Legacy of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  Ben nodded slowly. ‘It’s a consideration. But what do we know? We know with reasonable certainty that because the abductions all took place between ten pm and six am, the offender probably lives alone. He doesn’t have close friends or neighbours who are going to notice if he’s out each night scouting for victims – either that or he has invented some sort of position that would allow him to be out late without raising suspicion, like shift work, for example.’

  ‘That would tie in with Billy perfectly – no close friends, isolation, opportunity.’

  ‘Yes. Next, most people who commit these types of crimes have experienced events in their childhood that have caused trauma at vital points in their development, such as abusive or negligent role models. Billy displays an apparent hatred of women, which could stem from that. I believe if he has killed Gus, his motivation will have simply been to avoid detection, whereas what he did to Bella was sadistic. Was Mavis abusive or negligent? Possibly, through her own mental illness. She raised him in an unusual fashion that didn’t result in his being a well-adjusted child. Or there could have been another female figure in his life somewhere along the line he held a grudge against. There are also hereditary components that could play a role.’

  ‘Not well adjusted? That’s an understatement.’ Ebony screwed up her nose in disgust. ‘He’s sick.’

  ‘Well, yes, but not in the way I had initially profiled him. All Mavis’s talk of him having a traumatic birth and being special threw me off. Mavis didn’t say he was ill, she said he had the devil in him.’

  ‘Which could suggest psychopathic personality traits,’ Lee said.

  ‘A psychopath? Like … Hannibal Lector?’ Ally asked in disbelief.

  ‘Basically, a psychopath is just someone who doesn’t feel the same levels of remorse and guilt we think of as normal. They can’t empathise with others and they’re prone to antisocial behaviours. They’re also not as erratic or as impulsive as your run-of-the-mill sociopath. Billy’s cautious, his attacks are less emotional reactions and more premeditated, and we know he must have a fairly solid working knowledge of forensic processes, which keeps him out of trouble.’

  ‘I think I’d call what he did to Bella pretty antisocial,’ Ally muttered.

  ‘Although he wouldn’t be capable of forming deep and genuine relationships, he could be very capable of maintaining the façade of them while it suits his purpose, which may explain why Gus didn’t perceive him as a threat. He’s not as low on the intelligence scale as I had put him before Bella turned up. He’s taunting you, Ally, evading detection, abducting and – we have to believe – murdering women without leaving any evidence. And he’s been getting away with it for years. That would place him more closely among the ranks of a highly evolved serial killer.’

  Cam nodded. ‘We’ve been underestimating him all along.’

  ‘Regardless of that,’ Lee said, ‘his compulsion’s beginning to take over. He’s making mistakes.’

  ‘Case in point.’ Ben put the last figure Ally had found on the table. ‘Ally mentioned it didn’t look like the others.’

  ‘Why do you say that, Ally?’ Lee asked.

  ‘It’s not as perfect. The edges are rough, more pronounced. The care he put into the others isn’t there.’

  ‘You’re worried about workmanship?’ Ebony asked dubiously.

  ‘She’s right to point it out. The time, the place, the method, what he does and how he does it, everything reflects his personality, his state of mind. The more we learn about him, the more chance we have of catching him. This is a clear deviation from his normal pattern. He’s making mistakes, falling apart.’

  ‘Degenerating serial killers get careless, and I think that’s what’s happened here. He was careless with Bella. He didn’t finish her off and she got away. This guy will be on a hair trigger. He won’t enjoy finding out he’s slipped up. It will make him more desperate to reach his end game.’

  ‘And he’s under real pressure,’ Cam added. ‘Mavis is on her way out. He’s tried to get rid of Ally several times, but failed. He’s just about run out of time. He’s liable to do something brazen, desperate. We need to be prepared.’

  For the second day in a row, Ally sat on Cam’s veranda and watched police swarm like ants over her property. As far as she knew, they’d found nothing substantial but they were packing up, taking what they did have for analysis. She wondered what state her generally clean house was in.

