Page 44 of Five for Silver

Chad said down, frowning as Romeo brimmedover with energy. It vibrated through him.

“When you work with the facts, you only seehalf of the picture.”

“They’re backed up by evidence. That’s whatgets a conviction—”

“Hey,” Romeo wagged a finger. “Nointerruptions, please.”

Chad folded his arms and leaned back in thechair.

“Strip this disappearance back and what doyouknow. Harriet didn’t arrive home. That is the only factyou have. The rest comes from Vincent, caught nine months later, headmits to killing her. Vincent, who, thanks to the public appeal,knew the time of Harriet’s last sighting, what road she was walkingalong and what she looked like.”

Chad’s frown tightened as he thought back toJames’s poster. All the information had been there. Slim build.Five foot six. Long brown hair. Brown eyes. Pearl drop necklace.Red coat. Walking along the A503.

“The blood in his van.” Chad said.

Romeo eyes shone. “He said some of it wasHarriet’s, but no tests were done. DNA testing on blood as we knowit began in 1985, Harriet was supposedly killed in ‘83. No testswere done. There’s no proof any of it was hers.”

“There’s no proof itwasn’teither.”

“From what I read, Vincent has a meticulouseye for detail. He lives and breathes his kills when he retellsthem from the smells to the sounds. I understand the need for thatrecollection.”

Chad looked away.

“The need to see and smell and taste, andfeel it all over again. Of course, merely thinking about it neverscratches the itch, it circles it, makes it worse…”

Chad looked up, only to regret it when Romeoheld his hands out in front of himself and curled his fingers.Romeo swallowed hard, staring at his hands.

“Even now, I remember the details, and Ialways found it curious that Vincent could recall such interestingthings about the other women, but not this one. He was vague, andhe hid the vagueness behind this idea Harriet was special to himbecause no one had discovered her yet, but I think that vaguenesscomes from him having no idea where she is. He’s taken responsiblyfor someone else, or for an accident, or possibly even Harrietdeciding to leave herself.”

“I can’t prove he had nothing to do with herdisappearance from the lack of detail in his testimony. He, anactive serial killer targeting young women, admitted to her murder.I need something concrete to prove he didn’t do it. I need thekiller, or I need proof that Harriet is alive.”

“Then we’d better get started.”

Romeo glanced over to the stack of boxesChad had moved from the hallway into the outhouse. He stroked hisfingers, eyeing the boxes. “I’m half tempted to dive right in andread Harriet’s file first, but something tells me we need to startfrom the beginning. We need to start from his first victim, DebbieArk.”

Chad grimaced at the almost bounce inRomeo’s step as he took off across the room to grab the first box.He flipped the lid, sorted through the folders before selecting onelabeled transcribes.

He returned to Chad and squeezed hisshoulder.

“Transcribes of the interviews,” Romeo said.“We could read them if you like, role play, you can be thedetectives conducting the interview and I can be Vincent.”

“No, thanks,” Chad said, taking the filefrom his hand. He flipped it open.

The two detectives leading the case were DIMathews and DI Sterling. Chad knew they were both deceased. Thedate of the interview was at the top, the 13thofDecember 1983, and the time, 1400, was next to it. VincentWhitehall was named as the accused.

Vincent had declined a lawyer, and beforeMathews had even asked a question, Vincent interrupted.

‘When Debbie tapped on my window askingfor help from Mr. Whitehall, I couldn’t stop myself…’

Chapter Eight

Visiting Keeley that Saturday came as arelief. Never in a million years did Chad think he’d be happy towait an extra thirty minutes in the waiting room to be seen, butthe break from Vincent’s files was worth it.

Romeo appeared nonchalant, completelyunaffected as Vincent recounted nuzzling his face into open chestcavities, and excitedly hiding bits of body in the woods for schoolkids to find. The sheer amount of detail grew a nausea in Chad he’dbeen unable to shift at home.

He’d needed to get out of there.

Merc sat at his side, wagging his tailwhenever someone walked in or out of reception. Pam, thereceptionist, kept sitting up straight in her chair to stealglances at Merc over the counter, but she’d not ventured away fromthe computer she frantically tapped at to say hello.

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