‘Why?’ Such a simple word.
‘Don’t I have the right to a life? I just wanted a normal life. Wife and kids.’
‘Normal? You had killed three women already.’
‘I had put all of that awfulness behind me. Do you have a family?’
Tom feels suddenly empty. He can’t reply, he just shakes his head.
‘I am sorry. You are missing out on so much.’
Tom feels anger spike, his cheeks flush. ‘I don’t have that so I am free to protect people from the likes of bastards like you.’
George shrinks away from the anger, he looks like he will cry. ‘I didn’t …’ He sniffs, tears sprout around his eyelids. ‘I didn’t choose my life – I never chose to meet Jennifer, not like that. It was a dreadful, dreadful accident.’
‘You’ve killed four women.’ He hits the table with his fist and the gun topples – Tom sees it fall and strike the stone floor. A spark – flames engulf them, there are screams … but the gun falls against George’s leg and stays there. No spark. Tom feels his hands shake. Calm down !
‘I think about those women every day. I regret what I did, I was young and stupid. I changed after that, after Mr Meyer gave me Jennifer. I didn’t want that kind of … I didn’t need the women.’
‘And yet you killed Charlie Brindley-Black.’
His mouth moves but no sound comes out. George Larkshead slowly bends forward and then, like a marionette whose strings have been cut – he falls forward onto the table and begins to sob. Instinctively, Tom moves to comfort him – but stops. The petrol pools around him, mixing with the tears.
‘George – George, we need to leave this room. Do you hear me?’
He says something but Tom can barely hear him. He leans closer.
‘ … happy, happy with my family. Claire was my friend, the boys loved me – we played football together. Like my dad did with me when I was young … before … I was lucky – I had survived and come through, life was good. I was happy, I loved my work – was a master carpenter. But I saw her one day, and it all changed. It was back, the hunger in me – like I was twelve again.’
‘You saw Charlie?’
‘Totally by chance. I never go to London, but there I was, close to the gallery she ran, and hungry. I was going to get a sandwich and then get the train home. Another minute and I would have missed her and life would have just gone on and on and not … But I saw her. I walked into the gallery and asked her name, asked about her family and… very quickly realised who she was.’
Tom sees Patterson at the window – they lock eyes, Tom slowly shakes his head, not wanting to alarm George. Do not storm the room , his eyes blaze to the other officer. He hopes Patterson understands.
‘ I knew she was there, knew who she was, I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t think of anything else but the way Jennifer died and how it made me feel. She died in my arms, you know.’
‘You had Charlie dye her hair?’
‘I needed her to, she had to become Jennifer.’
‘How did you persuade her?’
‘It was easy, I told her I was making a film, that we had been looking for months for the right woman. It was a biopic of a human rights leader – and then I showed her the photo of her own aunt. That was her, I said. She didn’t recognise Jennifer, didn’t know she had an aunt who died before she was born, her mother had kept her ignorant. She asked to keep the photo for a day or two. I didn’t want to do that, I always had the photo with me – but I had to say yes, as long as she showed no one. I also gave her a lock of Jennifer’s hair to match the colour. I asked her to keep it a secret from her mother. I told her she could reveal the truth on the Friday, when her mother was back from a trip … but there were no Fridays left for her.’
‘And Lucy Brindley, what did you plan for her?’
‘Nothing. I wanted my photograph back, that’s all. Charlie had forgotten it the day we met – her last day. I missed it – I needed it.
‘Don’t I have the right to a life? I just wanted a normal life. Wife and kids.’
‘Normal? You had killed three women already.’
‘I had put all of that awfulness behind me. Do you have a family?’
Tom feels suddenly empty. He can’t reply, he just shakes his head.
‘I am sorry. You are missing out on so much.’
Tom feels anger spike, his cheeks flush. ‘I don’t have that so I am free to protect people from the likes of bastards like you.’
George shrinks away from the anger, he looks like he will cry. ‘I didn’t …’ He sniffs, tears sprout around his eyelids. ‘I didn’t choose my life – I never chose to meet Jennifer, not like that. It was a dreadful, dreadful accident.’
‘You’ve killed four women.’ He hits the table with his fist and the gun topples – Tom sees it fall and strike the stone floor. A spark – flames engulf them, there are screams … but the gun falls against George’s leg and stays there. No spark. Tom feels his hands shake. Calm down !
‘I think about those women every day. I regret what I did, I was young and stupid. I changed after that, after Mr Meyer gave me Jennifer. I didn’t want that kind of … I didn’t need the women.’
‘And yet you killed Charlie Brindley-Black.’
His mouth moves but no sound comes out. George Larkshead slowly bends forward and then, like a marionette whose strings have been cut – he falls forward onto the table and begins to sob. Instinctively, Tom moves to comfort him – but stops. The petrol pools around him, mixing with the tears.
‘George – George, we need to leave this room. Do you hear me?’
He says something but Tom can barely hear him. He leans closer.
‘ … happy, happy with my family. Claire was my friend, the boys loved me – we played football together. Like my dad did with me when I was young … before … I was lucky – I had survived and come through, life was good. I was happy, I loved my work – was a master carpenter. But I saw her one day, and it all changed. It was back, the hunger in me – like I was twelve again.’
‘You saw Charlie?’
‘Totally by chance. I never go to London, but there I was, close to the gallery she ran, and hungry. I was going to get a sandwich and then get the train home. Another minute and I would have missed her and life would have just gone on and on and not … But I saw her. I walked into the gallery and asked her name, asked about her family and… very quickly realised who she was.’
Tom sees Patterson at the window – they lock eyes, Tom slowly shakes his head, not wanting to alarm George. Do not storm the room , his eyes blaze to the other officer. He hopes Patterson understands.
‘ I knew she was there, knew who she was, I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t think of anything else but the way Jennifer died and how it made me feel. She died in my arms, you know.’
‘You had Charlie dye her hair?’
‘I needed her to, she had to become Jennifer.’
‘How did you persuade her?’
‘It was easy, I told her I was making a film, that we had been looking for months for the right woman. It was a biopic of a human rights leader – and then I showed her the photo of her own aunt. That was her, I said. She didn’t recognise Jennifer, didn’t know she had an aunt who died before she was born, her mother had kept her ignorant. She asked to keep the photo for a day or two. I didn’t want to do that, I always had the photo with me – but I had to say yes, as long as she showed no one. I also gave her a lock of Jennifer’s hair to match the colour. I asked her to keep it a secret from her mother. I told her she could reveal the truth on the Friday, when her mother was back from a trip … but there were no Fridays left for her.’
‘And Lucy Brindley, what did you plan for her?’
‘Nothing. I wanted my photograph back, that’s all. Charlie had forgotten it the day we met – her last day. I missed it – I needed it.
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