or do you know about the others too? Did you find them?’
‘Never mind what we know. We want to hear what you know,’ said DS Drake.
‘I don’t know where Penelope is, if that’s what you’re asking?’
‘Then why did you tell the police at the time that you did know what had happened to her?’ said Halloran. ‘Why did you lie, again?’
Ayleen sat quiet and still.
‘Lying seems to be something of a bad habit for you, Ayleen. If I were you, I’d come clean now and tell us what you really know about Penelope’s disappearance.’
Still Ayleen didn’t respond.
When DS Drake spoke again, her voice was soft and warm. ‘What happened to Penelope, Ayleen? You need to tell us. Her family deserve to know what became of her.’
‘I can’t tell you where she is because I don’t know. But I can tell you part of the story. The bit that I saw. The bit that I—’
Kitt took a deep breath. From the sound of things, Ayleen hadn’t just witnessed what had happened to Penelope, she’d had some part to play in it too.
‘Go on,’ Halloran pushed.
‘It was a new recruit to the group. Jesse, his name was Jesse. There was something different about him, I knew it as soon as I met him but I did as I was told anyway. Initiated him into the group. Made him kill animals as sacrifices. Put him in hand-to-hand combat against other members. Nothing lethal. That part of the initiation wasn’t about killing each other, it was about proving to Palmer that you would be willing to do exactly as he said. Failing to stop a fight on the order of a godparent was deemed by him as serious an offence as refusing to fight when ordered. It wasn’t about violence; it was about control. About building allegiance to him.’
‘And this Jesse, what happened with him?’ asked Halloran.
‘He joined around the same time as Penelope. He was always hanging around her. I think he was a bit obsessed with her. She had shown reluctance to complete the initiation of killing a grouse but had gone through with the task. When it came to killing a rabbit, though, she couldn’t do it. She started screaming that she was going to leave and tell everyone about what was happening at the camp.’
‘What happened then?’ asked Halloran.
Kitt shuffled on the spot, realizing she both did and did not want the answer to that question.
‘Part of me was relieved, when I heard her scream like that. It was buried very deep by that point but there was still a part of me that wanted to escape and when I heard Penelope cry out it was the first time since joining the group that I really acknowledged it. That I felt that part of me had a voice – even if that voice wasn’t my own. But the others around me didn’t feel the same.’
‘What did they do?’ asked DS Drake.
‘He was . . . just so clinical about it – Jesse. He walked over to her and without even blinking he punched her to the ground to stop her from screaming. He then screamed down at her that she was a disappointment to Palmer. That she didn’t d
eserve to be part of his collective. This altercation didn’t go unnoticed by the leaders closest to Palmer. They praised Jesse for his loyalty and took Penelope away. I knew then I would never see her again, and I never did. I also knew that if I stayed, one day that would be me. One day they would push me too far. And I would try to rebel. And that would be the end of me. I’d be gone like all the others. That’s why I made my plan to escape.’
‘We will need the names of anyone you can remember from that time, especially the leaders closest to Palmer,’ said Halloran.
‘I will do that but I don’t know who is still alive. It was a brutal existence up there.’
‘It would have been better if you had come clean about all this in the first place,’ said DS Drake. ‘You’ve made it very difficult for us to believe anything you tell us by lying about your part in this group.’
‘I didn’t lie because I am guilty of the vampire killings. I lied because I’m ashamed of who I was, and what I did.’
‘I understand the rationale,’ Halloran said, his voice calm but stern, ‘but you should know that given what you’ve told us, you won’t be leaving this station without being charged for the crimes you’ve committed in the past. Misuse of drugs, coercion, animal cruelty, and that’s just for starters.’
‘But I did those things under duress,’ Ayleen pleaded.
Halloran held up a hand to silence her. ‘Any mitigating circumstances will be considered in full by a court. But we have to submit the necessary case work to them and let them decide the outcome.’
Ayleen lowered her head at Halloran’s statement but offered no further pleas. She had done all she could over the last decade to escape the consequences of what had happened in that camp. It seemed to be finally dawning on her that there was no escape, she would be held accountable for her actions. Kitt shook her head, thinking about how young Ayleen had been when she’d got to the camp. Though she had been an adult when she’d left, by that point she had already endured six years of conditioning. At fifteen, did you really have the confidence to challenge adults over what they were telling you to do? Especially when everyone else was being so obedient. Kitt could only hope that the court would take the manipulation and victimization Ayleen had endured into account when deciding on any penalties.
‘As for the vampire killings and any possible role you may have in them, this is not a case we can take any chances on,’ Halloran continued. ‘We will be conducting a full and thorough search of your business and personal properties. You will be held in custody while we wait for the forensic results. If we discover you have lied to us a second time, I will have you charged with obstruction of justice on top of everything else, do you understand?’
Ayleen nodded. It was a meek gesture. So slight as to be almost indiscernible. ‘I think I’d better speak to a lawyer now,’ she mumbled.
From this reaction alone, anyone would think she was nothing more than a helpless victim in all this, and she had been when it all started. But Kitt imagined that not everyone rose to the rank of godmother at the camp and until the police had thoroughly investigated Ayleen’s involvement with the Children of Silvanus, they could take nothing for granted when it came to the true identity of the Vampire Killer.
Eighteen
The next day, the sun rose at quarter to six and Kitt rose just a few minutes later. With just days until the Vampire Killer was due to strike for a fourth time, it was impossible to rest easy and sleep long. Instead, Kitt quickly dressed, gave Halloran his good morning kiss and took herself off for a walk on the sands near a long line of brightly painted beach huts. This, she reasoned, would give her the time and space she needed to think before Grace roused and they got down to the business of the day. The rushing swell of the ocean and the promise of sunshine beyond the clouds also took the edge off the morbid dream she had had the night before. A dream in which she had been buried alive.
