Chapter 111

‘The mercy chair was still there?' Doctor Lang asked incredulously.

‘It was,' Poe replied. ‘I knew it would be, of course, although I was kind of hoping it wasn't, you know? That it had all been an elaborately staged piece of anti-LGBT propaganda.'

‘Why hadn't Cornelius destroyed it?'

‘I doubt he wanted to. The more I came to know about the man, the more I understood that he genuinely didn't think he'd been doing anything wrong. Israel Cobb had stolen the videos, so he'd been blackmailed into stopping his courses, but I honestly believe Cornelius thought he'd be able to start them again one day. Maybe when Israel died and he was sure the tapes weren't going to turn up at a police station.'

‘Was the chair intact?'

‘It wasn't the type of thing you could take apart with a screwdriver, Doctor Lang. It had been built using dovetail and tenon joints. Dowels instead of screws. Other than some rivets to secure the straps, there was no metal on it whatsoever. Which, if it had been designed as an electric chair, isn't surprising. Wood isn't conductive; metal is.'

Doctor Lang smiled.

‘Sorry, that was what Tilly calls mansplaining,' Poe said. ‘But my point is, you couldn't take that chair apart. Not without destroying it.'

‘What did it look like?'

‘Exactly like it did on the videos. About what you'd expect from a hundred-year-old chair. Simple design. Not a single curve on it, just a series of right angles. Looked like a medieval throne. Leather restraints on the arms and the legs, designed in such a way that even if the prisoner managed to get a hand free, it would have been difficult to free the other. Removable panel on the seat in case the prisoner needed the toilet. The oak was dull with the oil they'd used to maintain it. I wasn't there when forensics took it apart, but I'm told the wood was stained with blood. They collected DNA and linked it to Bethany and five other mispers—'

‘Mispers?'

‘Missing people. There were two from Newcastle, one from Manchester and two from Glasgow. Bethany was the only Cumbrian.'

‘And it was seeing this chair that made you rush upstairs to vomit?'

‘It was.'

‘Because when you saw it, you knew everything in those videos was true.'

‘Not just that.'

‘Oh?'

‘I say this knowing full well I'm in a secure hospital talking to a therapist.'

‘What is it, Washington?'

‘I saw her, Doctor Lang,' Poe said, wringing his hands, his voice barely above a whisper.

‘Who?'

‘Bethany Bowman. I mean, I know she wasn't actually there, but I swear for a moment she was. I could see the terrified fourteen-year-old as clearly as if I'd been standing next to her when she died.'

‘You had a visual hallucination?'

‘If that's what it's called.'

‘It's trauma-based memory,' she said. ‘Almost certainly the first external manifestation of your PTSD. It also explains why you had such a strong reaction to Joshua Meade's "regrettable" comment. At that point, I doubt you were even aware of your actions. Luckily Superintendent Nightingale recognised this and took precautions.'

‘I know that now.'

Doctor Lang nodded. ‘Because if those police officers hadn't been there, I think you might have killed Joshua Meade.'

‘He dismissed Bethany's murder as nothing more than bad PR,' Poe said. ‘Something he'd have to manage. And he didn't care at all about the five gay men Cornelius had abducted and killed.'

‘I need you not to dwell on this. Not now, not ever. Life is full of regrets for things we have done, Washington. Worrying about things we might have done, but didn't, is a first-class ticket to this place.'

‘That's easier said than done.'

‘It is. It's also why you're here talking to me instead of sitting under a viaduct with a bottle of turps.' She smiled. ‘What happened next?'

‘Superintendent Nightingale escorted me outside. Ordered me to go home.'

‘And did you?'

‘I did not,' Poe said. ‘I went to see Eve. I went to tell her we'd got it the wrong way round. That Bethany hadn't killed her brother; it was her brother who had killed Bethany.'

‘What time was it?'

‘About six in the morning. It was just getting light and I knew Eve rose early to do her yoga.'

‘Was that a wise thing to do?'

‘I felt I owed it to Bethany,' Poe explained. ‘And it wouldn't have been long before the press got hold of it. At the end of the day, Eve didn't deserve to get ambushed. But, given what happened next, I'd have to say all things considered, it was not a wise thing to do.'