  Two armed police sat in Cam’s lounge room. Greg, she remembered, and his pal was Hugh. Both were big, both suitably scary enough for bodyguard material. As she had nothing else to do, she absently pondered what would possess a person – even a big, muscly male person who could shoot – to watch over someone they didn’t know, someone they couldn’t, in all probability, care less about. The job was either going to be boring or dangerous: fall-on-your-face bored versus a life-and-death showdown with a sadistic, knife-wielding serial killer. She gave some consideration to asking them, wondered if they’d give her an answer. They weren’t very chatty.

  She looked over her shoulder and saw Hugh was staring at her. No, not at her, but at any possible danger around her. The expression on his face was not encouraging. Maybe she’d ask them later. When they warmed up. If they warmed up. It wasn’t comfortable. But then, she supposed, neither was being sliced into hundreds of pieces.

  The police could stay.

  Maybe Cam would come home soon. He and Lee had been up and down a couple of times today. Ebony was at the surgery and Mia had been going to ditch a shoot and arrive last night, but Ally had told her not to rush, there was no point. She’d half expected her anyway, but guessed Mia felt better knowing Cam had things under control.

  And Ally had no right to feel bored, or lonely. Not even uncomfortable that she was unable to so much as go to the bathroom without enduring two strangers in the lounge room knowing exactly what she was doing. Because all those people down the hill and plenty more in town were here to catch Billy. To stop him hurting anyone else, including her. There was nothing she could do but wait, a prisoner in Cam’s house, and be appreciative.

  It was too surreal to get her head around.

  Cam’s phone rang and she sprang up to answer it. She had no idea where her mobile had gone, she’d misplaced it yesterday in all the comings and goings, and Cam had diverted her number to his phone.

  Please let it be for me. Please let it be good news.

  The caller was Cassie. Mavis didn’t have long, wanted to see Ally. She wondered if she’d be allowed, told Cassie she’d do her best. She hung up, took a deep breath, and prepared to plead her case with her captors.

  They took her in the police car, stood by the door as she went into Mavis’s room. Trying her best to ignore them, she pulled a chair over to Mavis’s bedside.

  Mavis stirred at the noise it made and opened her eyes.

  ‘Mavis, it’s me.’

  ‘Alissa.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How are the animals?’

  ‘They’re good, really good.’

  ‘Billy?’

  ‘He’s – about Billy. I was following the rules, Mavis, but some bad things have been happening.’

  Mavis moved her head from side to side. ‘It’s not his fault, his father’s the devil.’

  ‘Yes, I know but –’

  ‘I’m sorry, Alissa. Thought he’d let you stay … look after the place … like me.’ Mavis choked, cleared her throat weakly. She struggled to lift a hand to grasp Ally’s arm and her eyes bored desperately into hers. ‘They are legion, and they swarm on the full moon. When the gates of hell are open, lock your doors. Don’t chase the screams. And stay away from the pit.’ With that she sank down, exhausted. This time her eyes remained closed.

  Ally pulled a pen from her bag and wrote Mavis’s words on the back of an unused page from her chart. She had no idea what the words meant, but if they meant anything at all, she wanted to have it all down.

  ‘Do you know if Ben –
Detective Bowden – is at the station?’ she asked Greg.

  ‘No, ma’am, wouldn’t know. Would you like me to find out?’

  ‘Please.’

  Ben was just coming in for lunch, so she was taken over there, handed him the note. He was busy, people were waiting on him, so she left it with him and, needing a walk, she set out for Ebony’s, her bodyguards trailing her. They didn’t look impressed, but the fresh air, the space, was a relief.

  Ebony was in a consult, so she crept into the holding room to see Millie. The dog was on her feet, head down, looking miserable.

  ‘Hi, sweetheart.’

  Millie’s head stayed down, but her eyes lifted and her tail moved once. Her neck and face were swollen and the iodine-stained wounds visible through the clipped areas of hair looked angry and sore. Because she hadn’t growled, Ally sat close to the pen, continuing to talk to her, and stayed there until Ebony found her.

  ‘She’s doing well. Her little heart is broken, though. If they don’t find Gus … well, I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’ve probably saved her just for her to end up at the pound. Who’s going to want a miserable, seven-year-old, three-legged collie?’

