Jack understood. Regardless of blood, of genes, this man would always be Eva’s father. Jack was grateful. She needed Alan to stick by her. They shook hands.
“I don’t want to come between you and your daughter, Alan. After today, you’ll never see me again.”
“Why did you come here then?”
“I want to help. I feel responsible for this, somehow. I feel responsible for what my son has done to you, to your family, and to the families of all the women he killed. I wanted to see Eva, just once. I’d like to talk to her, if you’ll let me.”
“The doctors say she might be able to hear us. She might be aware of what’s going on around her. She has suffered enough.”
“I know. I only want to help. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”
Alan looked around the Intensive Care Unit, as if to reassure himself that there were people here to guard Eva. His eyes settled on Detective Cooper, who stood watch by the nurses’ station.
“Okay,” he said finally. “I need to go and find my wife.” Alan kissed Eva’s hand and carefully placed it on the bed beside her. “I’ll be back soon,” he said to both of them.
When they were alone, or at least as alone as the busy ward full of people allowed, Jack took the seat and stared at his granddaughter. There was no mistaking the resemblance to Fraser. Even the photograph from the paper showed it clearly. Jack could only imagine what had gone through Fraser’s head when he saw that picture — the woman he had loved all those years ago, standing beside a girl bearing an uncanny resemblance to himself.
The fact that Fraser had called in the middle of the day on a Monday was unusual enough. But when he asked his father to come straight over, when he said there was someone he had to meet, well that was about the strangest thing Fraser had ever done. When he got there and saw Fraser lying in a pool of blood, the paper opened at the picture lying beside him, Jack knew that Fraser’s past had finally caught up with him. On impulse, he’d torn the article out and folded the rest of the paper neatly on the bench while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Later, when Fraser was pronounced dead and they talked to Jack about organ donation, he knew there was one way he could make sure something good came from his son’s wretched life.
“Eva? Can you hear me, love? You don’t know me, and it’s probably best we keep it that way going forward, but, just for now, there are some things you need to know. Some things about your father, your real father, and that heart you’ve got in there.
“You see, Fraser wasn’t always a bad person. We did our best, his mother and me, to bring him up right. He wasn’t a bad kid. Did good in school. Always a smart arse, though. Thought he knew more than the teachers. Probably did, come to think of it. It was always his brain got him into trouble. That’s what I came here to tell you, Eva. His heart was always in the right place. I know that’s hard to believe, after what he’s done, but he had a good heart. He loved your mother, all those years ago. That much I do know for sure. He’d come home from work, all full of energy, happy, like he could do anything. Like he could walk on water if someone asked. That was because of your mum.”
There was no movement from Eva, not a twitch. Jack ploughed on.
“Those three months were the happiest of his life. I’m sure of it. I don’t know what happened to end it, but I do know he was never the same again. He never loved anyone like he loved your mother. Like he would have loved you, if he’d had the chance to meet you. But you probably don’t want to think about that.
“Oh, I’m not making a very good fist of this, am I? What I’m trying to say here, Eva, is that you have to focus on the love. To get through this, focus on the good in his heart, in your heart, not the bad of his messed up brain. Everybody has some good in them, however small. The good in Fraser will come out in you, Eva, you just have to let it.”
A woman’s voice interrupted him. “Who are you?”
Jack looked up, and spoke in a lowered voice. “You know who I am, Brenda.”
“What are you doing here with my daughter?” She also spoke softly.
“I needed to see her, just once. I needed to tell her some things about her father.”
Brenda’s shoulders slumped. She nodded, before regathering herself. “Alan is Eva’s father.”
“Yes, I know. He seems like a fine man.”
Brenda inched her way between Jack and her daughter. He knew his time was up.
“I’m going now, don’t worry. You won’t see me again. Take care of her.” He reached the end of the bed before turning back. “Thank you, Brenda,” he whispered, careful not to let Detective Cooper overhear.
“For what?”
“For doing what I couldn’t.” With that he was gone.
54
“Cooper!” came the cry from the other end of the operations room. “Someone calling about the Adultery Killer. Line one!”
Cooper looked up from his desk, where he’d been studying the case notes, before his next interview with Jack Simpson later today. He raised an arm to thank the officer and picked up the call. “Hello? This is Detective Cooper.”
“Um, hi. My name’s Stacey.”
“What can I do for you, Stacey?”
“Um, I told the other guy, I, like, I have some information about that murderer guy. The one that’s been on the telly.”
Teenagers, thought Cooper. “Okay, Stacey, what have you got for me?”
“Well, um, he came into our shop last week. I know he’s dead, right, but I figured you might still want to know. He came in here and started yelling at Mrs Matthews for, like, no reason at all. That’s Eva’s mum, right. One of the owners of the store. She works here sometimes, ’cause Eva is sick. Mrs M got rid of the guy, though. She’s pretty tough for an oldie.”
Cooper’s radar was up now. “When exactly last week did this happen, Stacey?”
“Well, it was early in the week, so I think it must have been Monday. Mrs M always comes in on a Monday morning, so yeah, that must have been it.”
