The Game Changer

by Louise Phillips

  ‘They could have slipped in when someone was going in or out.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘You look like you have a theory, Kate. Spit it out.’

  ‘I can’t help thinking it’s connected to when I was attacked all those years ago. I know it’s a long shot, and I’m probably only linking it because …’

  ‘Because what?’

  ‘It’s been playing on my mind.’

  ‘Kate, can I ask you something?’

  ‘You’re putting on your detective voice.’

  ‘Am I? I didn’t know I had one.’

  ‘Well, you do. What is it?’

  ‘When was the last time you saw Malcolm Madden?’

  ‘This evening, why?’

  ‘Are you sure you can trust him?’ He leaned back in the chair.

  ‘Of course. I’ve known him my whole life.’ She stared at him, sensing he was still holding something back, then blurted out, ‘What is it? What are you getting at?’

  ‘He knew Michael O’Neill.’

  ‘So? You said yourself a great many people knew him.’

  ‘I’m only telling you to be careful. Don’t shoot the messenger.’ He leaned forward to take her hand, just as Malcolm had done earlier. ‘It might be nothing, but even if their mutual acquaintance means nothing …’ he paused, looking down at the note ‘… that means something.’

  ‘I know it does.’ She sounded more downbeat than ever.

  ‘Look, Kate, I’ll take it to the guys in the lab in the morning.’

  ‘The techies have enough to do. Anyhow, you won’t get anything off it now.’

  ‘I’m owed a few favours. Leave it to me. Look, you’re the one taking time out, so step back and let me deal with it.’

  ‘That’s the thing, Adam. Stepping back doesn’t feel like an option any more.’

  The Game Changer

  PLANS HAD TO BE REARRANGED TO FACILITATE Sarah’s request for an urgent meeting outside of Ocean House. Luckily, the Game Changer now had a more private venue set up, one closer to Kate, both physically and personally.

  If things worked out, the session with Sarah would prove to be a profitable one. Like many in the programme, for her, the concept of Saka and all he represented was seductive: she saw Saka as the great hero, the one who echoed the ethos of the programme, creating whatever illusions best met her needs, and the Game Changer had every intention of reaffirming her delusion. People, like Sarah, who had never experienced financial worries, and didn’t have enough respect for money or its power, deserved to be punished.

  ∞

  ‘Nice to see you again, Sarah. Why don’t you take a seat with Lily in front of the camera? Make sure you’re comfortable before you begin.’

  Nervously Sarah wrapped the blanket around the baby doll. ‘John has refused to touch Lily.’ Her voice was close to a whisper, covering the doll’s ear on the side not held tight to her chest. ‘I wasn’t sure how he would react, but I hadn’t expected that. He keeps looking at me as if I’m deranged and no matter how much I explain to him about Lily, and that she means the world to me, he won’t accept her.’

  ‘He might need more time, Sarah. Do you think that could be the problem?’

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t understand him any more. I can’t deny her.’

  ‘What about work? How did they react to your change of plans?’

  ‘They were sympathetic. I told them I needed time off for a personal matter.’

  ‘So, Sarah, you’re saying John is the real problem.’

  ‘Yes, and it was awful last night. After he’d stopped shouting and stomping around, he stood in the bedroom where I lay with Lily, and there was a crazy look in his eyes. He asked if I wanted him to get help for me, saying our GP could recommend someone. He’s so bloody-minded at times. He thinks one cure fits all.’

  ‘Do you think his mind is completely closed to accepting Lily?’

  ‘Yes. He can’t see past living his life like everyone else. What’s so terrible about me wanting Lily in my life, if it makes me happy?’

  ‘Happiness is important, Sarah.’

  ‘In the end, I built up the courage to ask him why he was staring at us, and if he didn’t love us any more.’

  ‘And what did he say?’

  ‘He didn’t answer. Instead he walked around the room, his arms folded tight to his chest, like he wanted to squeeze some torment out of himself.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound good, Sarah.’

  ‘I pleaded with him. I told him we didn’t have to follow other people’s concepts of what’s okay.’

  ‘And what was his response to that?’

  Sarah looked down at Lily, making sure she was still fast asleep, then said, her voice low and strained, ‘He roared at me that Lily was nothing more than a damn doll. I couldn’t believe it. He should have known that she was more than that to me. If he wasn’t so pig-headed, he’d understand.’

  ‘I can appreciate your hurt, Sarah.’

  ‘When I told him I had no intention of going back to work, he was even more annoyed. I hadn’t said it categorically to my employer, you see. I didn’t want anyone asking too many questions. It wasn’t like typing other people’s letters was a major career. It was only a part-time job, and we certainly didn’t need the money.’

  ‘But the job helped you for a while?’

  ‘Yes, it did. It helped me to pretend my life could get back to normal, but that was before I realised that being normal was society’s way of not letting me be the person I wanted to be.’

  ‘It’s tough, Sarah. There’s no denying that.’

