‘Sounds like the perfect prey for someone like Gleason,’ said Kate, conscious of the fact that now she was referring to the son rather than his monstrous father.

‘Exactly,’ said Curtis.

As they drove towards Chatsworth, Josh told her about the contents of Paul Taylor’s letter. But still he wouldn’t meet her eye. What was he keeping from her? If Curtis – beautiful, smart, efficient Curtis – had not been sitting in the back seat she would have been able to ask him straight out. And she knew that he knew. The clever bastard.

‘But what makes you think that this is for real?’ Kate asked. ‘You know the kind of psychos out there who get off on claiming guilt for crimes they never committed?’

‘Like Gideon Walsh? You don’t need to remind me what a fuck-up that was.’

‘I wasn’t referring to Walsh, but well – yes.’

Kate felt her face stinging. It was, after all, her pathetic attempt at amateur detective work that had led Harper to Walsh. That had turned out to be nothing but a false lead, and a time-consuming one at that. Now it was obvious to everyone involved in the investigation that he had had nothing to do with the crimes. And it seemed as though his fantasy world – his worship at the altar of Gleason – had finally taken its toll. A future in a secure psychiatric ward, rather than a prison, looked increasingly likely for him. A vision of Walsh’s ghostly face flashed through her mind. If it hadn’t have been for Josh she was sure that, even though he wasn’t the particular psycho they were looking for, he would have killed her anyway.

Curtis’ cell rang, interrupting her thoughts.

‘Okay, okay,’ she heard her say. ‘Do you want to relay that?’ Curtis pressed a button on her phone. ‘Harper, it’s Lansing.’ She spoke into her cell again. ‘Right. Go ahead.’

‘Any news?’ asked Josh.

‘I’ve just finished talking to the father of Carl Reckard.’ The voice of Lansing echoed through the car.

‘And?’

‘He’s had no contact with his son since he left home at 1988. He described Carl as difficult almost from birth – what were his words? ‘Colicky as a baby, cruel as a child and plain evil as a teenager’. Said he never liked him and had no desire to seek him out when he ran away. But this is the interesting thing. Three years ago, he had a robbery at his farm. The thief or thieves took a weird mix of things – some farm tools, a bit of spare cash, a few mementoes, and a stash of documents from the family bureau. He hadn’t a clue about what was in the papers. Hadn’t looked at them for years. But when I asked if he could lay his hands on his son’s birth certificate, he said he would go and have a look. I rang him back and said he couldn’t find it. Figured that it must have gone with the rest of the papers from that bureau. And with the birth certificate – together with his social security number –‘

‘Ryan Gleason could easily take over his identity,’ said Harper. ‘And could Reckard senior remember the date of the robbery?’

‘He had made a note of it,’ said Lansing. ‘It was – 26 March 2004.’

‘The week before the car crash in which Ryan was supposed to have died.’

‘Too much of a coincidence,’ said Kate.

‘Great. We’ll be at Carl Reckard’s house in – what? – ten minutes,’ said Harper. ‘Do you want to meet us there?’

‘Will do.’

Curtis cut the connection.

‘So it sounds like Carl Reckard was a perfect victim,’ said Kate. ‘No ties. No friends or family. And a paranoid schizophrenic. He made so little difference to the world that nobody noticed after he’d gone.’

They continued to travel in silence along the 405 north towards Chatsworth. As she watched the traffic pass her by Kate imagined what it must have been like for Cassie to make the same journey in the taxi. At what point had she realised that she wasn’t on the way to Beverly Hills for a nice dinner? That the guy at the wheel was not a taxi driver, but the son of the man who had tried to snuff out her life. Even though Cassie’s physical injuries would heal in a matter of weeks, Kate wondered about the effect on her character. She hoped that Cassie would be strong enough to survive this second attack.

But then would she? How would she cope coming face to face with the monster who had killed that child and delivered it to her as a present. A man who had murdered a young woman just so he could cut off her fingertips and send them to Cassie. A man who had ripped out a tongue and gouged out the eyes and …. She touched her stomach and felt her baby move. What else was he capable of?

‘Right, it should be just round the next corner,’ said Curtis, looking at the GPS system on her laptop.

‘Okay, are we all within range?’ asked Harper, talking into his cell that linked him with the other officers. ‘I want both houses searched at the same time. The officers over at Ironside Avenue should act with the same caution as the team working with me. We all know what to do. Proceed calmly. But remember. This guy is dangerous. We don’t know quite how dangerous. He may surprises in store for us – be mindful of explosive devices or hidden wires. Before doing anything – and I mean anything – think. And we want him alive. If possible.’

The car pulled up at the curb. ‘Right, let’s go,’ he said. He waited for Curtis to get out of the car, before turning to Kate. ‘I’d like you to stay here. In the car.’

‘You’re kidding, right?’ said Kate, her ice blue eyes flashing with anger.

‘No, I’m not. You’re not trained for this kind of thing. It’s way out of your field. And if anything –‘

‘But I want to see the bastard who is behind all of this.’

‘Kate, I understand your need to confront this guy. But you can have your chance later. Once we’ve secured him.’

His eyes moved from side to side, as he was physically incapable of meeting hers.

‘What is it?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’ve been like it all day. On edge. Unable to look at me. What is it? Josh, I can take whatever it is you want to say to me. I’ve been there before, remember?’

He sighed. Curtis, Lansing, and a back-up team were waiting for him. ‘I’ve got to go. But we’ll talk later. And stay in the car. It’s too dangerous. Okay?’

She didn’t answer. She watched as he climbed out of the car and spoke to his team. Within a matter of seconds the officers had split up, Curtis and a uniformed cop running to the back of the single storey house in order to secure the building, while Josh, Lansing and another cop, who looked vaguely familiar, moved stealthily towards a red-painted door to the right of the carport. She heard a muffled explosion as the cop blew open the lock on the door. Josh was the first to go in.