'Then you killed Ross because he somehow knew what you had done and…'
'I never touched Ross, he was like Finder, clueless about what I'd done and…'
'Save your breath, you killed him, end of story,' Lasser said dismissively as he moved to turn away.
'Don't you dare turn your back on me, you nobody!'
'Are you OK, Morgan?' Lasser asked.
The girl looked up at him wide eyed. 'I just want to go home.'
'We're done here, and I want you to know that this animal will never see the light of day again, he will be locked up and you can forget about him and Flack.'
'Hands behind your back,' Bannister demanded.
They heard Barry grunt in pain and Lasser knew that the DCI had slapped the plastic cuffs on nice and tight, then they walked past, taking hold of Morgan's elbow Lasser led her around the corner, the wind howling, the driving rain blasting into their faces.
Seconds later, they reached the metal door that led down to the fifth floor, then they were all out of the wind and rain and the DCI fished the phone from his pocket and tapped at the screen.
Lasser heard him talking to Odette, giving her a brief outline of what had happened. 'We've got Morgan, she's safe and well, but the prick who took her is dead on the roof, and we have the killer of the six women…'
'It was three not six!' Barry snarled, his voice rising as they reached the top of the steps.
'Yeah, yeah, save your bollocks for when you're in the dock, Bannister barked before glancing over his shoulder at Lasser and nodding.
Lasser returned the gesture, and then Bannister was talking again.
'Yeah, and he's also the one who mowed down Bob Ross…'
'I never killed Ross!' Barry shouted, the fury echoing down the flight of steps. 'If I had I would have admitted it, I would have…'
'Yeah, Odette, he's doing the usual deny-it-all shit, but he's going down for seven murders whether he likes it or not,' Bannister said into the phone, in a voice that said he didn't believe a word Barry said.
'Three, I killed three bitches, you fucking fools!'
'Yeah, he's cracked, no doubt about it,' Bannister said as he nudged Barry forward and they started to move down the steps. 'Just send the works, Odette, once we've got the tosser locked up…' he paused, 'yeah, and thank Finder will you, tell him we'll come and see him in the morning. I doubt whether there will be a medal but if I had my way that man would have one pinned to his chest for the help he's provided.'
'FINDER IS NOTHING!' Barry screeched. 'He didn't have a fucking clue about me, I ran rings around him, do you hear…'
'We can all hear your worthless lies,' Bannister snapped as they reached the bottom of the steps and headed across the open space, the wind blowing across the level from one broken window to another. 'OK, Odette, catch you later,' the DCI said as he dropped the phone into his pocket and thrust Barry forward.
Morgan moved closer to Lasser's side, as if afraid of the dark, or more than likely the madman in the plastic cuffs, the bob cap on his head, his heavy boots clomping on the wooden flooring.
'I take it Finder was at the station?' Lasser asked as they moved to Bannister's side.
'Said he wanted to help and let's face it, his expertise has been invaluable, he…'
'He's an expert at nothing!' Barry snarled again. 'It's always been guesswork with Finder, he has no skill, no insight into anything.'
'He had enough insight to suspect you were responsible for six murders, you idiot,' Lasser snapped.
'How many times do I have to tell you, it's three and I never ran Ross down, though I sometimes wished I had left him there sprawled in the fucking road, broken and bleeding, that would have been a laugh, ending the idiot's life.'
Lasser and Bannister glanced at one another each seeing the certainty in the other's eyes.
'You sound desperate, Barry, next you'll be telling us that it was Finder who ran Ross down,' Bannister said as he prodded his finger into the man's back to keep him moving.
'He wouldn't have had the fucking brains, he was Mr Squeaky Clean, he was useless, fucking useless.'
'Mind your mouth,' Bannister warned as they approached the second flight of steps.
Barry threw him a baleful look. 'Fuck off, you nobody.'
Suddenly Bannister clamped a hand on Barry's shoulder and then spun him around, for the first time Barry got a good look at the man who had grabbed him from behind, his bravado faltered as Bannister moved closer to him.
