The Principle of Evil: A Fast-Paced Serial Killer Thriller (DCI Claire Winters, Book 2)

by T. M. E. Walsh

  ‘I never met her before the other night. You and Claire saw her once when she went to the morgue. It’s not like her picture was in the incident room.’

  Stefan bit his tongue. Right now, all that mattered was finding Claire and the girl.

  It was nearly noon when they saw her. Stefan’s mobile rang as he got out the car.

  ‘I’ve found something,’ said Jane when he answered. ‘Hidden inside Lucas’s mattress were some official documents. I have his birth certificate, and death certificates for both his mother and grandmother, but there’s something else.’

  ‘Jane, I’ve got to go. We have the girl in our sights, we need to move now.’ Stefan’s face was set rigid as Jane continued regardless. He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Never in his life could he ever have imagined the complexity of this entire investigation.

  When he hung up, he turned to Elias.

  ‘You approach her and see if you can get her talking. I’ll head around to the other side of the square in case she runs.’

  Elias was serious. ‘What did Jane say to you?’

  ‘Just follow the girl.’

  *

  She was in the middle of the square when Elias appeared in front of her.

  ‘Hello again.’

  She stared at him. ‘How’d you know where to find me?’

  ‘Since the mobile number you gave me was a fake,’ he said, watching her face flush, ‘I went back to The Clover. The owner knew where to find you. He didn’t know your name though.’

  ‘My name’s not important, Sergeant.’

  ‘Your name’s just as important as what you know. That’s why you chose me, isn’t it? DCI Winters and DI Fletcher, they know you, that’s why you couldn’t go to them. But me? I’d never seen your face before.’

  She shoved past him. ‘Leave me alone, I told you all I know.’

  ‘We both know that’s not true.’ He caught her arm. ‘I need more. There’s another girl’s life at risk and DCI Winters is missing.’

  She pulled her arm from him. ‘You’ve arrested William Hatcher, charged him. I saw it on the news. It’s in the papers. He confessed.’

  She picked up her pace. Elias matched her stride.

  ‘There’s someone else working with him. Hatcher was in custody when the new girl went missing.’ He shoved a photo in her face. ‘Fallon Dockley. She needs your help… I need your help.’

  She looked at Fallon’s face for a few seconds before pushing his hand away. ‘I can’t help you.’

  ‘You said you followed the man who we now know is William Hatcher, but he didn’t take Nola, did he? That was a lie. A lie to help implicate him.’

  ‘I should never have come to you.’

  She broke into a run and Elias gave chase. When she ran towards where Stefan had parked, he came out of nowhere, his arms circling around her waist, pulling her back and slamming her up against his car.

  ‘That was stupid,’ Elias said, catching them up.

  Her stomach was doing somersaults, especially when she saw Stefan’s face. He looked down into her eyes and almost hoped none of this was true.

  ‘Hello, Olivia.’

  ‘Inspector Fletcher,’ she said, out of breath, ‘you should’ve said what you wanted, I’d have given you a reduced rate.’ She winked, then bucked against his chest. He gripped her arms tight and spun her around just as Elias held up a pair of handcuffs.

  ‘You coming quietly?’

  ‘This is a mistake,’ she said with venom.

  Stefan lowered his mouth to her ear.

  ‘No… helping your brother was the mistake.’

  CHAPTER 86

  Jane Cleaver’s stomach had pulled tight inside her when she had found Olivia’s birth certificate inside Lucas’s mattress. It was a missing piece of the puzzle but it wasn’t enough to satisfy Stefan.

  She sighed as she gave him the bad news.

  ‘There must be something?’ he said. ‘Anything that gives us a clue where he’s taken them?’

  ‘I can’t magic it out of thin air. Olivia’s the key. She knows.’

  Stefan’s breath felt as if it was catching in his throat. ‘I know that, but it’s gonna take time.’ He shook his head. The stress was mounting up, time ticking by. ‘Find me something, Jane. Find it fast.’

  DSI Donahue laid his head in his hands when Stefan hung up on Jane. Stefan’s eyes were alive with emotion. ‘Even to assign Olivia a social worker will take time. Time we don’t have.’ Stefan’s words cut through Donahue like a knife, and he found himself sweating despite the chill in his office.

