EMILY TOLD KATE that Martin had made her believe that life was worth living after Robert died and she’d pushed him away. They had fought over Fearon and she wouldn’t listen when he tried to put things right between them. Rachel was all she could think of.
‘That’s as it should be,’ Kate tried to reassure her.
Emily hugged herself. She wasn’t convinced.
Kate cleared her throat. ‘If it’s any consolation, he wouldn’t have felt a thing. According to the pathologist, he was extremely intoxicated—’
‘And whose fault was that?’ Emily paused for reflection. ‘He died here, in this hospital, didn’t he?’
He had. On the floor below, while the woman he loved sat within spitting distance, crying over a drama totally unconnected to his death.
‘Kate?’
‘Sorry?’ Kate was miles away.
‘I’m not daft,’ Emily said. ‘Martin must’ve been alive when they found him or they wouldn’t have brought him here. He’d have gone straight to the morgue.’
‘You’re right, he was still breathing. But he was close to death, Emily. The body shuts down to protect itself in situations like these. Believe me when I tell you he didn’t suffer. It would’ve been very quick.’
She didn’t elaborate. Couldn’t. Photographs had been sent to her iPad by crime scene investigators. It had been a frenzied attack: no fewer than seven stab wounds to the chest, one in each eye, the face slashed so badly that flaps of skin hung down where his cheeks once were. In her considered opinion, it had been a deliberate attempt to destroy his handsome features. According to Stanton, his jacket resembled Shredded Wheat by the time the last blow was struck. The injuries were some of the worst either of them had come across.
Fearon must’ve been covered in blood.
‘It should have been me,’ Emily cried again.
‘Martin wouldn’t have wanted that. He loved you, Em. We could all see it.’ Kate changed the subject to Rachel. ‘I expect they’ll keep her in for observation.’
Emily gave a nod. ‘I didn’t think she had it in her, but she’s come out fighting.’
‘You should rest. You look exhausted.’
‘I want to be with her when she wakes up.’ Emily swivelled round to face the DCI. ‘On the way here, she described an older man she’d been seeing – this Vic character Jane Lowther was on about. Fearon must have been pulling the strings, though. He must have! Is he still on the loose?’
‘We’re checking all known associates. If we haven’t already picked him up by then, come lunchtime every force in the country will be looking for him.’ Taking hold of Emily’s hand, Kate chose her words carefully. Her friend was in a bad way but might hold vital information she was desperate for. ‘It’s important I find Rachel’s abductor at the earliest opportunity, Em. Did her description of him mean anything to you?’
Emily shook her head.
‘Are you certain?’ Kate pressed her.
‘Yes! Kate, listen to me. What about Fearon? He’s been in and out of institutions since he was a small boy. He’s streetwise. He knows every trick in the book and every low-life within a hundred miles. You’ve got to find him before he kills again.’
‘We’ll get him . . . eventually.’
‘And when you do?’
‘All I can do is build a case. The rest is up to the courts.’
Glancing at her watch surreptitiously, Kate realized that Jo would be there soon. Just as well. The SIO had so much to do and she didn’t have time to sit and hold Emily’s hand, much as she might like to.
‘You don’t understand, do you?’ Emily didn’t wait for an answer. ‘It’s a power thing with Fearon. It’s me he really wants.’
‘I don’t believe he had anything to do with Rachel’s disappearance, Em.’
Emily urged her to reconsider.
Kate listened carefully. What if Emily was right and she was wrong? Maybe Fearon was complicit in Rachel’s abduction somehow. Sex offenders often stuck together. ‘Working in tandem’ was the phrase Jo had used. It wasn’t impossible that he’d masterminded Rachel’s abduction from the comfort of his cell, but in order to do so he would have had to join forces with whoever killed Sophie and Maxine. And that was a stretch. Could it be that he was in cahoots with the older man, Vic? Whatever the story, the abandoned prison bag would put him away for the rest of his life.