Page 125 of Psychopath

Quinn slumped into the wall behind him. He gaped, mouth opening and closing as he thought of a follow-up question. Zane’s head snapped up at the sound of a siren. It got louder. Quinn scrambled to his feet and clutched Zane’s hand.

“Then why? Where are they? What happened?”

Zane shook his head.

“Tell me.” Quinn tried to turn Zane around, but he refused. “Why won’t you look at me?”

“I can’t.” Zane exhaled.

“You’re in prison because you want to be… Is there not a part of you that doesn’t? That wants out?”

“Yes, Quinn. There is now, but I haven’t decided what to do about it—”

The door to the back of the van swung open. Quinn released Zane’s hand as Cleo jumped up the two steps. She eyed them, drenched in sweat, wearing only their boxer shorts.

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” Quinn said.

“Come on,” she said, backing out. She waved her hand, encouraging them out of the van. She wasn’t the only officer; Clint and Simon were both there, and at least six police officers, speaking into their radio receivers.

The breeze was heaven on Quinn’s skin, and a cool bottle of water was pushed into his hand. Zane gulped down his own bottle, given to him by Simon, but did not look at Quinn.

He handed the empty bottle back, then Simon told him to turn around so he could be cuffed.

“Virgil,” Quinn gasped. “He—”

“He got picked up about twenty minutes ago. Was sat on a bench at the side of the road, didn’t even try to run.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Quinn swallowed the lump in his throat. “The bus?”

“Was thankfully a learner driver. There were only two people on board, and they were both taken to hospital for minor injuries. No one was seriously hurt during Virgil’s escape.”

“Let’s go, Zane,” Simon said, leading him over to an awaiting car.

Quinn tried to catch his eye, but Zane didn’t look back.

“Thank God you’re alright,” Cleo said, wrapping her arms around Quinn. She squeezed him tight. “Ewww.”

“What?”

“You’re sweaty as hell.” She glanced back at the van. “Sorry we took so long. It’s hidden away here behind that hedgerow, and Virgil wasn’t cooperating.” She pulled him towards a different car. “Come on, the governor wants to speak to you.”

Quinn didn’t tell anyone about Zane’s revelation in the prison van.

He didn’t kill Danny and Jessica Saunders.

But that brought up so many more questions.

Why did he lie?

Why not fight the conviction?

Where were the married couple?

Despite Virgil’s escape, the governor allowed Quinn access to the prison one last time for him to debrief the participants. Rather than the prison being condemned for losing a prisoner, they were congratulated for their swift and confident handling of the situation while assuring the public Virgil was back behind bars.

Noah and Tony were both relieved to be told Quinn’s study didn’t indicate they were psychopaths. Harris and Richard were unbothered after learning they scored high enough on Quinn’s criteria to be categorised as psychopaths. Richard’s brain scans weren’t as dramatic as Harris’s, but they still supported Quinn’s hypothesis.

---