  ‘Gus could still be okay. He could be. We don’t know. But if he’s not, I’ll take her. She can live with Bess and Luna.’

  ‘Really? I thought you were still trying to rehome the animals you’ve already got.’

  ‘Funnily enough, it doesn’t seem to be working out that way.’

  ‘Well, it’s good news for poor old Millie. Any ideas what the boys are up to?’

  ‘None. I’ve seen them a couple of times – briefly, but most of what they’re talking about goes over my head.’

  ‘Why don’t you give Cam a call?’

  ‘I’ll have to use your phone, I think mine might be at Gus’s – or in Cam’s car somewhere.’

  ‘Go upstairs, use the one in my flat.’

  Ally hesitated. ‘I have company.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ebony said, turning her attention to the police officers. ‘Can I make you two a tea or coffee?’

  Cam answered on the first ring. ‘Hey, you okay?’

  ‘Yeah. I’m with Ebs. I went to see Mavis.’

  ‘Where’s your protection?’

  ‘From Mavis?’ It was meant to be a joke, but she didn’t quite infuse the humour she’d hoped. She sighed heavily. ‘They’re here.’

  ‘Anything from Mavis?’

  ‘She apologised. She said she’d thought he’d let me stay there, like she had.’

  ‘So she knew what he was capable of.’

  ‘I don’t know, she said it wasn’t his fault.’

  ‘She wants to make excuses for him. She’s his mother, after all. Hold on.’ She heard him talking to someone. ‘You there?’

  ‘Yeah. And I know. But she said some other things. They didn’t make sense so I wrote them down, gave them to Ben.’

  ‘Good idea. We’ll talk about it when I get back. Lee and I are going to call it a day soon.’

  ‘What have you been doing?’

  ‘Searching mostly. They can do with every set of eyes they can get down here. Did Mia turn up?’

  ‘No, not sure what she’s doing. I tried to call but got her voicemail, she’s probably on her way.’

  ‘You sound bored.’

  ‘It’s a little uncomfortable, that’s all.’

  ‘How about you head back to my place and cook us something delicious? Get Ebs to come over after work. I’ll see you tonight.’

  She knew he was trying to distract her by giving her something to do. And it wasn’t a bad idea, something complicated and time consuming to take her mind off all this. ‘Okay, but I’ll need some things from my kitchen.’

  ‘Should be okay. People have been swarming all over it for two days. As long as Greg and Hugh are with you.’

  ‘Can I tell them you said that? I don’t think they like me much.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘They barely speak, never smile, I think I annoyed them, making them walk to Ebony’s.’

  ‘They’re not there to entertain you, Ally, they’re there to keep you safe.’

  ‘I know that, I do, I just … sound ungrateful. Sorry.’

  ‘No, I am. I didn’t mean to snap. It’s been a long couple of days. I’ll see you at home soon.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Hey. Love you.’

  ‘Me too.’ Feeling tears well in her eyes for the hundredth time that day, she shook them off, gave herself a firm talking to, and headed downstairs to update Ebony.

  Cam led four vehicles along Gus’s driveway. The men spread out, and some went with dogs onto the trails, into the scrub, while Cam followed Lee back into the house with two police officers.

  Lee had stopped at the entrance to Billy’s room and he waved Cam over. ‘Can you smell something?’

  ‘I don’t want to hear that when we’re looking for someone.’ Cam walked past Lee, picked up a whittled figure of a woman.

  ‘You shouldn’t touch all that.’

  ‘There’s enough here they can analyse. Look at this. It’s Ally.’ The figurine was beautiful, a perfect replica. ‘She would have loved this, had it not been made by Billy. Shame.’

  ‘You could always tell her Gus did it. We can’t be completely sure he didn’t.’ Lee walked to the window, opened it and took a couple of deep breaths, closed it, took another and pulled a face. ‘Yep, it’s something in here somewhere.’

  ‘The whole house smells musty.’

  ‘Yeah. It didn’t last time. And that stink is worse than musty.’