Jesus Christ, thought Cooper. He really could have used this information before now. “That was over a week ago, Stacey. How come it’s taken so long for you to give us a call?”
“Didn’t know it was important. Only saw the dude on telly last night. I don’t watch the news much, like, I’ve got better things to do than see how many people died in the world today, you know?”
He knew. He was lucky she’d phoned at all, really. “Thanks, Stacey. That is a big help. I might need to come out and get a full statement from you later. Can you give me the address of the shop?”
“Sure.” Stacey gave him the relevant details and Cooper thanked her again before hanging up.
This changed everything. Brenda Matthews had lied about not seeing Fraser Grant for thirty years. She’d seen him the day he was murdered.
Quinn interrupted his thoughts. “Boss, they brought Jack Simpson up from holding. Interview Room Two. You ready?”
“Yep, I sure am. Let’s get this done, Joe.”
* * *
“Thank you, Detective, for letting me see my granddaughter,” began Jack once the interview had commenced. “I’m ready now. I want to make a full confession.”
Cooper and Quinn exchanged glances.
“Are you sure about that Jack?” asked Cooper. “I must caution you here, you aren’t under arrest. Do you want a lawyer?”
“No, I don’t need a lawyer to tell you I’m guilty.”
“Okay. Tell us what happened then.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Well, like I told you, I got a call from Fraser last Monday about twelve o’clock. He said to come over, there was someone he wanted me to meet. He didn’t say who. So I caught the bus over there. I got there like I said before, at about one-fifteen. Only, Fraser wasn’t hurt yet. I lied about that. He let me in, and he showed me the article in the paper. The photo of the girl and her mother. He told me who the mother was, and the rest was obvious. She was his daughter, he said.”
“So she was t
he person you were supposed to meet?” asked Cooper.
“I guess so. But I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Why not?”
“I knew my son. I knew what a monster he was. I couldn’t expose this young girl and her family to that.”
“So you killed him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Pardon?”
“I said how, Jack. How did you kill him?”
Jack’s eyes scanned the room. “That trophy, on the bookcase,” he finally said. “I picked it up and hit him with it. I didn’t even think about it, it just happened. I suppose I’d had enough.”
“If you knew what Fraser had done, why didn’t you come to us? Why didn’t you call the police?” asked Quinn.
“He was my son. I couldn’t turn in my own son.”
“But you could kill him,” said Cooper. Jack started picking at a loose thread on his trousers. He showed no emotion. Cooper was confused. Could Jack really have done this?
“Like I said, it just happened. I picked up the trophy and hit him with it. Then I tore out the article from the paper and called the ambulance.”
“What did you do with the trophy?”
“Um, I don’t know. I took it with me, I think. Yes, that’s right. I put it in Fraser’s bag and took it with me to the hospital. Later that night, I went back and dumped it in a bin somewhere near his place.”
“After you wiped your fingerprints off?”
“Yes, after I wiped my fingerprints off.”
“And that’s when you went to St Vincent’s Hospital, to make sure Eva got the heart. Is that right?”
“Yes,” nodded Jack. “I took a taxi back to Fraser’s apartment and dumped the trophy. Then I took a bus across town to St Vincent’s and spoke to that doctor, which you already know about. When he agreed to let Eva have the heart I went back to RPA to sign the forms for organ donation. Then I went home and got myself good and drunk.”
Cooper didn’t believe him. He asked the questions again, got Jack to repeat the story over and over. It was the same every time. Eventually, he got sick of hearing it.
“Okay, Jack,” he said. “Let’s take a little break, shall we? Interview suspended at sixteen thirty-five,” he said before switching off the recording device. “Joey, can you organise some cups of tea?”
Quinn left the room to get the drinks, and Cooper flicked a switch beside the digital voice recorder. “Turns off the sound in the observation room,” he explained. “It’s just you and me now, Jack. Off the record.”
“What do you want?” Jack wasn’t stupid.
“I want to know why you’re taking the rap for a murder you didn’t commit.”
“Excuse me? I assure you I am telling the truth, Detective Cooper. I killed Fraser. I killed my son.”
“Bullshit. Brenda Matthews killed your son. I know he went to see her that day. He told her he knew about Eva. She was the one who couldn’t let him near her, not you. She was the one who killed him. You saw her leaving when you got there, didn’t you?”
Jack looked up at Cooper, grey eyes searching for a crack, but Cooper stayed strong. I’m right, he thought. The old bugger doesn’t have it in him. Eventually, Jack hung his head.
“When did you figure it out?” he asked.
“When you said you couldn’t turn him in. I don’t think you could have killed him, either. You don’t have the balls. But a mother protecting her only child, that’s different. Plus, why would you take the murder weapon with you, then go back to Fraser’s place to dump it? It would make more sense to dump it far away. It must have been in Brenda’s hands when you saw her leave, so you guessed that she dumped it nearby.”
