Page 42 of Gone in the Night
‘Which means that the person who killed these two women, killed him. Why?’
Ben shrugged. ‘I haven’t had enough coffee for this.’
She was biting the corner of her bottom lip, concentrating so hard. ‘His death takes him off the suspect list. So, did Jack know who the killer was? Is that why he was killed?’
‘If Jack knew who the killer was, wouldn’t he have told us last night? He was scared he was in trouble, that we’d find evidence to say he’d killed Sharon. He would have said he knew or suspected someone if he did.’
‘Hm, good point. Okay, so the killer thought that Jack was the perfect decoy and killed him. But why would he then kill whoever this victim is when he’d found himself someone to take the blame? What if this victim has been dead longer? He could have killed her, then Sharon, realised Jack was the perfect person to lay the blame on then killed him.’
Ben was nodding. ‘Makes sense, I suppose it depends on who was murdered first. Is this a good thing then?’
Morgan glanced at him, eyes wide. ‘A good thing? Three people are dead.’
‘As in if he thinks by killing Jack we’ll stop looking for the real killer, then it would mean there aren’t going to be any more victims, because he’s going to think he got away with it and needs to calm it down to avoid getting arrested.’
‘Maybe not at the moment, but there will be.’
‘Why will there be? If he’s trying to pin it all on Jack, it wouldn’t make sense for him to kill again and ruin all that planning.’
‘You’re forgetting one key thing.’
‘And that is?’
‘Killers like this can’t stop once they get a taste for it. Well, some do or leave it years between kills until something sets them off again, I suppose. But two women killed close together? I think he’s going to struggle to contain all his violent urges. I mean he might be able to, I’m no forensic psychologist and this is just my opinion, but I think he might move on and continue in a different part of the country. I don’t think he’s going to be able to put off killing again for long, which is why we have to issue a press release warning all solo campers there’s a killer out there hunting them, because there are plenty more beautiful places to solo camp all over England, Scotland and Wales.’
‘Morgan, that’s terrifying. It sounds like the blurb for some new horror movie.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s true though, we can’t bury our heads in the sand. Maybe Sharon and this victim were already dead and there was nothing we could have done to prevent their murders, but we can try and stop him finding another victim.’
The police van at the bottom of the narrow road signalled they’d found the campsite; Scotty was leaning against it. He squinted, then waved them through, recognising them. Morgan waved back and carried on up the single track to reach the campsite that was shrouded by a copse of trees, making it impossible to see from the road.
‘I guess the trees helped them get planning permission. You’d never know there was anything up here, would you?’ said Ben.
‘How did the killer know about it then?’
‘Morgan, I told you I need coffee. You keep firing all these incredibly important questions at me and my brain feels as if it’s fried. I’m struggling to string coherent sentences together at this point.’
‘They’re hypothetical. I have to say them out loud, so I remember them. I’m not actually expecting you to be able to answer them all. I’m not that mean.’
She turned the corner and saw the uniformed officer guarding the entrance gate. Behind him was a huge open field with a small 4x4 parked up, its roof tent engaged. At the opposite end was a tent next to a Mini Cooper. There was a man and woman loitering near to it, and she did a double glance at the guy, surely not? It couldn’t be, but her heart was racing. She recognised him and wanted to turn around and drive back the way she’d come. It had been years, but she’d never forgotten the way he’d betrayed her. It still caused her a physical pain in her chest just thinking about it. Ben didn’t give him a second glance, and she didn’t know if she should say something or ignore it and pretend this wasn’t happening.
Finley Palmer had grown his hair since the last time she’d seen him, he was still as handsome as hell, but he looked a lot more casual than when she’d met him. He was wearing head-to-toe North Face outdoor hiking gear. The woman he was with looked older than him, dressed as if she was ready for a yoga class.
Getting out of the car, Morgan didn’t look in their direction, but she could feel Fin’s eyes on her. She didn’t give him any sense that she’d acknowledged him and began to get suited up.
Ben’s voice carried on the wind as she heard him say, ‘What the hell are those two people doing over there? This is a crime scene. Get them out of here.’
Cain pointed to Marc who was now in conversation with Fin. ‘He said they could stay because we can’t let them drive out of here in case it ruins any forensics.’
Cain glanced at Morgan, and she realised he knew exactly who Fin Palmer was. ‘It’s ridiculous because we wouldn’t let any other reporters be so close to a live crime scene.’
Ben’s head snapped in Cain’s direction. ‘What?’
‘He’s a reporter, not sure who for now because I haven’t seen him for a couple of years, but I bet he still is.’
Cain’s gaze fell onto Morgan, and she felt her cheeks begin to burn. Not sure why, as it was Fin who’d betrayed her by writing a story about her murderous biological father, Gary Marks, and practically accusing Morgan of being a chip off the old block. He’d not spared any gory little detail about her biological mother’s murder and the fact that her father was the Riverside Rapist.
Ben was looking over at Fin and any moment now it was going to register who he was. He turned back to Morgan and Cain.
