“Nothing bad ever happened to me. Not really. My parents are great. My siblings and I all get along. We look after each other. Even all of my grandparents are still alive. The worst thing that happened to me before two weeks ago was that I got cheated on by my high school girlfriend. And who hasn’t been cheated on?”
“Even though you had your heart broken, you still think you were lucky?”
He thinks for a moment, his eyes wide and watery. “I was lucky because if she had never broken my heart, then I never would have met Hannah. She’s the love of my life,” he hiccups. “And I’ve been waiting for the bomb to drop. I’ve been waiting for my share of the trauma that my friends suffered when they were growing up. I knew I was due something. I knew it. I just didn’t think it would be this.”
Tears slip down his cheeks, and he sobs into his hands.
Jonesy
We sit quietly for a moment as Connor’s grief spills into the room. Is this a man who has come to accept he’s been caught for ruthlessly murdering a woman in cold blood? Or is this the genuine heartbreak of a man who has been wrongfully accused and set up?
“Dr. Jones, you have an urgent phone call in the office,”the monotone voice rings from the tannoy. I put my hand on Katie’s shoulder and wait for her to give me the okay to leave. She nods, ever the professional, and the guard opens the door for me.
I expect to take the call in the guardroom, but there’s no phone there, only a radio, so I’m escorted back to the main entrance, where we signed in. The guard is in no hurry, despite the call being noted as urgent, and my shoulders start to creep up to my ears the slower his footsteps are.
By the time we reach the reception area, a bored woman behind the desk holds out the corded telephone to me in a loose grip. I fight the urge to wipe down the mouthpiece.
“Jones.”
“Jones, it’s Tilly. Are you interviewing Maddox?”
I glance at the woman who is paying absolutely no attention to me. “Yes, sir. Dr. Murphy is in there with him now.”
“She’s alone?” he asks cautiously.
“Yes, it’s standard procedure. There is a guard outside the room watching them.” I say for his benefit as much as mine. Nothing is going to happen to Katie here. She’s safe; she’s being watched. I glance at the bored woman again, inspecting her nails and paying little attention to what’s going on around her.
“Good . . . good.”
“Sir? Was there something urgent?” I pry, eager to get back to Katie.
“Well, yes. The police were tipped off to search his property, Jones. The backyard, specifically. They’ve found multiple bodies.”
My heart thudded against my rib cage. “He’s a serial killer?”
There’s no way. Not the scared guy in that interview room. Not the same guy who can’t stop crying every time someone mentions his girlfriend.
“It appears so. I won’t lie to you, Jones, the colonel is not happy. Your most recent report suggested that you didn’t believe he had killed one person.One person, Jones. Turns out the police are digging up at least three in his yard.” He provides further details, and I hear a few of them:cadaver dogs,burial sites,unprecedented. All ringing along with the blood rushing throughmy ears as I try to figure out how we didn’t see this coming. Connor Maddox might just be the best liar on the goddamn planet. I need time to think.
“Sir, I can assure you, our investigation wasn’t complete, and we were considering the evidence the police had shown us, but I couldn’t have imagined that Connor Maddox had done this.”
The woman behind the desk perks up a little at this. Her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she pushes back her mousy brown hair behind her ear to get a better listen.
“You better believe it. Get yourself back to base ASAP for a meeting with myself and the colonel. Dress smart, Jones,” he warns. “Oh, and I’d keep the female doctor away from Maddox if I were you. Clearly, he’s not as safe as you first thought.”
Shit.
I need to get to Katie.
“Yes, sir.”
I hang up, letting Traynor know I’m ready to go back. He dawdles again, and it takes all the strength I have not to grab him by the collar and drag him along myself. When we reach the room and I’m buzzed in, Connor and Katie are talking calmly. They both look at me, and I take a deep breath. I don’t want to incite a panic, but I want—no,needto get Katie away from him as soon as possible.
“Dr. Murphy. Something has come up. Our presence has been requested at the station,” I say calmly.
I watch Connor look down at his hands before drawing his thumb up to his mouth so he can bite the nail. His left leg is bouncing up and down as if he’s in withdrawal. Perhaps he is in a way. Don’t they say that killing is a need for serial killers? A compulsion? An addiction?
“One final question for you, Connor,” Katie says calmly, closing her notepad and pulling the elastic slip over the front of it. “Have you had any visitors since you were arrested?”