  ‘After John left the room,’ she paused, wiping her tears away, ‘I pulled the curtains closed so it would be easier for Lily to fall asleep. I told her that Daddy would understand soon, and I don’t know how long we slept for, but when I saw John standing in the doorway, I knew by the way he held himself that he’d been crying. I waited in silence as he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. I thought he didn’t want to disturb Lily, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like we were a family again.’

  ‘I can see why that would be important, Sarah. You have a lot of love to give.’

  ‘He said my name, softer, more relaxed than he was before. He told me that he loved me, and I could feel my spirits lift, and I thought maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult as I had first envisaged. It was then that he suggested I should get dressed. He wanted us to go for a walk, to spend some quiet time together. I assumed he meant with Lily. I mean, I couldn’t possibly leave her behind, but when …’

  ‘When what, Sarah?’

  ‘He looked at me so strangely when I told him I needed to change Lily into warm clothes so she wouldn’t get a chill. I knew then he didn’t love her, but his words hurt so much, delivered with such coldness, when he said, “That thing is not my daughter.”’

  ‘Do you need a few moments, Sarah, to compose yourself?’

  ‘No, it’s fine. I turned my back on John, but he kept on talking, saying she wasn’t real. I knew it was hopeless then. He was never going to accept her, no matter how important she was to me.’

  ‘That must have hurt you.’

  ‘I told him, I practically spat at him, that she’s real to me. I told him I wasn’t going to let him ruin my happiness, not for the second time. He lost it completely then, and I knew why.’

  ‘I don’t quite understand, Sarah.’

  ‘He still blames himself for Lily’s sickness. He delayed bringing us to the hospital, you see, saying first labours always lasted for hours and hours, and wouldn’t it be better to stay at home for as long as possible. He wasn’t to know he was putting her life, and mine, at risk. But last night, when he was denying her, prepared to exclude her from our lives, I wanted to hurt him more than anything. I told him I wouldn’t allow him to harm her or me ever again.’

  ‘That must have been harsh for him to hear.’

  ‘I meant every word of it.’

  ‘I know you did, Sarah.
’

  ‘He went out then for the walk on his own. When he came back, he did that staring thing again, watching me as I attached the new teddy-bear mobile over the cot, before covering Lily up for her night’s sleep. That was when I knew for sure he hated us.’

  ‘Hate is a very strong word.’

  ‘You didn’t see how he looked at us.’

  ‘No, Sarah, I didn’t. What do you want to do?’

  ‘I need to be somewhere else.’

  ‘That’s completely understandable.’

  ‘Can you help me?’

  ‘Of course – the group is all about supporting one another.’

  ‘I know the work done at the commune is important, and with a new baby, I wouldn’t be much use on the island. I don’t want to be a burden.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that. However, going to the island is a big step. Sarah, you need to be sure.’

  ‘I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, or at least, not for a very long time. I know there is a lot to sort out.’

  ‘Don’t worry about incidentals, Sarah. Your well-being is what’s paramount.’

  ‘And Lily’s?’

  ‘Lily is important to you. Anyone can see that.’

  The Game Changer walked over to Sarah, who was now rocking the baby doll. ‘It’s okay, Sarah. Things will work out fine for everyone, you’ll see.’

  ‘I’m sure about going to the island, but I’ll only go under one condition.’

  ‘What’s that, Sarah?’

  ‘I want to pay my way. I’ll take the money out of the bank tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll need to stay for, but I don’t want charity.’

  ‘You’re a proud woman, Sarah. I respect you for that.’

  CENTRE OF LIGHTNESS

  20 Steps to Self-enlightenment Programme

  Player: Sarah Sinclair – Evaluation 11 Attributes: Loss of daughter magnifies her vulnerability and ease of manipulation, along with her protected social class and scant regard for money.

  Current Bank Balance: €95,000

  Step 10: Completed

  A change in routine has a dramatic effect on our cognitive process. The unfamiliar can make us susceptible, apprehensive, and can cause all kinds of spikes in our emotions. It is also when we are at our most flexible.

  Behaviour, as is the case for Sarah, can also be based on required reward/payback. The value of a reward to a recipient can be increased or decreased within their perception. Expected rewards can reduce motivation; surprise rewards will increase it. Giving Sarah an alternative to her current environment allows her to feed into her illusion of happiness and denial.

  The isolation of the island will have a two-fold effect. First, once Lily is accepted, it will make it increasingly difficult for Sarah to return to her current domestic arrangement. Second, becoming more dependent on the group, her mind will continue to find ways to reaffirm the group’s beliefs, thereby indoctrinating her further.

  (Page 1 of 1)

  Kate

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, MALCOLM HAD LEFT A message on Kate’s voicemail, but as yet she hadn’t replied. Even if his association with Michael O’Neill was innocent, there was no getting away from the fact that Adam had sown a seed of doubt in her mind. Why hadn’t Malcolm connected the suicide case she’d spoken to him about with Michael O’Neill’s death, especially if he knew him? He might have thought she was talking about someone else – she hadn’t mentioned any names – but even so.

