Cassie bit her lip. ‘You’re right. Can you dial a number for me?’

‘Sure,’ said Kate, picking up her cell. ‘Go ahead.’ She dialled the number, which was picked up by voicemail. ‘Hi, this is a message for Gloria Smith. My name is Kate Cramer. I’m a friend of Cassie’s. Please call me as soon as you get this message. I think you know what happened to Cassie. Well, I’m afraid it’s beginning to happen again. And she – we – need your help. I’ll explain everything when you call.’

30

‘It’s actually relatively easy to change one’s name,’ said Gloria, clutching a gold hair clip between her teeth. ‘In fact, you can order things like a name change kit over the internet for less than thirty bucks. It contains all the necessary forms you need, instructions about how to go about it. And the beauty of it is that you don’t need to go anywhere near a goddamned lawyer’s office.’

Gloria pulled the back of her raven black hair and stretched it over the top of her head, securing it with the clip. She took a breath before she started again.

‘You are obliged to publicise the name change in a local newspaper, once a week for at least four consecutive weeks, but the whole process can be completed in two to three months. As long as a court doesn’t think a person is going to change their name for an improper purpose – such as defrauding creditors – then the name change is usually granted.’

‘And what about for the purpose of glorifying a dead serial killer?’ said Kate, her voice rising, her face flushing. ‘Would that not be considered “improper?”’

‘Obviously, in this case the court granting the request did not recognise the name.’

‘Obviously,’ said Kate. ‘Sorry. I’m just angry that no-one seemed to have spotted this. I can’t believe that no-one found it the least bit suspicious that a man wanted to change his name to one of the state’s most vicious –‘

‘Gloria, it’s great that you came over,’ said Cassie, interrupting. ‘And we’re both really grateful that you’ve been able to explain the legal situation to us. But now comes the hard part. I’m afraid we’ve got a question to ask you that may put you in a – a slightly awkward position.’

‘What do you mean?’ said Gloria.

‘We need to find out who’s doing this,’ said Kate. ‘Who is behind it all.’

‘And you want me to help?’

‘Yes. We know that we’re asking a lot of you. And that it’s against all the rules. That you’d probably lose your job if your bosses ever –‘

‘Yes.’

‘Sorry?’

‘I said yes, I’ll do it. My bosses need never find out. And I can easily cover my tracks, if need be.’ Gloria stared at Cassie, remembering what she had looked like when she had first gone to visit her in hospital soon after the attack. ‘If there’s some creep out there who thinks he can get his kicks out of freaking out one of my girlfriends then I’m going to do everything in my power to stop him. Even if it’s only something as simple as checking a few records. So count me in, sisters.’

31

The media had a lot to answer for, he thought, as he sat in his car and watched the blonde woman come out of her downtown apartment. Really it was just an extension of man’s lowest instincts – vulgar curiosity, insatiable prurience, obsessional interest in the business of others – slanted in such a way as to emphasise the sordid and the negative. Where had all the good news gone?

Surely when he was a child, the world wasn’t that interested in the bedhoppings of minor actors or actresses or the pathetic lives of ordinary people turned into overnight ‘celebrities’ via the medium of television? He was pleased not to have a TV. Why allow the portal of the devil into your home if you had a choice?

He listened to the woman as she walked past his car. She was laughing into her cell. ‘I just know it would make a great story,’ she said, as she flicked back her blonde hair. That was the problem. Everything was just a story to her. Little did she know, however, that he also possessed a talent for storytelling and, if he so wished, he could take her as a character and shape her destiny accordingly. He could do anything he wanted with her, within reason.

Of course, he lived by certain rules, certain codes of behaviour. He knew the difference between right and wrong. Morality was at the very core of him. It was his essence, if you like. And although he was tempted to just finish her off, he thought that this would not be quite appropriate somehow. Not at the moment, anyway.

A plan was beginning to form itself in his mind that might have a particularly satisfying ending. And he had reserved a special place in that scheme for Cynthia Ross.

32

‘Okay, so this is the deal,’ said Gloria, running one of her ring-encrusted fingers over the smooth, coffee-coloured skin of her damp forehead. She was back at the house in Beverly Hills less than twenty four hours after her initial meeting with Kate and Cassie. Outside the temperature was rising and, although the air conditioning of her car had protected her from the heat, taking those few steps from her bright red Chrysler and walking up the gravelled drive to the house had been enough to make her break out into a sweat. She was always promising herself that she would lose those extra few pounds, but it never seemed to happen.

‘You were saying?’ said Kate. ‘The deal?’

‘Yeah, sorry. So this is what I managed to find out,’ she said, taking a deep breath. ‘I ran a check on every single person who changed their name to Robert Gleason in the US since 1997, the date that that psycho was arrested.’ She reached over and squeezed Cassie’s hand; the girl’s fingers felt cold today, oddly lifeless. She looked unusually pale, like all the blood had been drained from her face. ‘Darling girl, are you okay?’

‘I’m fine. Just a little nervous, I guess.’

‘Do you want me to carry on?’

Cassie nodded. Kate took hold of her notepad, feeling her heart beat inside her chest. She was sure that they were on the point of some kind of breakthrough. So much for Josh and the resources of the LAPD. Fuck him. He had been trying to reach her since she had walked out on him at the Japanese restaurant. He’d left repeated messages, but she had refused to listen to them. What was the point? Every time she thought about the idea of him – or even worse, her – seeing her child she felt a surge of anger run through her. So what if it was only going to be weekends and the occasional vacation? He was the one who said he didn’t want a child. And now that he’d dumped her and settled down with Jules he seemed keen all of a sudden.