  ‘Has she denied Lucas Hall is her brother?’

  ‘Like hell she has. She’s practically broadcasting it now she’s here. She knows she has nothing left to lose.’

  ‘So all her ID is fake as well?’

  ‘Jones is a fake surname. It’s common, easy to overlook, that’s why she picked it.’

  ‘Why contact DS Crest? She risked a lot to make contact with him when he was with you and Claire.’

  ‘That’s what I need to find out, but getting the location of where Lucas has taken Claire is my priority. I need to question her now. It can’t wait.’

  Donahue looked deflated, his face lowered, staring at the floor. He nodded at Stefan. ‘OK,’ he said, standing up behind his desk, his face serious. ‘Prise it out of the bitch.’

  CHAPTER 87

  Olivia looked up at Stefan, defiance in her eyes.

  ‘Found her yet?’

  Her voice was cocky. She sat back in her chair, crossing her legs. ‘Time’s running out.’ She leaned forward again as Stefan and Elias sat in front of her. ‘Tick, tock, Inspector.’

  ‘Olivia Hall,’ Stefan said. ‘I can call you Hall, can’t I?’

  She gave a wry smile. ‘I never liked Jones anyway.’ Stefan stared at her, as Elias wrote a few notes.

  ‘You understand why you have no one here to represent you and why you have been refused a phone call, don’t you?’

  She shrugged. ‘Breaching my human rights?’

  ‘Time constraints. You said yourself DCI Winters and Fallon Dockley are running out of time.’

  ‘Fallon’s probably dead by now. Lucas took quite a shine to your Claire, though.’

  Elias pulled a face, drawing her attention towards him. ‘You’re not as stupid as you make out, are you?’

  She grinned, twisting a strand of hair around her fingers. ‘Is it the blonde hair?’ Her face then turned serious. ‘It’d be stupid to underestimate me.’

  Stefan paused. ‘Just so we’re clear, you have been refused a phone call and access to legal representation at this moment in time because DSI Donahue believes there’s a real possibility it could lead to interference in the investigation and harm of evidence connected with the case, not to mention the very real risk of harm befalling DCI Winters and Fallon Dockley.’

  Another sneer. ‘Do your worst, Inspector,’ she said, flicking her long hair over her shoulder. ‘I’ve got all the time in the world to play your game.’

  *

  After committing the relevant information to tape, Stefan wasted no time with Olivia, but she wasn’t giving up where Lucas had taken Claire and Fallon. He tried to trip her up. He hoped she’d give her brother away by mistake if he got her talking about their past.

  ‘What made you come to DS Crest?’

  She threw her head back, grinning. ‘You fuckers couldn’t connect the dots.’

  ‘You wanted to be caught?’

  ‘William was meant to be Lucas’s fall guy. He always was.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he trusted my brother. He was the perfect candidate. He was stupid enough to believe the lies Lucas told him and what he promised.’

  ‘What did he promise him?’

  She smiled. ‘Everything.’

  She leaned forward, pointed a bony finger to her temple. ‘He got inside William’s head. Made him believe he wasn’t worthless, that he could serve a purpose for the grea
ter good, and more importantly… he could help fund private medical care for his dying mother.’

  Stefan and Elias exchanged glances.

  ‘William’s mother has inoperable cancer. William knows that.’

  She shrugged. ‘People are prepared to show a little faith in the impossible when it’s a loved one’s life at stake.’ She smiled again. ‘It was William’s weakness. His grief and pain. It made him easier to manipulate.’

  Stefan shook his head.

  ‘You think it’s sick, twisted.’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head, ‘it gave William some hope. Light in the darkness. Something to absorb the pain that pills and therapy couldn’t touch.’

  Elias leant towards her. ‘Help us understand why you’re part of this. Nola Grant was your friend.’ Olivia lowered her eyes as if any reminder of her past pained her. ‘Your brother has killed people. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?’

  Her eyes snapped up, angry. ‘He hasn’t killed anyone. That was William’s job, but now he’s locked up, so what happens next is your fault.’