  The note was still rattling her. She had quizzed Adam earlier about what Sam Miller, the profiler attached to the case, had come up with on O’Neill. According to Sam, the victim had shown numerous tell-tale signs of inability to cope since his retirement, shutting out his wife and other lifelong friends. There were other signs of depression too – calling to the school uninvited, allowing his appearance to deteriorate – and although his form had improved a couple of weeks before his death, the latter, as Sam had pointed out, was not unusual, especially if the deceased had already made the decision to take his own life. A planned suicide often acted as a release valve, with many victims appearing happier before they died. There would have been a feeling of contentment, knowing that whatever troubled them in life soon wouldn’t be able to harm them. The potential blackmail scenario might have compounded matters, all of which pointed in one direction: suicide.

  The police still hadn’t any idea where the money had gone. And, although Michael O’Neill’s widow would receive her husband’s life-assurance payment, her financial situation was a lot worse than it should have been. The profile that Sam Miller had drawn up on the late Michael O’Neill was of a man who was careful, reliable and conservative, at odds with the disappearance of the money, unless blackmail had been at play. It was impossible to work out in retrospect what a person had on their mind before death, and for some reason, this thought brought her back to her reaction the day before, standing outside her old home, thinking someone inside was watching her. Too many questions were floating around in her head, but were her questions feeding into a form of paranoia, making her jittery?

  Walking into the study, she pinned a large sheet of white paper to the wall opposite the door, and began to create a variety of mind maps, almost as if she was turning her past life into some kind of investigation. On the first, she wrote Kevin’s name in the subset of friends, then added two question marks, the first after ‘girl’, and the second after ‘man’, thinking about the memory she had of seeing them together from her bedroom window. She kept adding sets under various headings, and more subsets, until the whole sheet was covered. Twiddling the pen, her palms became sweaty. The mind maps didn’t give her any answers, but somehow she felt more certain about one thing: although they held a lot of information, gaps existed.

  She pinned up another sheet of white paper, equal in size to the previous one, then another and another, until the whole wall was taken up with them. Some were linked to her life at school, others to her life at home, the friends she used to hang out with, friends of her parents, relations, all the people known to her back then, especially around the time of the attack.

  When her mobile phone rang, she saw immediately it was Adam. The call felt almost like a distraction.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, sounding more together than she felt. ‘Did you get anything on the newspaper clipping?’

  ‘That’s the bad news, Kate. The techies couldn’t find anything, other than your own prints.’

  ‘That was stupid of me.’

  ‘Don’t beat yourself up.’

  ‘I know, but still … What about Malcolm and the late Michael O’Neill? Have you found out any more about their connection?’

  ‘I spoke to Malcolm Madden half an hour ago. According to him, he hadn’t seen Michael O’Neill for a couple of months. They met at Golf Classic last year, and although O’Neill wasn’t a client, Madden admitted speaking to him about his low moods. The conversation hadn’t gone down well with O’Neill, and because of that, they had ceased contact.’

  ‘Seems reasonable … Adam?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘I was wondering about visiting Michael O’Neill’s widow.’

  ‘That’s a bit out of the blue, Kate, especially as you’re not part of the investigation.’

  ‘I know, but I’d feel better if I did. It’s not that I don’t think Sam Miller is capable, but what harm can it do?’

  ‘I don’t like it, Kate. I mean, with the chief super and everything, visiting Ethel O’Neill sounds a little …’

  ‘A little what?’

  ‘Odd.’

  ‘Look, I’ll play it easy. Ethel O’Neill was the closest person to the victim, meaning she was also the most likely person to know which of her late husband’s friends or contacts were important to him.’

  ‘Are you digging because of the Malcolm connection?’

  ‘It’s not only that. I’ve been thinking about the other killing, the one in Manhattan, and how the killer planted evidence linking O’Neill.’


  ‘Go on, I’m listening.’

  ‘If it is a power game, and they’re playing clever, it feeds into a narcissist-type mind-set.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Meaning people’s motivations are complicated. There’s often more than one scenario influencing events.’

  ‘You’re talking about the different MO?’

  ‘In part, yes, that is important, but I’m sure there’s more than that happening here.’

  ‘You’re supposed to be off work, remember?’

  ‘Do you want to hear my thoughts, or don’t you?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘To kill Tom Mason in the manner Fisher described required a form of detachment. If power and ego are at play, then the killer may see the victim or victims as a form of collateral damage, unimportant, except in so far as they impinge on the killer’s desires.’

  ‘And someone capable of inflicting great pain.’

  ‘Yes, but they also wanted to leave a calling card.’

  ‘As you said, Kate, ego could be an influencer.’

  ‘If that’s the case, especially if we’re dealing with a narcissistically motivated individual, the reasons behind the killing are not always straightforward. Minor or major past events could be a factor.’

  ‘I’m not getting you, Kate.’

  ‘Look, all I’m saying is that normal rules don’t apply where narcissism is concerned. All sorts of nuances can influence a killer’s behaviour.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘The heightened narcissism or egotistical beliefs are essentially false, and are often linked to a suppressed low self-esteem. One that can be seriously undermined by rejection, for example, resulting in elevated levels of hatred or jealousy. What one person might take as a slight against their character, a narcissist will see as something else entirely.’

  ‘Why is that?’