‘But what kind of rivalry is as sick and enduring as this?’ Kim asked, pointing towards the board.
‘One that’s been going on for a very long time.’
Ninety-One
‘You’re saying they’re related?’ Kim asked, crossing her arms.
Alison took a breath. ‘I can see the doubt in your body posture but hear me out. The sibling relationship is the longest we have. It’s often seen as the training ground for life. How to share, take turns, love and nurture, reason, solve problems; how to cope with disappointment; how to get back up after being defeated. Constructive sibling conflict is learning how to be assertive without being aggressive.’
Kim tried not to show her reservations and waited to be persuaded. Finally, Alison had an opinion and she was going to consider it.
‘Siblings have significant impact on key developmental milestones. The acquisition of interpersonal skills, cognitive development, emotional development and social understanding.’
‘But there are millions of siblings out there not in competition,’ Kim said.
‘Look closer and you will often find some level of competitiveness, but it’s usually pretty harmless and indicative of how it was originally handled by the parents.’
‘Explain,’ Kim said. Everyone in the room was listening.
‘Okay, so siblings spend more time together during childhood than with their parents. The bond is complicated and is influenced by birth order, personality, parental treatment and experiences outside the family. It’s particularly intense when children are very close in age. From the age of one, children are sensitive to differences in parental treatment, and by the age of three they have a sophisticated grasp of social rules, can evaluate themselves in relation to their siblings and know how to adapt to circumstances within the family.’
‘But surely this ends as they grow up?’ Bryant asked.
Alison shook her head. ‘In many cases it gets worse. Fighting with siblings as a way to get parental attention may increase in adolescence. One study found the age group ten to fifteen reported the highest level of competition between siblings. It often continues into adulthood, though it can change dramatically over the years due to parents’ illness or death, or marriage. Approximately one-third of adults describe the sibling relationship as rivalrous or distant.
‘Each child competes to define who they are as an individual and wants to show that they are separate from their siblings. It can all be made worse by children receiving unequal amounts of attention, discipline, responsiveness.’
Kim was struggling to suspend disbelief. ‘Alison, I don’t—’
‘I asked you to hear me out and then make your mind up. Siblings are striving for significance. Birth order is an important part of personality development, as well as age and gender. For an older sibling to respond aggressively to a new baby is a common feature of family life.’
Penn leaned forward. ‘A female black eagle lays two eggs. The first hatched chick pecks the younger one to death within the first few days.’
Alison nodded. ‘Among spotted hyenas, sibling competition begins as soon as the second pup is born.’
‘And if we were filming an episode of Springwatch this would be riveting, but…’
‘How about Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Leah and Rachel.’
Kim frowned. ‘Stace, I’m not sure the Bible is—’
‘It’s not just the Bible,’ Alison added. ‘Sisters and actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were rumoured to hate each other.’
‘The Gallagher brothers,’ Penn added.
‘Rudolf and Adolf,’ Alison said.
‘Who?’ Bryant asked.
‘Dassler. German brothers. Couldn’t get along; one established Puma and one established Adidas.’
‘Same businesses?’ Kim asked.
Alison nodded. ‘Competitive siblings will often follow each other into similar careers. Siblings tend to fight because one has displaced the other. In many Asian countries the roles are determined by cultural norms. The eldest son is expected to assume greater responsibility for the family’s welfare and receives a greater share of the inheritance.
‘Younger children are expected to show respect and obedience to elder brothers and sisters, and in return they expect care and guidance. In other cultures, parents include the older child in caring for the new child. Sibling rivalry is considered the most common form of bullying.’
‘How does it all begin, though?’ Bryant asked. ‘I have siblings but we’re not competitive.’
‘Obviously, it starts with the parents. If there’s a lack of structure, tension from above, no family hierarchy, negative attention or no attention and lack of problem-solving solutions, childhood becomes an adventure sport.’
Alison turned to Bryant. ‘If one of you had a toy and the other wanted it, what was your parents’ response?’
‘My mum would ask us who had it first.’
‘Exactly. A simple statement with guidance. The first child who had the toy gets to keep it. What if your mum had said to sort it out yourselves?’
Bryant considered. ‘We’d probably have fought.’
‘Exactly, rivalry has to be kept within healthy and constructive bounds. There are guidelines like ignoring tattling, don’t compare, allow expression of feelings without blame, encourage sharing but don’t force it, individually value and spend time with each child, decrease—’
‘Enough,’ Kim said, holding up her hands. ‘I’m sure that checklist is on the minds of every mother struggling to make ends meet after finishing an eight-hour shift somewhere. She’s probably just relieved the kids didn’t kill each other.’
Kim had little time for perfect parenting checklists. For the most part, they were unrealistic, unachievable and managed only to make most parents feel inadequate.
‘I’m more interested in warning signs. Is there any kind of obvious escalation?’
‘Sibling rivalry is marked by elevated levels of hostility, resulting in delinquent behaviour, issues in adolescence, depression, anxiety, self-harm.’