'Finder was right about you, you should never have been allowed to be a copper, he said there was something about you that wasn't right, even when you were training together, he said you made his skin crawl.'
'Yet still he couldn't catch me,' Barry spat out the words, his eyes narrowed with fury.
'Perhaps he didn't want to catch you,' Lasser said as he eased in front of Morgan, blocking her view of Tom Barry's madness.
The pensioner looked from one to the other, his eyes moving rapidly in confusion. 'What are you talking about?' he demanded.
'If you include Ross there were seven murders that took place back then and yet, according to you, you killed three times.'
'So fucking what?'
'Well, who do you think did the other four?'
Barry licked his lips, his shoulders drawn back; hands pinned behind his back. 'What are you talking about?'
'Susan Hope, Pam Frost and Sharon Bliss, not forgetting Bob Ross,' Lasser said in a calm even voice.
'There was no link between those three whores,' Barry hissed.
'That's what you think but we know different.'
'Bullshit, you know nothing, you're an idiot just like…'
'Tell me, did Finder pull out all the stops to hunt down their killer?' Bannister interrupted.
Barry shuffled his booted feet, his head now whipping left and right. 'What are you talking about?
'Or was he ''useless'' as you put it?'
'He was always useless, a nobody and…'
'You don't have much of a grip on vocabulary, do you? That has to be the third time you've said the same thing,' Bannister broke in again, not giving Barry the chance to gather his thoughts.
The old man's face twitched again, his white dentures shining as he snarled.
'Let's face it, Donald Finder had the measure of you, he knew exactly what you were.'
'He didn't know, he couldn't have.'
'Because if he had then he would have arrested you, right?' Lasser asked.
The sound of the wind and rain swept through the old mill.
'He never came close.'
'More repetition,' Bannister complained. 'But someone killed those three women, and someone ran down Ross and left him in the middle of the road.'
'And I've already told you I never touched Ross.'
'We know you didn't,' Lasser suddenly said.
Barry blinked again as if his eyes were starting to fail him, the look of confusion deepening.
'What the fuck are you talking about?'
Lasser felt Morgan against his back as she shuffled closer.
'It doesn't matter, now get moving,' he said.
'I'm going nowhere until you tell me what you're talking about, you said I was the one who killed Ross, but now you've changed your mind and I want to know why?'
'Shall we tell him?' Bannister asked.
Lasser shrugged. 'It's up to you.'
'Tell me, fucking tell me!?' Barry roared.
Bannister sighed, an exaggerated sound as if tired of the conversation. 'Bob Ross wasn't left in the middle of any road, he'd been pinned against the tunnel wall.'
'I told you it wasn't me,' Barry said as he tilted his chin slightly as if he had proved a point.
'Yeah, but who was it?' Bannister asked.
'I don't give a toss who it was, Ross was a bloated idiot.'
'It was Finder,' Lasser suddenly said and watched as the old man threw his head back and laughed, the sound guttural and full of malice.
&
nbsp; 'Don't make me laugh, Finder would have no reason nor the bottle to do anything like that.'
'He would have if he had been the one who killed the other three women, and Ross was getting close to proving the truth,' Bannister said as he glared at the man in the bob cap, the smile dying on his crinkled face.
'Rubbish,' Barry said, though they both heard the doubt in his response.
Bannister nodded as he pushed his face closer to the old man. 'Imagine that, imagine if Finder was responsible, imagine that he knew all about you and said nothing, did nothing.'
'Impossible,' Barry replied, this time he was the one shaking his head.
'You only think it ''impossible'' because you are old and cracked in the head, a man who has spent all these years stoking your filthy ego,' Bannister paused, 'but someone murdered those three women and flattened Ross, and you're adamant that it wasn't you.'
'Finder wouldn't have had the bottle to do it, he's weak and useless,' Barry's shoulders started to shake in fury, his face a mask of anger and doubt.