  Stefan’s brow furrowed. ‘How does that work out?’

  ‘He’s had to change his plans.’

  ‘You led us to Hatcher,’ Elias broke in, ‘that was your doing. Your brother changed his plans because of what you did.’

  Her face glazed over. She looked away and said, ‘I had to. He left me no choice.’

  Elias turned to Stefan. ‘She’s wasting our time on purpose.’

  ‘Lucas wanted to cut me out,’ she said, her eyes now concentrating on the table in front of her. ‘He wouldn’t give me the money he promised me.’ Her eyes misted over in rage. ‘Lucy was my grandmother too!’

  She leaned across the table, her hands clenched into fists. ‘And Nola wasn’t my friend. She wasn’t anyone’s friend. She looked out for herself. No one else mattered. My brother wanted tortured souls, people who needed to change. I gave Nola the chance by sending Lucas her way. She fell on her own sword. She got what was coming to her and I don’t regret anything.’

  CHAPTER 88

  Olivia sipped the water Elias brought her and ran her tongue over her dry lips. She set the plastic cup down, keeping her eyes lowered.

  ‘Mum didn’t want me. I was an accident and she made Lucas treat me like dirt. She said she hadn’t wanted any more kids after she’d had him. Lucas was two when Dad walked out but that didn’t stop Mum fucking around with him years later. That’s when she fell pregnant with me.’

  She frowned at the mention of her father. ‘Dad didn’t stand by her, accused her of seeing other men, which was true. He left before I was born. I’ve never met him. Lucas was seven when I was born.’

  Her eyes narrowed into slits. ‘My mother was a complete slut and off her head. When she came home from work, she’d slap me about if she’d had a few. She never really touched Lucas physically, but mentally she taunted him. Then Grandma Lucy stepped in, saved him… She didn’t bother with me much. Lucas was her baby. Her favourite. I used to joke about it – Lucy and Lucas – it sounded weird, but they were like two peas in a pod. Shared the same traits, and I knew not to get on the wrong side of them.’

  Olivia went on to tell them everything she remembered leading up to her mother’s and grandmother’s deaths. She explained how everything had been left to Lucas and she’d gone to live with her aunt.

  ‘And you’re bitter about that?’ Stefan asked, without a hint of sympathy.

  ‘Grandma Lucy was a fucking nut. Like a fucking evil gene or something. It was passed to Mum, and Lucas, although he’s good at hiding it. He’s been hiding it most of his life. There’s a part of him that believes his own lies. He owes the art of deception to Grandma Lucy.’

  She paused. ‘She scared me shitless. I always did what she said. I helped out a lot when she was dying, yet she left me nothing in her will. I envied my brother. I still do. We had no love from our mother but Lucy, she gave him the love he craved while I was left with nothing, yet I still tried to please her, despite everything.’

  Her eyes rose to meet Stefan’s, stabbing her index finger down hard on the table top. ‘I deserve a share of her money. He promised me. I want what’s mine.’

  ‘You’ve been doing this for your grandmother’s inheritance?’ Stefan said. ‘That’s blood money.’

  ‘I was left with nothing, forced into prostitution after my aunt kicked me out. Lucas didn’t want to help me. He left me to fend for myself. He told me I should be grateful for my life. Our grandmother was a stickler for being content with the cards fate dealt us.’

  She wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘I found myself struggling on the street. Me and Rach met Nola and she used to try and steal money, get Daryl pissed off with us, take the heat off her. When I asked Lucas the final time for money a few months ago, he said I had to help him and earn Lucy’s money. Make her proud of me.’

  Olivia broke down then, but Stefan pressed her further.

  ‘Lucas controlled you. He left you with nothing. When you were at your lowest he said you had to help him. Help him kill.’

  Olivia seemed to become agitated, defiant, when anyone spoke ill of her brother. They saw her change from a weak, broken woman, to an aggressive tyrant in a matter of seconds.

  ‘He didn’t set out to have anyone killed. My brother tried to help these women. He wanted to help them turn their lives around. He told me he’d been watching the women coming in to Focus Being. He got angry when he thought about how Lucy had worked so hard to bring herself out of poverty. She had a hard life, yet she never complained. Lucas wanted to offer these women one final chance.’

