You Are Dead

99

Sunday 21 December

Shortly after 2 a.m. Grace went into the tiny kitchenette at the rear of the deserted Detectives’ Room at Sussex House, and made himself a coffee. A nationwide manhunt for Dr Edward Crisp was underway and all the authorities had been circulated with Crisp’s photograph and the request to arrest him on sight.

He was holding a press briefing, with Cassian Pewe, at 10 a.m. — less than eight hours’ time. He had no prospect of going to bed before then — and no inclination for sleep either. He desperately, desperately wanted to find Crisp.

The doctor was out there, somewhere. The derelict house and grounds next door to Crisp’s house had also been searched. There were roadblocks on all routes out of the city. Passenger manifests on all outbound flights at every airport in the UK were being checked, along with CCTV footage of all airports in the south of England, all foot passenger and car ferry ports, and the Channel Tunnel. So far the results were negative.

As he carried the steaming mug back to his office, he felt deeply despondent, despite the fact that Logan Somerville and Louise Masters were safe and currently being checked at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. He sat back down at his desk, and once more worked through, in his head, Crisp’s timeline.

He’d abducted Louise Masters shortly after 3 p.m. from outside her house. Crisp would have got back to his house by around 3.30 p.m., and it would have taken him time to manhandle and secure the policewoman in her box. Grace allowed an hour. Which left about a six-hour window before his team had arrived at Crisp’s house.

The doctor could, conceivably, be almost anywhere in the UK or Europe by now. Or on an intercontinental flight. Judging by the video the doctor had made, he had clearly planned his escape meticulously. The teams of surveillance officers on duty all day were adamant no vehicle had entered or left Crisp’s house or the derelict one next door during their entire shifts. But there was no other entrance to the derelict house. Had the officers missed Crisp driving out and in? It was possible.

The even bigger mystery to him was why Crisp would have taken his last victim, policewoman Louise Masters, and then simply abandoned her. He’d said it was a distraction, but was it? From the photographs on the wall of his mobile home at the Roundstone Caravan Park, PC Louise Masters appeared to be Dr Crisp’s last planned victim. So he had captured her, imprisoned her, then immediately fled. Why?

He yawned, realizing he must be more tired than he thought — or wanted to admit to himself — and his brain more addled. He wasn’t thinking straight. Surely Crisp had abducted Louise Masters with the intention of killing her and, doubtless, Logan? And yet he had suddenly fled. What had alerted him?

Roundstone Caravan Park? Had a concealed camera alerted Crisp to the raid? He must have known after the dog bit him that there was a chance of the police now having his DNA, and been on his guard.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an alert on his computer screen, announcing an incoming email. It was a Hotmail account, from a sender he did not recognize. He opened it and saw a short, unsigned message.

Roy, check this Dropbox link!

He clicked on the link, and saw a Dropbox file download. He went to his Downloads folder and clicked on the most recent, and moments later a video clip appeared.

It was Dr Crisp again. In the same armchair, in the same smart suit he had seen earlier. The same cheery smile.

‘Hello, Roy! I couldn’t say this in front of them of course, but I’m delighted you’ve met charming Marcus, Felix and Harrison. They’re among my more successful projects. They’d all mellowed over the years, under my expert tuition. I turned them into much better people than they would have been, left to their own devices. They were nasty children. They damaged me and other boys at the school. Being bullied is really not a nice thing. It can destroy you. My life story is one of people not understanding me, you see. I know. Primum non nocere — that’s the good thing about English public schools. They teach you the classics. Good old Hippocrates! My Latin teacher was a bit of a bully himself, but I did learn from him. Primum non nocere — first do no harm. The first rule of medicine. I don’t know what drove you to become a policeman, Roy, perhaps because you naively thought you could help people. But that was not the reason I chose medicine. I did not become a doctor to help people, no. I became a doctor in order to get revenge!’

Grace was studying the man’s erratic body language as much as he was listening to his words.

Crisp paused, then spread his arms expansively again, with an equally expansive smile. ‘I’ve always found history interesting — in particular Russian history. The Canadian novelist Steven Erickson wrote, “The lesson of history is that no one learns the lesson of history.” So very true. So I tried to abide by that. I read that Catherine the Great used to cut off the arms and legs of her enemies, and keep them hanging in sacks down in the dungeon of the Winter Palace. Once a year, she’d have them all brought up and arranged in a semicircle in front of her. “Hello boys!” she’d say. “Delightful to see you again. All had a good year, have we?” Then she’d dismiss them, and have them all taken back down into the dank darkness again. Years that turned into decades. A true living hell.’

It was the smile on the doctor’s face as he told the story that Roy Grace found the most disturbing — the sheer, gloating relish.

‘These three chaps — my original projects — if I’d let them loose on the world, God knows what havoc they would have wreaked. We’ve all been better off with them safely contained. Just like I contained that ghastly Mandy White all those years ago. She rejected me, because she wasn’t smart enough to understand my true value. Katy Westerham and Denise Patterson were both women I dated, who rejected me. All three of them had one thing in common: long brown hair. Clearly that was a sign of something evil. Evil that needed correction. It made them ideal projects.’

Crisp went almost cross-eyed for an instant. His face twitched, and he was rubbing his hands together as if soaping them. He leaned back in his chair for some moments and closed his eyes with a contented smile on his face. Then he opened them again. ‘I’m sure you are wondering why the long gap between the first two girls, and Emma and Ashleigh, aren’t you? The truth is, Detective Superintendent Grace, that I thought I had found redemption in my wife and children. Then a few months ago I found out the bitch was having an affair. I’d been fooled all along. These women are vermin. Toxic. Fortunately I hadn’t stopped my hunting activities and I had a rich cache of fresh projects. I did wonder if the problem was me, and I tried to get help recently, but the shrink didn’t want to understand me. No one does. I knew the game was over here when that sodding dog bit me. You’re a good cop, Detective Superintendent, but you’ve had a lot of help on the way. I’ve never had any help. But I’m philosophical. There comes a time when the hunter has to move on. The prey might be the same but the backdrop will be different.’

Grace watched, intently. The more he looked at the doctor, the crazier the man seemed. One moment so smug, so self-satisfied, so assured; the next, quivering, confused, almost vacant.

‘Do please tell the families of Harrison, Marcus and Felix from me, that I would have liked to have said it had been nice knowing them, but I hate to lie. I can tell you that what I did to them for the time I kept them alive changed them for the better. But even so, the world has been a better place without them.’

Crisp leaned forward and smiled. ‘Oh, and one more thing. Actually, two. Firstly, give them all a special message at your next press conference, from the Brighton Brander. Tell them the fat lady ain’t sung yet. And, secondly, in the words of one American serial killer replying to the judge who sentenced him to death, a few years ago, “Have a good time on earth, sugar.” Oh, and thirdly, I’m sure you would like to know how my projects each died? I made love to them, using protection of course — I would never be reckless — after kissing them goodbye by placing my lips tight over theirs, sucking their last breath out of their lungs, and then drowning them. That way I possessed them forever. They were never going to reject me again. It felt so good, so incredibly good. It’s a feeling you’ll never know. But trust me, it’s good! And it’s one I’m going to have again. Many times! A word of warning to you and your clever team, Detective Superintendent. Don’t try to find me. Not unless you’d like me to possess you all forever, too! I have nothing to lose, I never had. You have everything — a lovely little son, a beautiful wife and a delightful new home. I’d hate you never to see any of them again. Really I would. Trust me!’

He gave a dinky little wave. ‘Bye for now!’

The screen went blank.