The Dead Tracks

    'Healy,' I said.

    'It stays on.'

    'You can —'

    'It stays on,' he spat, turning to face me. In the dull light, something shimmered in one of his eyes. And then he fixed his gaze back on the television as Markham got up from his seat. He sniffed, walked past the camera — and everything turned to black.

    A second later, it started again.

    He moved from behind the camera and headed back to his seat. This time he appeared more composed. 'I got the sense Megan was more important to him than Leanne. I don't know why - that was just what it felt like. He planned everything out for Leanne, but he seemed to be even more meticulous with Megan. Maybe it was just that

    Leanne was easier to get at. She wasn't very bright and she'd had a disrupted home life. Her mother was having an affair, and her father was never around.'

    I glanced at Healy. Nothing.

    'Megan was different. She had wealthy parents, and with wealth comes resources. If she disappeared, they'd use that wealth. They'd use all of it if it meant finding her. Leanne, I just got for him. But Megan came with a set of ground rules.'

    I looked at Healy again. Sweat had soaked through his shirt, under his arms, at his collar. He turned to me, face blank. 'What Does he mean by 'ground rules'?'

    'I think he means the London Conservation Trust,' I said, pushing Pause on the VCR. 'Glass set that up to make himself untraceable. He used bogus newsletters to hide messages in, and the site to give her details of meetings. She thought it was all being sent from Markham - but it wasn't. It was Glass.'

    'And Megan didn't think it was a bit weird?'

    I shrugged. 'Maybe. But remember, Markham was nearly twenty years older than her. In fact, technically, she wasn't even an adult yet. Glass probably told him to play on that, made Markham tell her that he had a public- facing job and couldn't risk any controversy. Markham must have ended up convincing her that it was safer to use the LCT as cover until she turned eighteen — and then they could tell people about their relationship.'

    'What the hell was she thinking?'

    'He was the first guy she ever fell in love with. Her friend said she'd never been that way about anyone in her life. She just got swept away by it.'

    'They never spoke on the phone?'

    'I doubt Glass allowed Markham to communicate with Megan in any other form but the LCT No other emails. No messaging. No phone calls. Nothing traceable. Only face to face at the youth club and via the website. I mean, what would be the point of going to the trouble of setting up the LCT if they had each other's mobile number?'

    Healy shook his head, reached forward and pushed Play.

    'It was going okay with Megan,' Markham continued, his voice beginning to wobble. 'I'd managed to convince her that what I felt was genuine, like I had with Leanne. And once she started to believe me, it became easier to fool her about things like the website.' A pause. Another finger brushed his face, this time closer to his eye. 'But then the boy turned up at my door, shouting and threatening me and…' He seemed to shrink a little. 'I know it sounds stupid, but I think the things he said to me hurt more than anything anyone's ever said to me in my life. To be called a pervert, a paedophile…'

    Markham looked down into his lap. Sniffed. Silence descended on-screen. Healy glanced at me. 'Is he talking about the Bryant kid?'

    I nodded. 'Charlie, yeah.'

    'How did the kid know about Markham?'

    I remembered something Kaitlin said to me about Charlie. He was, like, in love with Megan. Totally in love with her. Sometimes he'd go over the top and creep us all out… He'd follow her around.

    'He must have been watching her,' I said. 'He must have gone to tell Markham to stay away from Megan.

    Charlie was jealous. But by then it was too late. Megan was in love with Markham — or, at least, the idea of him.'

    Markham cleared his throat, the sound distorting through the speakers on the TV. 'Maybe he was right about me. Maybe I was a pervert.' He cleared his throat a second time. Then, as he spoke again, his voice started to tremor. 'It was an accident,' he said quietly. 'It was just an accident. She was supposed to be on the pill.'

    Healy looked at me. 'Do you think the Bryant kid knew?'

    'That Megan was pregnant? Yeah, he knew. He was the one that warned Kaitlin off telling the police about it, remember. Megan might have told him outright, but it was more likely he found out some other way. Maybe he followed her to a supermarket, or a walk-in clinic, or a pharmacy. Maybe he saw her buying a pregnancy kit.'

    The video jumped, crackled, and more lines drifted down the picture. Markham began talking again. 'When he called me the next night, I told him we had a problem. I told him Charlie Bryant knew about Megan and me. I told him about Megan being pregnant as well, thinking that would be the end of the line for me, and for Sue. But he wasn't angry.' He frowned. 'He just laughed. And then said, 'Oh, Daniel - that's perfect. Absolutely perfect.''

    'Why would he be pleased she was pregnant?' I said, pausing the tape. Healy just shrugged at me. I turned back to the TV. 'It Does explain something, though.'

    'What?'

    'Why Charlie - and his father — were killed.'

    'The kid got too close.'

    I nodded. We both let that settle, and in the silence

    I could see Healy's mind ticking over. Eventually he turned back to me: 'Why, though?'

    'Why what?'

    'Why did he start using Markham? He takes five women before Leanne without the help of Markham. Then he takes three more — Leanne, Megan and Sona — with his help. Why?'

    'Maybe he wanted to insulate himself.'

    'So why didn't he do that from the start?'

    I saw where Healy was going. 'Because of Frank White.'

    'Exactly. I think Glass was operating just fine on his own until 25 October last year. Five women already in the bag, no one able to pick up his scent. Then things get screwed up at the warehouse, Frank White dies, and suddenly he's back to feeling mortal again. He realizes it only takes one mistake for the whole house of cards to come down. So he pinpoints Markham.'

    'Because of his connections to the youth club.'

    'Right. Glass spots Megan somewhere — in the street, on a bus, somewhere - and follows her to the youth club. He sees Markham at the club, maybe sees the way Megan looks at him or something, and he realizes he can use Markham to get at Megan, without risking more exposure. And there's an added bonus…'

    'Susan Markham.'

    Healy nodded. 'Glass Does a bit of background on Markham and finds out not only that he seems to be in with Megan, but he can be manipulated through his wife.'

    I glanced from Healy to the television screen and back again. He was looking at me, no hint of anything in his face now, a mixture of sweat and aftershave coming off him. Maybe this was how he dealt with emotion: bottled it up, pushed it down, until one day he couldn't contain it and ended up doing something he regretted. Like putting his wife in a neck brace. Or arguing with his daughter. Or telling his boss he was going to rip apart the man who'd taken her.

    When I started the tape again, it clicked and whirred.

    'If you're watching this, he's probably killed me,' Markham said, pausing for a moment. 'I've probably tried to find a way out. I can't take this. I can't see an end. Leanne, Megan, and then we moved on from the youth club; on to Sona…' Eye contact with the camera now. 'I know, unless I refuse to do this any more, it's just going to go on and on, and he's going to keep on using me. And although…'