Together, she hoped, they could come up with a new plan of action, a new angle, to hunt this killer down.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
“This is terrible,” Owen whispered to May as soon as Mrs. South had left, and she nodded, agreeing with him. It was more than terrible. It was a potential disaster. There was another victim taken, May was sure of it. The parameters were too similar to be ignored. Three victims might die at this killer’s hands.
The man in custody could not have taken Chanel, and May was at a loss to know who else could have.
“We need to go and tell Kerry urgently,” May said.
Owen made a face. “I guess we do,” he said.
May could see he also didn’t want to interrupt her, derail her questioning, and present her with this new bombshell.
And there was always the slim chance that this young woman had genuinely gone off to a friend’s house after being kicked out of school for the day. They had no proof yet that she was the killer’s third victim.
Only a strong feeling.
“Shall we go and watch from the observation room?” May decided. “That way, we can step in at the right moment?”
She also harbored a hope that perhaps Jessop would confess to the crimes. That would also mean that hopefully Chanel South was hiding away from the trouble she thought would descend at home, rather than being held by the killer and in terrible danger.
They hurried to the observation room. May couldn’t help the frantic thoughts from whirling round and round in her brain.
Another girl was missing. That meant that they were running out of time. And that scared her. Very, very much.
She had to try to keep calm, keep focused.
It was only when they were in the observation room that May realized this was the first time she and Owen had been alone together in such a small space in a long time.
In the cubbyhole-sized room, they were squashed together, shoulder to shoulder. May caught the faint scent of Owen’s deodorant, which to her smelled like sandalwood. She could smell a hint of mint from his shampoo. And she could feel his arm, warm and firm against hers as they peered through the window.
Inside, Kerry was on her feet, screaming at Jessop.
“And you’re going to sit there and tell me that you don’t know anything about these girls?” she was saying, her face flushed with anger.”That’s a lie, Mr. Jessop. A bare-faced lie!”
“It contradicts what you said earlier!” Adams added. He was clearly being the calm voice of reason, while Kerry was playing the role of the aggressor to get him to break.
“I’m not saying that,” Jessop said in quavering tones.
“You’re not saying you did it, but you’re not saying you didn’t. What do you think you’re doing now? Your version is all over the place. Are you unable to coordinate your lies anymore?” Kerry demanded.
“I’m telling you the truth,” Jessop said, his voice shaking.
“You did it!” she shouted. “I know you did. Those girls needed to be removed because of the interests of your team. You removed them, and you did it permanently! It’s obvious. A jury won’t have any trouble accepting this version based on the compelling evidence. So now, we’re talking about pleas.”
“If you plead guilty, you’ll have an easier time of it, every step of the way,” Adams said, his voice persuasive. “Perhaps there are other factors that you’re not telling us. Medication you were on at the time, anyone who helped you? Telling the truth will be the best decision, that I promise. Juries hate killers who lie.”
“But I didn’t do it,” Jessop said. “I had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t me.”
“You had everything to do with it. Every single thing. There’s no way around this. Admit what you did and you might get off slightly better,” Kerry said.
“I’ll get you everything you need to make it work,” Adams promised. “I’ll get you the best lawyer in the business. The evidence is there, you can’t lie and say that it isn’t.”
“I—I really didn’t do it. I mean, I don’t remember doing it,” Jessop stammered.
“What do you mean by that last statement?” Adams said. “Are you saying you have had memory blanks in the past?” Now he sounded calm and caring.
“I—I need to go to the bathroom,” Jessop gasped.