The Mute and the Liar (88 page)

“
Don’t
worry.
I’m
not
going
to
kill
you.
I
very
much
doubt
Mum wants
to
see
you
just
yet.
But
I
know
who
will
want
to
see
you.
All
your colleagues.
I’m
sure
they’ll
have
a
great
laugh
hearing
how
the
policeman they’ve been fighting bad with for years turned into a criminal himself.

*****

Crime:
Imposter
pretends
to
be
deceased
teenage
girl,
manipulating
two
of
her
friends
to
follow
his
orders.
Imposter
orders
one
of
her
friends
to
kidnap
a
girl
he
lives
near.
Imposter
asks
him
to
keep
her
hostage
for
three
days
at
his
friend’s
house
in
Bath
and
tells
him
to
only
let
her
go
when
the
ultimatum
for
her
release
has
been
fulfilled
–
for
her
father
to
kill
the
boy’s
mother
(boy
has
always
hated
his
mother.)

Interesting
Details:
Imposter
only
contacted
the
two
boys
through
the
deceased
girl’s
real
phone.
This
was
the
reason
they
believed
it
was
really
her
and
followed
the
imposter’s
orders.
Also,
imposter
asked
the
boy
who
kidnapped
the
girl
to
see
if
he
can
get
her
to
talk
(hostage
is
a
selective
mute.)

Alicia’s
Answer:
Imposter
is
a
man
named
Charles
Lewis,
the
father
of
the
hostage,
who
was
supposedly
busy
trying
to
kill the
boy’s
mother
to
fulfill the
ultimatum.

He
is
a
detective
chief
inspector
and
found
out
about
one
of
the
boys
through
a
case
he
was
working
on
and
discovered
he
lived
very
close
to
them.
Researching
the
boy
pulled
up
information
about
the
murder
of
the
girl
Lewis
pretended
to
be.
By
telling
the
police
he
wanted
to
reopen
her
case,
he
was
given
her
mobile
phone
and
had
access
to
all
the
information
he
needed
to
pretend
to
be
her
and manipulate
her
two
friends.

He
made
it
seem
as
though
what
he
actually
wanted
was
to
help
the
boy
complete
his
wish
of
killing
his
mother,
which
would
give
the
boy
an
incentive
to
go
along
with
the
plan
and
would
buy
time
whilst
he
was
waiting
for
the
ultimatum
to
be
fulfilled.
What
he
really
wanted
was
for
his
daughter
to
start
talking
so
he
could
find
out
what
happened
to
his
wife,
who
committed
suicide
seven
years
prior.

It
was
necessary
that
the
boy
take
his
daughter
to
Bath
so
he
could
utilise
the
other
boy.
He
even
briefly
involved
friends
of
the
kidnapper
to
threaten
his
daughter
into
going
along
with
the
plan,
despite
the
inconsistencies
and
questions
that
provoked,
and
he
told
the
second
boy
to
threaten
someone
he
saw
as
a
threat.
He
then
needed
to
frame
someone
to
cover
up
his
tracks.
He
told
the
other
boy
to
organise
a
party
so
he
could
dispose
of
the
deceased girl’s
phone discreetly because
there
would
be
many
suspects
if
it
led
to
an
enquiry.

If
his
daughter
still
had
not
spoken
for
three
days,
he
presumably
would
have
told
the
kidnapper
just to
set
her
free
and that
would
have
been the
end
of
everything.

Verdict:
MAN
IS
A
FILTHY,
HEARTLESS,
GOOD-FOR-NOTHING
SCUMBAG
WHO
CAN
ROT
IN
HELL
FOR
ALL
THE
HOSTAGE
CARES.

Outcome:
I
was
right.

Note
to
self:
Remember
notes
for
English essay
18
th
March.

Six
months
later

28
th
September
2011

H
e’s
there.
Sitting
on
a
bench
near
the
back,
huddled
in
a
black
coat.
His
hair
is
much
flatter
than
usual
and
looks
much
blonder,
and
his
face
looks
softer
somehow;
the
lines
have
softened
in
his
forehead,
his
cheeks
look
rosier
and
his
lips
are
pulled
into
a
slight
half-smile.
As
I
draw
in
closer,
he
notices
me
and
looks
up,
and
I
notice
his
eyes
look
warm, at
ease.
Contented, like
an
insomniac
after
a
long
night’s
sleep.

