Banks waved his hand. “No, hold on, let me finish. Most of the information in the CI files concerns his suspected connection with criminal gangs in London and in Birmingham, doing hits, nobbling witnesses, enforcing debt- collection and the like. But word has it that when business is slack, Chivers is not averse to a bit of murder and mayhem on the side, just for the fun of it. And according to Barney, his employers started to get bad feelings about him about a year ago. They’re keeping their distance. Again, there’s nothing proven, just hearsay.”
“Interesting,” said Jenny. “Is there any more?”
“Just a few details. He’s prime suspect?without a
scrap of proof—in three murders down south, one involving a fair amount of torture before death, and there are rumours of one or two fourteen- year-old girls he’s treated roughly in bed.”
Jenny shook her head. “If you’re getting at some kind of connection between that and Gemma, I’d say it’s highly unlikely.”
“But why? He likes his sex rough and strange. He likes them young. What happens when fourteen isn’t enough of a kick any more?”
“The fact that he likes having sex with fourteen-year-old girls in no way indicates, psychologically, that he could be interested in seven-year-olds. Quite the opposite, really.”
Banks frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“It was something else I discovered in my research. According to statistics, the younger the child, the older the paedophile is likely to be. Your Chivers sounds about the right age for an unhealthy interest in fourteen-year- olds, but, you know, if you’d given me no information at all about Gemma’s abduction, I’d say you should be looking for someone over forty, most likely someone who knew Gemma—a family friend, neighbour or even a relative—who lives in the area, or not far away, and probably lives alone. I certainly wouldn’t be looking for a young couple from Birmingham, or wherever.”
Banks shook his head. “Okay, let’s get back on track. Tell me what you think of this scenario. We know that plenty of psychopaths have found gainful employment in organized crime. They’re good at frightening people, they’re clever, and they make good killers. The problem is that they’re hard to control. Now, what do you do with a psychopath when you find him more of a business liability than an asset? You try to cut him loose and hope to hell he doesn’t bear a grudge. Or you have him killed,
and so the cycle continues. His old bosses don’t trust Chivers any more, Jenny. He’s persona non grata. They’re scared of him. He has to provide his own entertainment now.”
“Hmm.” Jenny swirled her glass and took another sip. “It makes some sense, but I doubt that it’s quite like that. In the first place, if he’s hard to control, it’s more likely to mean that he’s losing control of himself. From what you told me, Chivers must have been a highly organized personality type at one time, exhibiting a great deal of control. But psychopaths are also highly unstable. They’re prone to deterioration. His personality could be disintegrating towards the disorganized type, and right now he might be in the middle, the mixed type. Most serial killers, for example, keep on killing until they’re caught or until they lose touch completely with reality. That’s why you don’t find many of them over forty. They’ve either been caught by then, or they’re hopelessly insane.”
Banks stubbed out his cigarette. “Are you suggesting that Chivers could be turning into a serial killer?”
Jenny shrugged. “Not necessarily a serial killer, but it’s possible, isn’t it? He doesn’t fit the general profile of a paedophile, and he’s certainly changing into something. Yes, it makes sense, Alan. I’m not saying it’s true, but it’s certainly consistent with the information you’ve got.”
“So what next?”
Jenny shuddered. “Your guess is as good as mine. Whatever it is, you can be sure it won’t be very pleasant. If he is experiencing loss of control, then he’s probably at a very volatile and unpredictable stage.” She finished her drink. “I’ll give you one piece of advice, though.”
“What’s that?”
“If it is true, be very careful. 1 ais man’s a loose cannon on the deck. He’s very dangerous. Maybe even more so than you realize.”
Ill
“Congratulations,” said Banks. “I really mean it, Jim.
I’m happy for you. Why the hell didn’t you tell me before?”
“Aye, well … weren’t sure.” Sergeant Hatchley blushed. A typical Yorkshireman, he wasn’t comfortable with expressions of sentiment.
The two of them sat in the large oak-panelled dining-room of the Red Lion Hotel, an enormous Victorian structure by the roundabout on the southern edge of Eastvale. Hatchley was looking a bit healthier than he had on his arrival that afternoon. Then the ravages of a hangover had still been apparent around his eyes and in his skin, but now he had regained his normal ruddy complexion and that tell-me-another-one look in his pale blue eyes. Just for a few moments, though, his colour deepened even more and his eyes filled with pride. Banks was congratulating him on his wife’s pregnancy. Their first.
“When’s it due?” Banks asked.
“I don’t know. Don’t they usually take nine months?”
“I just wondered if the doctor had given you a date.”
“Mebbe Carol knows. She didn’t say owt to me, though. This is a good bit of beef.” He cut into his prime-rib roast and washed it down with a draught of Theakston’s bitter. “Ah, it’s good to be home again.”
Banks was eating lamb and drinking red wine. Not that he had become averse to Theakston’s, but the Red Lion had a decent house claret and it seemed a shame to ignore it. “You still think of Eastvale as home?” he asked.
“Grew up here,” replied Hatchley around a mouthful of Yorkshire pudding. “Place gets in your blood.”
“How are you liking the coast?”
“It’s all right. Been a good summer.” Sergeant
Hatchley had been transferred to Saltby Bay, between Scarborough and Whitby, mostly in order to make way for Phil Richmond’s boost up the promotion ladder. Hatchley was a good sergeant and always would be; Richmond, Banks suspected, would probably make at least Chief Inspector, his own rank, and might go even further if he kept on top of the latest computer technology and showed a bit more initiative and leadership quality. Susan Gay, their most recent DC, was certainly demonstrating plenty of initiative, though it didn’t always lead where it should.
“Do I detect a note of nostalgia?” Banks asked.