'The truth is Finder was the one playing you for a fool, he knew all about you, but he also knew that someday it might prove beneficial to point the finger in your direction, to blame you for the murders.'
'Never!'
'All these years you've thought you had the measure of the man, taking the piss and rubbing your hands together when he didn't catch you, and yet you have only stayed out of the nick because he allowed it,' Lasser raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Tom Barry opened his mouth to fire out a reply, then Bannister spun him around and took hold of his elbow as they started to move forward.
'You're lying,' Barry gasped as he clomped down the steps, his chest felt tight, his mind awash with Lasser's words.
'And you're deluded,' Bannister fired back.
Lasser followed with Morgan Pence by his side, he could hear her breathing, rapid and shallow, though his mind was flying through the conversation that had just taken place, and his sudden belief that they were right about Donald Finder.
He had seen it in the man's eyes as he glared at Lasser over the desk and cleverly turned the tables until he had been pointing the finger of blame at Lasser.
Finder had ripped him to shreds, pointing out the fact that he had served as a PC with Barry for the first five years and then he had moved on, but by that time he had the measure of Tom Barry. Finder had called him a conspiracy theorist, but now as they reached the next level Lasser started to picture the two men, the early days, with them both sat together on duty in an old-style panda car.
Barry had said he had left clues though Lasser suspected that wasn't really the case, though he could well imagine Barry spouting ''conspiracy theories'' that contained nuggets of truth to Finder.
Lasser looked at Barry as they walked and he suddenly knew that he would have loved dropping hints about the killings, Finder would sigh and tell him to stop exaggerating, and Barry would have loved that. Inside, he would have been laughing and his sense of superiority would have grown, it would have bloated his ego, driving around in the squad car with his partner and inside gloating at the fact that he had murdered and got away with it, not once but three times. Yet perhaps they were right, and Finder had known about it all along and said nothing as he went on a killing spree of his own, knowing that keeping the truth about Barry to himself could someday prove useful.
As they crossed the space, Lasser's conviction that Donald Finder had killed the three women and Bob Ross solidified, and he resisted the urge to slam his fist into the back of Barry's head.
Reaching the top of the next flight of steps, Tom Barry came to a sudden halt, and Bannister almost collided into the back of him.
'YOU!' Barry roared, then there were two quick bangs, and Barry was screaming as he doubled up and fell forward.
Bannister made a grab for him but missed, Barry hit the steps, screaming again as three of his ribs cracked under the impact. Lasser appeared at the DCI's side, his eyes widening as he saw the old man career down the steps leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
'Move and you die,' Donald Finder warned as he emerged from the shadows and came to a halt halfway down the flight of concrete steps, Barry rolling to a stop at his feet.
The gun in Finder's hand was unwavering, his grey hair plastered to his head with rainwater, his narrowed eyes blazing.
Instinctively Lasser and Bannister drew shoulder to shoulder to protect Morgan Pence who stood behind them, her body shaking with fear, her hands clasped beneath her chin in prayer.
'Finder!' Lasser snarled.
Donald Finder said nothing, then he quickly lowered his hand and shot Tom Barry in the side of the head, the echo of the shot sounding loud as it blasted around the stairwell.
Then before they could react, the gun was trained back on them. 'You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that,' he said with a small smile. 'You've only had to spend a short time with the man, no doubt he drove you mad with his whining voice, always complaining, always thinking he was smarter than everyone else.'
'You killed those other women, didn't you?' Lasser demanded, his hands slowly closing into fists.
'Of course I did, and Ross, he had to go,' Finder paused, 'and unfortunately so do you three.'
Over Finder's shoulder they saw the figure poke his head around the wall at the bottom of the steps, Steve Black's pale blob of a face looked up at them, and then he eased out of sight but not before they had seen the dark smile of delight light up his face.
'Fucker,' Bannister hissed.
'That's hardly the kind of language a DCI should use,' Finder said with a light laugh.
'Why did you do it?' Lasser asked.