‘That’s a big list,’ Kim acknowledged. And one they didn’t have time to work through. ‘But there’s one thing that still bothers me about this theory, which is that I get the sibling rivalry, I get the competitiveness of the examples you’ve used – but how often do these rivalries lead to murder?’
‘Chaw Cheng Hong, aged twenty-six, was stabbed to death by his twenty-three-year-old brother,’ Alison stated. ‘A seventeen-year-old boy in Karnataka recently stabbed his ten-year-old brother to death because he was jealous of—’
‘But that’s violence towards each other, not towards other people. Bring me some examples of—’
‘Boss, it’s probably nothing, but just thinking about what Alison said about career paths and all that.’
‘Go on,’ Kim said, turning to face Stacey.
‘Just looking at the details I dug up on Ella and Andrew Nock.’
‘The husband and sister-in-law of the first victim?’ Bryant asked.
‘Yeah, the boss asked me to get background on Ella after she turned up at the search for Archie. There are so many similarities that it’s a bit weird; they both joined the athletics club at school, went to the same college, both joined the chess club, both worked part-time in fast-food restaurants, went to the same university and both ended up in sales.’
Kim looked to Alison.
‘Even for competing siblings that seems a bit much,’ the behaviourist answered.
‘But is it a competitiveness that could have evolved and spiralled out of control?’
Alison considered carefully before speaking.
‘I think it’s a definite poss—’
‘Boss, I’ve just had another thought,’ Stacey said, looking into space, appearing to do sums in her head.
‘Go on, Stace, you’re on a roll.’
‘The first letter was sent on Monday, to you specifically?’
‘Yeah, Stace, but…’<
br />
‘So it had to have been posted by five thirty to reach you the following day.’
Kim frowned. Was there a point coming any time soon?
‘You spoke to the press briefly on Monday but it wasn’t until late in the evening.’
Kim got Stacey’s point. Noah hadn’t seen her on the television or in the press as being the SIO because that hadn’t happened when the letter was posted, which could only mean one thing.
The letter had been sent by someone she’d already met.
Someone like Ella Nock.
Ninety-Two
‘You really think one of them took Archie?’ Bryant asked as they banged on Ella Nock’s door for the second time.
If Ella was home, she wasn’t answering her door; but with no car on the drive, she was guessing no one was there.
After the updates from her team, she and Bryant had sprinted to the car to track down the woman who had shown a little too much interest in the abduction of Archie and was definitely a controlling older sibling.
‘Do you want to go in?’ Bryant asked.
Kim thought for a second, shook her head and took out her phone.
Stacey answered immediately.
‘Stace, I need you and Penn over at Ella Nock’s address right now. Get a team to meet you here and force entry on my authority.’
‘On the way, boss,’ Stacey said and ended the call.
‘Guv, we’re right here,’ Bryant said, looking back at the house.
‘But Ella isn’t and she’s the person we need. If half of what we suspect is true, then another person is due to lose their life soon. Come on, we have to find her,’ Kim said, heading back to the car. ‘And the search begins with her brother.’
As they pulled away, she glanced back at the house. Her instinct told her that Archie wasn’t in there; Penn and Stacey were now on their way and had her full authority to break in and search for him.
For once, she had to believe in the integrity of Noah who had assured her that Archie would not be harmed.
Ninety-Three
‘Bloody hell, Penn, is this even legal?’ Stacey asked as they pulled off the station car park. The car was a wreck.
She’d already spoken to Inspector Plant, who had dispatched a team to meet them at Ella Nock’s address with the big red key, or enforcer as some called it, which could apply more than three tonnes of impact force from its 16kg weight.
‘Oh yeah, fit and well, passed her check-up with flying colours.’
‘Is the mechanic a good mate of yours?’
‘You’re safe, Stace, I swear,’ he said, taking a sharp left. ‘We’ll be there in no time, and if Archie’s there—’
‘Do you think he is?’ Stacey asked, pushing back further into the seat. She knew Penn was rushing to get them there, but she wouldn’t even stake tomorrow’s lunch on this car’s airbags activating. ‘You think Ella Nock could have taken Archie?’
‘I saw her briefly at the search for Archie, and she was pretty cool and calm, but how do you tell if someone is capable of abducting a child? If emotional distance was a precursor, our boss could have a houseful.’
‘Can’t imagine that, can you?’ she said as he crossed a green light at the very last second.
‘The thing I’m not sure about is this: we know Noah has Archie, so of the pairs Noah must be doing the second kill. Noah must be the one being prodded and poked, but Ella is the older sibling, which means she would have committed the first murder of her own sister-in-law and—’
‘Do we really think that Andrew Nock would have continued this bloody competition if his own wife was lying in the morgue?’ Stacey asked.
‘Yeah, but our theory means that if Ella didn’t kill her sister-in-law, then Andrew killed his own wife. One or the other.’
‘So how much faith do we have in our own theory?’ she asked as he turned sharply into the street where Ella Nock lived.
He left her question unanswered as he parked the car.
As they approached the house, Stacey couldn’t help wondering if somehow, despite all the evidence, they had taken the wrong direction entirely. But then again, too much of what they’d uncovered made sense.