Jack sighed. He looked glad of being able to finally tell the truth, even if it was still off the record. “I saw her leaving the building as I approached. I didn’t take much notice, I had no idea who she was at that stage. But I remember she looked very pale, and yes, she had something in her hand she was trying to cover up. When I got inside and saw the photo in the paper I recognised her, and I put the pieces together. I noticed the trophy missing from Fraser’s bookcase. His place was always so neat, it was obvious something was missing.”
Cooper leaned forward across the table between them. “So why are you doing this? You’ll go to jail for the rest of your life if I accept your confession.”
“I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to him. I didn’t know that he was the one committing those murders, but I should have. I should have seen it. I should have done something to stop him. I did nothing, Detective. I did nothing and I have to live with that.
“The public want some kind of justice for the women my son killed. Putting me in jail will help. Putting Brenda Matthews in jail won’t. Like you said, she was a mother trying to protect her daughter. She’s not a danger to society. If you lock her up you aren’t protecting the community, you’re just ripping apart a family. That family has been through enough already. Please, let me do this for them. Let me do this one thing for my granddaughter. Someone has to pay for what my son has done. It shouldn’t be her.”
Cooper looked at the broken old man. What little quality of life he had left had been ripped away the moment he entered Fraser’s apartment a week ago. Whatever happened from here, Cooper knew there was nothing he could do to help Jack Simpson.
When Quinn returned with the tea, Cooper left the room without a word. He went back to his desk and sat, hands interlocked on the top of his head. It was an impossible decision. Accepting Jack’s confession would mean putting an innocent man in jail and letting a killer go free. On the other hand, arresting Brenda Matthews meant destroying a family and creating a national public outcry. It was possible Eva would not survive the loss of her mother, on top of everything else she’d been through.
Cooper was a straight cop. He was the cop other cops relied on. He worked hard, and he always did the right thing. But what was the right thing to do now?
55
Eva opened her eyes, and closed them almost immediately. Her eyelids felt as if they had little tiny weights attached, pulling them back down no matter how hard she fought. She caught a glimpse of Andrew sitting by her side, and struggled to open her eyes again.
“Hey, you’re awake,” he said. He looked like he’d been here all night, and somehow Eva knew he had. She was grateful. She tried to speak, but her mouth was blocked. It brought back memories of first waking from the transplant, and everything that had happened since then came rushing back.
“You’ve got a breathing tube in. Hang on, I’ll get someone.” Andrew looked around, but there was a nurse already on her way over.
“Hey there, missy. Just relax; we’ll get that out for you.” The Intensive Care doctor joined her and the two of them checked her vital signs before removing the tube. “Good to have you back, Eva,” the nurse continued. She was one Eva didn’t recognise. “I’ll page Dr Graham for you in a minute.” The nurse gave her some water before she finished and returned to the desk.
Andrew ran a hand gently across Eva’s head. “I missed you,” he said.
“I’ve been right here the whole time,” she croaked back.
“I’m sorry, Eva. I shouldn’t have left you.”
“You did the right thing. Amanda’s your wife, you should look after her.” It killed her to say that, and not just because her throat was still raw from the tube.
Andrew was shaking his head. “She won’t be my wife for much longer. I’ll be there for her, to help her recover, but we’ve agreed to separate. It’s best for both of us.”
Eva didn’t say anything. A future with this man was too much to dare hope for. Any kind of future seemed far from her reach right now. Best to focus on the physical. “What happened to me?”
“You got an infection, and then you started rejecting the heart. You got some news, apparently, and it was too much to handle.”
“Oh God, Mum! Where is she?” Eva started coughing, drawing attention from the nurse who’
d left them alone just moments ago.
“It’s okay, she went with the police to help them out, but now she’s back. She’s just outside. Do you want me to get her?”
“No, not just yet.” Eva settled and the nurse went back to her notes. She closed her eyes and they sat in silence for a while until she was ready to talk again. She turned her head and smiled at Andrew. “Did they tell you? Do you know where this heart really came from?”
“No. Taylor said the news you received was personal. You don’t have to tell me, Eva.”
“Yes, I do. I want you to know. It wasn’t Amanda in my dreams, after all.” Eva had to stop and catch her breath a few times, but she managed to explain that her mother had known Fraser Grant years ago, that it was her mother being attacked by Grant in the nightmares, and finally that the killer was her biological father.
Andrew was silent for a long while, taking it all in. When he eventually spoke, he said, “They arrested a man yesterday, his father. He was the one who killed him, apparently.”
Eva nodded. She had a memory of an old man, but she wasn’t sure if it was real or a dream. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“Did he come and see me?” she asked.
“Yes. Your dad let him in. He was only here a short while.”
She remembered now. “Am I going to be able to live with this heart?” She needed to ask the question out loud.
“Yes,” replied Andrew, and finally she knew he was right. “I love you, Eva. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you, and this is the only heart I’ve known. So yes, I hope you can live with this heart, because I can’t live without it.” He leant forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
“Oh no,” came a cry from behind them. “We’ve come in on the mushy stuff. Eeew!” Taylor came into Eva’s view, followed closely by Alan and Brenda.
“They told us you were awake,” said Alan as he came around to the opposite side of the bed to Andrew. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good, Dad. I’m good.”
The Dark Series Page 35