'I spent my life chasing murderers and believe it or not, I became fascinated not with the individual, they were always a disappointment, but I started to wonder what it would take to kill someone and get away with it.'
'It was your job to protect people, your job to uphold the law and yet the pair of you were nothing but scum,' Bannister spat.
'I always upheld the law, but when you have an itch sometimes you just have to scratch it.'
'And you knew about Barry, didn't you?'
Finder stepped over the slumped form at his feet, the gun remained unwavering. 'Right from the start.'
'So why didn't you say anything, why didn't you stop him?' the DCI demanded.
'I know you're trying to keep me talking until help arrives, so I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to the likes of you,' Finder said as he raised the gun slightly pointing it directly at Bannister's chest.
When the figure appeared at a run at the bottom of the steps, Lasser's eyes widened.
'NO!' Odette roared, her hair flying as she leapt upward, taking the steps two at a time.'
Finder twisted to glance over his shoulder, the gun moved with him and Lasser threw himself forward, taking to the air as Finder continued to turn, the gun automatically tracking his movements.
Then Lasser slammed into him and Finder cried out, then they were falling, Lasser landing on top of the ex-DCI who screamed as his hip went with a crack, and then his head hit the step with a dull thud as Lasser crashed down the stairwell, every contact with the cold stone steps made him grunt in pain but he kept his teeth clamped as he rolled, and then he felt Odette grab him, halting his momentum, and he looked up at her, his body crying out in pain.
Then Bannister and Morgan appeared.
'You OK?' Bannister asked, his eyes wide in shock.
'I think so,' Lasser said as he slowly sat up, the grimace on his face turning into a wince. 'Thanks, Odette,' he pushed to his knees and she reached down, helping him upright.
Turning, they looked at Donald Finder, he lay sprawled across three steps, eyes closed, his face appeared twisted out of shape from where his cheek had slammed into the step, a trickle of blood oozed from his left ear.
Then Bannister turned and started to walk down the steps, Lasser frowned as he reached the next leve
l and turned left before vanishing from sight.
'Please, I want to go home, I want to see my mum and find out how my dad is,' Morgan pleaded as she turned from the two figures on the steps.
'Your father had the operation, and it went well,' Odette said.
Morgan whipped her head around, her eyes wide. 'Really?'
Odette nodded. 'I spoke to a colleague who's been with your mother, they said your dad's doing well.'
Morgan lowered her head as the tears of relief slipped from her eyes.
'Fucking coward!'
They heard Bannister bellow, then Lasser was flying down the steps as he recalled Black looking up at them with hatred burning in his eyes before vanishing from view.
Reaching the bottom, he felt his body thrum with pain, but he ignored it and ran around the corner to see Black spread-eagled on the ground, his nose oozing blood, mouth open, lips coated in red as Bannister stood over him, fist clenched, blood on his knuckles.
'Shit,' Lasser hissed as he came to a halt and looked at Bannister.
The DCI turned to face him with rage shining in his eyes. 'Do not say a word, Lasser, the bastard deserved it.'
Lasser nodded in agreement as the wind howled through the glassless windows sounding like the shrieking laughter of a racket of banshees.
104
Ten minutes later, the ambulances arrived along with three squad cars, all parked in the courtyard of the old mill.
Donald Finder had been stretchered into one ambulance, one of the paramedics climbed in and started doing the usual checks, coupling him up to the machines.
Half a minute later, paramedics had retrieved the injured Black, Bannister glaring at the unconscious officer as he was placed inside the second ambulance, one paramedic staying inside.
'Stay with Finder,' Bannister had said and Rourke had climbed into the back of the ambulance, pulling the door closed after him.
The sirens had beeped and then wailed as the ambulances pulled onto the road and sped away.
When Lasser's phone rang he pulled it from his pocket answering it before slapping the loudspeaker on.
'The van belongs to…'
'Robert Flack,' Lasser interrupted.
Third Eye - DS Lasser Series 25 (2021) Page 36