Disordered Minds

'Deeply skeptical-but he's prejudiced in our favor. Poole police are milking her for all she's worth because it's her testimony that will convict Roy. She's very cunning,' George finished with reluctant admiration. 'Each new statement gives the police a little more of what they want while Roy's are so full of holes you can drive a coach and horses through them.'

'Mm.' Andrew looked from one to the other. 'So what's the problem? Why are you here?'

'We want to name her in the book as the main instigator in the murder of Cill Trevelyan and the only murderer of Grace Jefferies,' said Jonathan.

'Can you prove she murdered Grace?'

'No. The police have lost or destroyed the physical evidence from Grace's house.'

'Then she'll sue,' said Andrew.

'That's the idea,' murmured George. 'As things stand at the moment she'll get Colley Hurst's damages, compensation from the state for the abuse she suffered in childhood and a small fortune off the newspapers for selling her story. It's so unjust.'

Andrew shook his head. 'And another small fortune off your publisher when she wins. They'll never go for it.'

'Then find us a publisher who will.' George urged him. 'She might just as well have persuaded Roy to murder Howard as well. The end result was the same.' She leaned forward. 'Do you know what I find most appalling? The way she uses her father's abuse to excuse all her actions. He was a disgusting man-and I would never condone what he did to her-I even have sympathy for her when I consider her objectively-' she sighed-'but hundreds of children a year are abused by their parents, and they don't become murderers. Look at Roy. He was as damaged as she was, but he's not claiming his father was responsible for what he did to Cill.'

'Are you feeling sorry for him, George?'

She pulled one of her gargoyle faces. 'Yes,' she admitted. 'Whatever Louise says, I don't think Roy and his friends murdered Grace. Only one person took a bath in Grace's tub that day and only one pair of gloves was recovered. There'll be as gross a miscarriage of justice the second time round as there was with Howard. At least Roy tried to learn from his mistakes. He didn't abandon his son. He honored Robyn's wishes to keep the pub and pass it on to the boy. His garage is a storeroom for Peter's possessions. He gave Louise a home ... gave Colley a home. He's watched over everyone in one way or another. Me, too, when I first got cancer. What he hasn't done is continue to destroy people.'

'And Louise has?'

'Yes.'

Andrew exchanged a glance with Jonathan, who knew as well as he did that no publisher would countenance a potential libel suit. 'What do you think?' he asked his friend.

'She's guilty as sin,' said Jonathan. 'Her nature is pathologically jealous and deceitful. She loses her temper at the drop of a hat and provokes fights when it suits her. She's the only one who had anything to lose if Grace spoke to the police about Cill's continued disappearance. She wielded the knife herself and enjoyed watching Grace die. She took a bath afterward and got a buzz from doing it because the last time she was in that room was when Cill was washing hymenal blood off her legs.' He shrugged. 'The only thing we might be able to prove is a negative: if all she did was gain entry for Roy and his friends, then why did the police find no evidence of them?'

'What are you waiting for?'

'Advice,' said Jonathan. 'Neither of us has yet worked out how to prove a negative.'

*28*

WINCHESTER PRISON

TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2003, 3:00 P.M.

George waited with DS Wyatt in a side room off the entry corridor of Winchester Prison for ten minutes before Roy was brought from the remand wing. The sergeant had been more open to persuasion on this project than George had expected, and she wondered if Fred Lovatt had dropped a word in his ear. Or perhaps Louise's charm was beginning to wear thin. Unable to repress her curiosity indefinitely, she asked him why he'd agreed to do it, and he told her he was beginning to find both her and Dr. Hughes's arguments persuasive. But he warned her that they undermined the case for Howard Stamp's innocence.

'You'll never persuade a jury that a skinny thirteen-year-old was capable of slashing an adult to death on her own,' he said.

'She had no trouble pinning Roy and Sasha to the floor,' George reminded him, 'and she isn't much bigger now.'

When Roy finally arrived, he showed immediate antagonism toward George. 'What's she doing here?' he demanded, taking a seat on the other side of the table and looking at Wyatt. 'I was told it was another police interview.'

The sergeant offered him a cigarette. 'I've agreed to let Ms. Gardener ask the questions.'

'What if I refuse to answer them?'

'I'll put the questions for her. It'll take a lot longer, Roy, but you aren't going anywhere.'

Grudgingly, he accepted a light. 'Where's the wog?' he said with a sneer for George. 'Why isn't he part of this jolly little party?'

'Dr. Hughes is waiting outside,' she told him. She wasn't surprised Roy was angry, but she did wonder whether