And
everything
feels
right.
He
smiles
at
me,
and
all
anger
I
had,
all
the
boiling
questions
I
was
going
to
scream
at
him
like
why
he
left
me
for
so
long,
everything
disappears.

*****

“
I
didn’t
think you
would
come,
”
he says.

“
Well,
I
haven’t
had the
chance
to
tell
you off
yet
for
being
a
crazy
weirdo
who disappeared
off
the
face
of
the planet
for
six
months.
”

“
I’m
sorry.
I
just
needed
to
get
away
from
everything.
”

“
Why
didn’t
you
come
back?
Why
didn’t
you
call,
or
drop
in,
or
speak
to
me, or
something
?
”

“
Well
I
was
just
thinking
to
myself
one
day,
England’s
rubbish.
It
just
rains
all
day
and
everyone
hates
each
other.
So
I
just
said
to
myself,
fuck
it
why
not
go
to
Las
Vegas?
They
have
casinos
there.
And
girls.
And
everyone
loves casinos
and girls.
”
I
laug
h and he pauses for
a
moment, then says softly:
“
I
just
felt
like
I
couldn’t
come
back.
I
needed
to
sort
some
things
out.
I
was
just… stupid.
”

“
Okay,
”
I
say, giving
him
a
small
smile.

“
I
guess
the
real
reason
was
that
you
hated
me.
So
there
really
wasn’t
much
point
in
staying
here
anymore.
I
just…
didn’t
know
how
to
deal
with
it
,
I
guess.
I
didn’t
want
to
be
near
you
and
know
that
you
were
avoiding
me.
Sorry,
am
I
being
weird
again?
Should
I
just
stop
talking
now?
People
always
tell
me
I
have
this
thing
where
I
don’t
stop
talking sometime
s,
especially
at
really
inappropriate
moments
when
I
really
probably
should
to
save
myself
from
getting
a
slap
in
the
face.
The
trouble is,
I never know
when
those
moments
are.
So
feel
free
to
shut me up if
this
is
one
of
those,
”
he
jabbers,
rushing
through
every
word
so
they
all
fall into each other.

“
I
already
know.
You
never
stop
talking.
And
I
didn’t
talk
at
all.
It’s
silly,
really.
It’s
like
you
said
in
that
song
you
wrote
for
me;
we
make
a
really
funny
pair. We
wouldn’t
have
worked
anyway.
”

“
Worked?
”

“
Never
mind.
”

“
Your
voice
sounds
really
good.
”
Jayce
stops
mid-sentence,
his
cheeks
burning
red.
“
Crap,
wait,
that
sounded
weird.
I
meant
that
like…
it
sounds…
like
a
voice.
Not
that
your
voice
didn’t
sound
like
a
voice
before,
I
just
meant-
”

“
It’s
okay,
I
get
it,
”
I
laugh,
deciding
to
be
nice
and
not
let
Jayce
continue
digging
himself
a
hole.

“
Are you still writing in
that
notebook?
”

“
No. The
mystery is
all
solved
now; there’s
nothing
else
to
write
about.
”

“
Write
about
me.
I’m
awesome.
Look,
I
can
even
balance
my
shoe
on
my
nose.
”

In
a
fluid
movement,
he
whips
one
shoe
off
and
tries
(and
hopelessly
fails)
to
put it on
his
nose,
sending
me
spluttering
into
laughter.

“
That
would
make
a
good
story,
actually.
Jayce,
the
vain
show-off
and
his
sidekick,
the
amazing
acrobatic
shoe.
See
the
shoe
balance
where
no
shoe
has
balanced
before!
”

“
That
book
would
sell
like
hotcakes.
No,
better
than
hotcakes.
It
would
sell
like
those
cakes
with
the
white
icing
and
the
red
cherry
on
the
top
and the
jam
in
the
middle.
”
He
pauses
and
looks
at
me.
“
Everything
has
changed
now,
hasn't
it?
Nick
and
your
dad
are
in
prison.
My
gang's
gone
their
separate
ways.
You've
started
talking.
It's
weird,
isn't
it?
”