  Cam stared at the figurine in his hand. ‘Was stalking her a game? Or was he looking for an opportunity to make it seem accidental? A random bullet in the forest when the hunting group was out, a slip in the bathroom … if either had killed her, it wouldn’t have drawn any suspicion to him.’

  ‘I’m guessing he wanted to remain a secret. He hunts here, needs his privacy, his anonymity. He was getting away with killing the other girls, but if Ally had disappeared, it would have drawn too much attention to Montrose.’

  Cam put down the figurine to join Lee at the window. After two steps he stopped, stepped back, went forwards, back. Looked down. It didn’t sound right. Lee helped him pull back the tattered floor rug.

  ‘Trap door?’

  ‘Quick escape route should anyone come looking.’ Cam lifted it.

  And stared straight into the sightless eyes of Gus Littleton.

  ‘Ah, shit.’

  ‘Jeez.’ Lee stuck his head out the door, called for reinforcements. ‘Should have figured the dog wasn’t hiding under here defending itself. It was defending its dead master.’

  ‘I don’t need to see any more of this.’ Feeling sick, Cam stepped out of the house just as Ben pulled up. His face was grave – Cam expected it to be. He didn’t expect what came next.

  ‘Cam. I’ve just got a report – Mia’s car’s been found on the side of the road into town.’

  CHAPTER

  27

  Ally was pleased that the house was in remarkably good order. Things had been moved around, put down wrong, but it wasn’t the chaos she had expected. She’d fed the animals, they were all fine. Tom was at her feet, hoping for his dinner, so she fed him, spent a few minutes giving him some attention. The officers wandered through the house as she collected pots and pans, mentally ticking off ingredients for the dinner she was planning, and packing up what she needed to take back.

  She went upstairs, Hugh jogging ahead of her and checking in each room before giving her the nod. There was evidence people had been up here. It wasn’t pleasant knowing strangers had been through her personal things, but at least they’d been careful with them. She pulled out a bag. What did she need? A new deodorant, her favourite body wash, shampoo. She wasn’t sure how long she’d have to stay at Cam’s. She grinned to herself. Not that it was a hardship.

  A shout caught he
r attention. It broke off sharply.

  She spun around. ‘Hugh?’

  ‘Stay here.’ He disappeared.

  It was probably nothing, but a thread of anxiety began to tighten around her chest.

  He’s just gone downstairs, he’s fine, just go down, find them.

  There was an avalanche of thuds that ended in a loud crash. The thread of anxiety became a wire and the wire became a thick metal band. The silence was deafening.

  She dropped her bag, raced to the hallway. At the top of the stairs she gripped the rail. Stared.

  Blood spatter on the stairs, and a small pool of it on the floorboards at the bottom. A smeared trail of it led into the hallway and out of sight.

  She jumped as the front door slapped against its frame. A chill ran through her, so cold and sharp it immobilised her. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the stain and its long streak of red.

  She saw a shadow slide insidiously across the wall.

  The need to know who it was didn’t come close to the absolute terror she might find out. Had she whimpered? Had she made a noise? All she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears and the sound of her own rasping breaths as she tried to be quiet.

  She stepped back. Something brushed against her leg. The scream was short, sharp and uncontrollable. The cat bounded, startled. Relief was quickly pierced by an even deeper terror.

  Now he knew where she was.

  She backed away, had to get out. There was nowhere to go. A creak, the one she knew the third step made.

  She stifled a sob, tried to think. She needed to hide. Where? A frantic search in every direction. The creak of another step sent her out of her mind. Nothing existed but panic. Choked by restrained sobs, blinded by tears, she fled into the spare bedroom.

  A muffled moan from the open wardrobe propelled her into the hallway. Another foot on the stairs sent her back in through the door. The wardrobe slowly opened, the cat wandered out. She ran to it, the darkness was cover.

  And gasped.

  A wall panel had been removed from inside, exposing a narrow space, the stacked bricks of a makeshift staircase.

  Luna had been staring at that wall. Ally remembered Mavis’s words: Billy’s good at hiding.