No, they were right. They had to be.
She pushed her doubts aside as Penn gave the nod for the officers to use the big red key.
Ninety-Four
‘Have you caught him?’ Andrew Nock said as he opened the door.
‘I’m sorry to say we don’t have a result,’ Kim said, stepping into the house. ‘But we are making progress.’
If Andrew wasn’t involved, then she needed to manage his expectations about her visit, and if he was, she’d sent a shot across his bows that they were on to something.
‘We just wanted to drop in and check on you all. Is Ella not here?’ Kim asked as Andrew showed them through to the lounge, although she already knew the answer given the single car on the driveway. She only wanted to mention the woman’s name. Right now, she could be sitting in front of Noah: she had to choose every word wisely.
‘She was here earlier but she said something about going shopping. I’m relieved, if you want the truth,’ he said, softening his words with a smile.
‘The two of you are close, though?’ Kim asked, seizing the opportunity.
‘Sorry,’ Bryant said, before sitting, ‘may I use your bathroom?’
No hesitation. ‘It’s upstairs, first left but please be quiet. Mia’s taking a nap.’
Bryant nodded his understanding. Seemed a bit late in the afternoon for a nap, Kim thought. Especially if he wanted the child to sleep at night.
‘What routine?’ he said, as though reading her thoughts. ‘Been all over the place since… Monday,’ he said, still unable to say the words. ‘Late nights, early mornings. Right now, if she’s tired she sleeps.’
She understood. Grief didn’t wear a watch.
‘How is she?’ Kim asked.
‘Eating now, so that’s one less worry.’
‘Ella must be such a help to you, but we could still arrange for a family—’
‘It’s fine. I don’t want strangers around Mia at the minute. Ella is indeed a great help, but there are times when I really wish she’d just leave.’
‘Older sisters mean well, but—’
‘They always know best, Inspector. They can do everything better,’ he said with an edge of bitterness in his voice.
‘Like with Mia?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘With Mia, with everything. She knows everything; she’s always right, always does better. If I buy something, she buys the same but better. She’s a competitive person.’
‘Even as kids?’ Kim asked.
It might appear to Andrew Nock that they were making idle conversation, but Kim was getting to ask exactly what she wanted to, given everything that Alison had told her.
‘Hell, yes, Mum was a single parent and pretty much left us all to get on with it. We never found alternative ways to find resolutions and just fought for what we wanted. Bless her, our mum compared us all the time. I don’t think we ever did a lot together as a family.’ He smiled. ‘Mum always said Ella didn’t get enough time in the cot.’
‘Sorry?’
Kim hoped that the conversation and memories were distracting him from the amount of time Bryant was out the room.
‘As she had us, Mum would keep us in a cot in the bedroom with her. As another came along, the last one would be moved to the second room.’
Kim wondered if something that happened so young could affect a child for life. Was it perceived as rejection, causing a wedge of resentment between the eldest and the next in line?
‘And what kind of things did Ella do to you when you were children?’ Kim asked, trying to keep her tone light.
She was trying to prolong the time until Andrew realised the conversation had nothing to do with the case.
At that second, Bryant entered the room and offered a brief shake of the head to say he’d found nothing untoward in the time ava
ilable. Her gut wasn’t telling her that Archie was here either.
‘Oh, she was bossy and controlling. Wanted all the good toys, wanted to be in control. Anything anyone else did had to be done better by her.’
He rolled his eyes fondly, and Kim’s stomach began to turn. This man did not hate his sister. She annoyed him and frustrated him, but she was sensing there was a deep layer of love beneath his irritation. This man was not taking lives in a sick, twisted rivalry with his sister. Their whole theory had been blown to smithereens.
‘Okay, Mr Nock, thanks…’ her words trailed away as something occurred to her. ‘You said something about “all of you”?’ As opposed to just the two of them, she thought. They had made a foolish assumption. ‘How many siblings are there?’
‘Four altogether. Ella’s the eldest and I’m the youngest, so I wasn’t really on her radar. If you really want to know how bad she can be, you should talk to my older brother. He hates her guts, and the two of them haven’t spoken for years.’
Ninety-Five
‘Nothing upstairs,’ Penn said, meeting Stacey in the hallway, ‘except a master bedroom, a comfortable guest room and a small boxroom for anything that doesn’t fit in the other two rooms. Guest room shows no evidence of being used recently.’
Penn had trailed his finger through a very light layer of dust on the bedside cabinets.
‘Nothing in any of the rooms downstairs either that I can see,’ Stacey said. ‘No sign of a child having been here, no wrappers or anything in the bins and they’ve not been emptied for a couple of days.’
Penn tried hard to quell the unease in his stomach. He remembered one time he’d been driving his mum and Jasper to a hospital appointment when his brother had an ingrown toenail. His mum had directed them by memory to the hospital, and despite her insistence he’d felt they were going the wrong way. Every metre he’d driven, he’d known he was going in the wrong direction and moving away from the destination.
Deadly Cry: An absolutely gripping crime thriller packed with suspense (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thiller Book 13) Page 24