‘George,’ she said. ‘My name is George. And I know who you are. You’re the disappointment.’ Her voice was still unnervingly deep.
‘And is Alice there, is she with you?’ asked Sally.
‘Alice is safe, but she doesn’t want to talk to you right now.’
Delaney was sure it was his imagination but it seemed that the ends of the young woman’s hair were sticking out now too, as if they’d been brushed with static electricity. ‘What happened then, George? How did you get free?’ he asked.
The woman shuddered and her eyes closed. When she opened them again, they were different once more. ‘George doesn’t like you, Inspector Delaney,’ she said in the voice of the young woman they had first met.
‘Why is that?’
‘Because you disappointed little Alice.’ She pointed at Gloria. ‘You were in the papers for rescuing her. She was supposed to be Alice’s replacement. Little Alice was too old for him at eleven. But Gloria never came and so he kept her. And as she grew older he drugged her and beat her and made her work. And used her. And every couple of years he made her speak to other children and get them to play. And after a while he killed them. Like Peter Garnier killed the little boy all those years ago.’
‘And he kept him in the deep freezer.’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘He used hot water so the ice froze clear. So he could show the children, you understand.’
‘No,’ said Delaney, his head spinning.
‘He’d show the children the little boy’s body so that they could see what would happen to them if they didn’t do what he said. And then he made them do things.’
‘And why didn’t he kill
Alice closed her eyes and then opened them again, her voice once more that of a little girl’s. ‘Because I was special. I could play with the children. I could bring them to the party. And I always had ice cream.’ She shuddered again, her eyes widening, her nostrils flaring, her adult woman’s voice thick with anger. ‘Gloria never came and you never rescued me.’
Delaney nodded, keeping his voice calm. He could hear police sirens in the distance and wondered who had called them. He needed to keep her talking. ‘It wasn’t her fault. And if Garnier had brought Gloria down here he would have killed little Alice too.’
The woman’s face crumpled. ‘But you could have rescued me too,’ she said in the frightened whisper of a little girl. ‘But nobody ever came. Never.’
She squeezed her eyes shut as tears poured out and Delaney dived for the taser, rolling up to his feet and pointing it at her.
Only her eyes were wide open now and this time they were furious.
‘Nobody hurts Alice any more!’ she screamed at him.
And Delaney pulled the trigger, sending fifty thousand volts into the woman’s body. She staggered back and her body convulsed but she stayed standing and her mouth pulled wide in a rictus grin as she levelled the shotgun at Delaney.
‘You’ll have to do better than that,’ she said.
‘No!’ screamed Gloria as she threw herself at Delaney.
And Alice Peters pulled the trigger.
*
The scream seemed to hang in the air as if time were suspended. Delaney rolled over and looked around. Alice was lying on the floor with Tony Bennett holding her down. Kate was standing behind him. She rushed across as Delaney and Gloria stood up.
‘Are you all right, Jack?’ she asked breathlessly.
‘I’m fine. What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Tony brought me.’
Kate walked across to the body of Bill Thompson. The shotgun blast had removed most of his face. It seemed a ridiculous thing to do but she knelt down and put her hand on his wrist. She was not at all surprised to find that he had no pulse.
Delaney walked to the back of the large boathouse, to the door from behind which the scream had sounded. The door was locked but a shoulder charge from Delaney battered it loose to hang from one hinge. Inside, huddled in the corner, Archie Woods looked up at him with wide frightened eyes.
‘It’s all right, Archie,’ said Delaney. ‘You’re safe now.’
He held his arms wide and the little boy, sensing that Delaney was right and that he was indeed safe, ran into their enfolding embrace.
Delaney stepped out of the boat shed, the young boy cradled in his arms hanging onto his neck.
A broadside of flashbulbs blinded him momentarily and then he saw the army of news reporters and photographers behind the cordon line that had already been set up. At the forefront Melanie Jones, as ever … only this time she wasn’t shouting questions at him, she was clapping her hands and smiling. Delaney looked at her for a moment and then nodded.