  ‘And if they didn’t conform, he’d have them killed,’ Elias said.

  ‘It would be a last resort, and not by his hand. He noticed William straight away at the centre. He was perfect.’

  ‘Pretty handy his mother was dying and that he worked for a slaughterhouse too, though, I imagine.’

  She glared at Stefan. ‘You don’t know us or how we lived. You can’t judge. William could’ve walked away at any time, and Lucas planned to stop after the Davenport girl.’

  ‘You made the choice to set William up, to let him take the fall for what was going on. It doesn’t make any sense to abduct Fallon and Claire while William was in custody.’

  Olivia buried her head in her hands. ‘Lucas went too far. It was never supposed to happen but he told me he couldn’t stop and that he wouldn’t give me the money he’d promised.’ Her eyes were alive with a sense of injustice. ‘I wanted out but with my share.’

  Stefan was sceptical. ‘One minute you’re defending him, the next you’re ready to drop him in it.’

  She avoided his eyes.

  The anger inside Stefan reached boiling point. He slammed a hand down on the table, making her recoil. ‘Stop wasting my fucking time… Where is DCI Winters?’

  She matched his temper. ‘I don’t have to tell you anything. Lucas hasn’t finished yet. He’s got the taste. He wants blood. Who am I to stop that?’

  Elias cut in. ‘He has the money. Your share of it. He planned to stop what he was doing but he hasn’t. Where’s the pull of loyalty coming from? He stitched you up just as he did William.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘And you’re letting him get away with it.’

  ‘Those women had it coming, and so does Claire Winters.’

  Stefan shot out of his seat, his chair slamming back against the wall behind him. He leaned across the table, invading her personal space. She could almost taste his breath when he spoke.

  ‘Where is she?’

  ‘It’s too late. I won’t tell you anything.’

  Stefan paused. He felt reason and all of his training come into the front of his mind. He knew he had to control his temper. Anything that could be deemed aggressive when questioning a suspect could make any subsequent confession unreliable and then they’d have nothing.

  Swallowing hard, he tried to control his voice and move
d back away from her. ‘Your brother’s betrayed you. He’s letting you take the blame along with William. He’s played you both, can’t you see that? You can stop this, Olivia.’

  A smile spread across her lips. ‘You don’t get it, do you? I don’t want to stop him, he can do what he likes.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I love my brother!’ she screamed into his face, rising from her own chair. Her face was red, her eyes burning back into his. ‘Family is family and I refuse to say another goddamn word.’

  Stefan sneered. ‘Do you really think he cares about you?’ He watched her mouth twitch with anger. ‘He doesn’t give a damn about what happens to you.’

  She shook her head. ‘I know what you’re trying to do.’

  ‘I’m trying to help you see how little you mean to him. He’s been using you your whole life. He’s out of control. If you tell me where he’s taken them, your life doesn’t have to be completely over.’

  Olivia brought her hands crashing down on the table and shoved her face right up to Stefan’s in frustration. ‘This won’t work on me!’

  Elias quickly rose to his feet to restrain her but Stefan pushed him back.

  ‘Drop the act. I’ve seen grown men tougher than you can imagine crumble at the thought of going to prison. You wouldn’t last five minutes before someone cut you up just for looking at them the wrong way.’

  Elias looked towards the camera in the far corner of the ceiling. ‘Boss…’

  Stefan ignored him, pushing his face closer to Olivia’s. ‘Just look at yourself. Some man’s plaything.’

  She shoved a finger in his face. ‘You don’t know anything about me.’

  ‘I know you gave up another girl on the street for slaughter. Was Rachel Larson on the list as well?’

  ‘I was only ever in this for the money. Those girls got themselves killed. All they had to do was play along and he would’ve let them go.’

  ‘You’re more stupid than I thought if that’s what you really think. He could never let them go, they’d know too much, and he’s finally realised that. It’s just a game to him now. He’s testing himself to see how far he can go before he has to kill, and you played your part in it.’