It wouldn’t have taken a qualified therapist to decode that one.
With so little time left before the Vampire Killer was due to take Ruby, Kitt was trying not to dwell on just how complicated the case had become. She had suspected the involvement of a cult when she’d arrived in Whitby, that’s why she had insisted on interviewing Stoke Bramley. But she hadn’t expected that a cult in operation more than a decade ago would play a part in the proceedings. If the Children of Silvanus really was at the centre of this case, then who knew how long the killer had been plotting their revenge? Right now, she was buried alive, all right, in clippings and notes from interviews and lists of possible weapons. And despite it all, she felt no closer to discovering who was really behind the murders.
‘Kitt!’ Halloran’s call came from behind. She turned to smile and wait for him as he marched his way across the sands. Before she’d left for her walk, he had mentioned he had some early morning calls to make about the search on Ayleen’s house and work, and the search conducted at Twilight Manor. He had promised to come out and find her as soon as he was done.
‘All right, pet,’ he said when he caught her up, kissing her forehead and taking her hand in his.
‘What do you know then – anything at Ayleen’s?’ Kitt asked as they continued a slow walk across the sands.
‘Nothing yet. They’re making a thorough job of it and any forensics won’t be back for a good two days at the earliest. We can hold her for ninety-six hours if totally necessary – and it has been known for tests to take that long, even in a high-stakes case like this.’
Kitt nodded. ‘Ninety-six hours would take us up to the night of the murder so if she is still in custody then at least she won’t be able to get at Ruby by the deadline.’
‘She can’t but don’t forget, it’s highly likely this killer has an accomplice, given the complexity of it all.’
‘So let’s hope those tests come back quicker. If they find something, we’ll need to break her and find out who her accomplice is as a matter of urgency.’
‘I’m putting on as much pressure as I dare; hopefully the tests will be back before then.’
Kitt sighed. ‘I know she might have done some terrible things, Mal, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her. Losing her parents so young like that and then falling into the hands of a cult, no less. You heard what Stoke Bramley said about him and his sister, they were foster kids too.’
‘I know,’ said Halloran. ‘It sickens me as much as it does you. The way people like that prey on the vulnerable. Unfortunately, when you do this job, you start to realize it’s a bit of a theme. There’s always someone out there ready to exploit people who don’t have the means or the faculties to stay safe.’
‘Which, I suppose, makes it even more important that people like you and me stand up for those they try to exploit.’
‘Too right,’ said Halloran. ‘Even if she has nothing to do with these murders, Ayleen won’t escape some kind of penalty for her past crimes. I’m sure, however, the fact that she was groomed will be taken into consideration, even if she wasn’t a minor when she committed some of the crimes.’
‘I hope so. Right now it feels like there’s a darker story behind all this than we first realized. Any more news about Bramley?’
‘We don’t have the forensics back on Twilight Manor yet, but unlike Ayleen, Bramley doesn’t appear to have lied to us. Or at least, we haven’t found any evidence of it. Ayleen, on the other hand, was conditioned to lie as a survival instinct years ago. Because of that, she is the top suspect right now, but Bramley’s been told not to go anywhere. We’ll continue investigating other leads at the same pace as before. We cannot ease up even for a moment until we’re one hundred per cent sure we’ve brought the true killer to justice. Banks is trying to track down Penelope Baker and has started work looking into Palmer’s son.’
‘You think Penelope’s still alive?’ Kitt said, quite taken aback by the idea. In her mind’s eye, she could picture the kind of place the Children of S
ilvanus camp would have been, out there on that lonely moor top. She had been trying not to engage with this bleak image but, of course, after all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours it was inevitable that her mind would wander to that dark and isolated place. Ayleen had said Penelope wasn’t the only one to have disappeared. Kitt hadn’t consciously addressed what might have become of her and those like her who wouldn’t obey. It wasn’t an idea she wished to dwell on. But some part of her suspected that they might have been murdered and buried out in the dales. After so many years had passed, the odds of finding their resting places with no instruction from a knowledgeable party didn’t seem high. The idea that Penelope might still be alive wasn’t one Kitt had even considered. ‘With all the money Stoke Bramley has thrown into finding her, don’t you think he’d know if she was alive by now?’
‘You’re assuming that she wants to be found,’ said Halloran.
‘You don’t think she wants to be reunited with her brother? Why? Because she might have done things at the camp she was ashamed of?’
‘That’s one possibility,’ said Halloran. ‘Being in that environment might have changed her. Might have made her bitter or vengeful.’
‘You think she might be the Vampire Killer, don’t you?’ said Kitt.
Halloran nodded in response.
‘I can understand the rationale but that only works if you believe Ayleen’s story that the killer is trying to intimidate and scare her before he – or she – finally comes for vengeance. Ayleen only knows two of the victims – so far as she remembers – so I’m not sure we have enough evidence to support that theory.’
‘I know, but now that we’ve discovered Ayleen played a key part in performing some of the more unethical acts that took place in that camp, somebody coming after her makes a lot more sense. Remember also, the killer has been smart about covering their tracks since the first murder took place. It could be that they just selected some people at random who had associations with the occult in order to mask their true target – Ayleen – when they finally get around to killing her. If they had gone after her first and she had been the only victim, we would have looked into Ayleen’s past and likely discovered her involvement with the cult. This might have made the identity of the killer quite obvious – especially as so few people seem to have survived the fire at the camp.’