Chapter 123

‘I don't understand,' Bethany said. ‘You said you'd just been with him. Was that a lie to get me talking?' She picked up the mallet. ‘Because if it was, that makes you a bad biscuit and now is not the time to be a bad biscuit, Sergeant Poe!'

She screamed the last part. Poe felt her warm breath on his face, her spittle on his cheek.

But Poe wasn't lying. It was what Superintendent Nightingale had called about. Despite being classed as an exceptional risk of suicide, Israel Cobb had found a way to make sure he wasn't forced or tricked into revealing anything about his daughter. If he hadn't been such an evil bastard, his self-sacrifice might have been heroic.

‘He killed himself a couple of hours ago, Bethany. If you check my call log, you'll see it happened when I was on my way here.'

‘But how? You said Nathan Rose had hanged himself in front of you. Surely the police should have been expecting something like this?'

How do you explain the impossibility of keeping someone alive when they are determined to be dead, Poe thought. If you don't care how you do it, anything can be used to attack your own body. Soap becomes poison, mattress springs become blades. A shirt is a noose and a wall is a blunt object.

And in Israel Cobb's case, eleven pieces of toilet paper stuffed down the back of his throat became death by suffocation. Nightingale told Poe that because the toilet areas in police cells must be pixelated, it was a full minute before anyone realised what he was doing. Cobb had been declared dead by the force medical examiner thirty minutes later.

‘My father is dead?' she said after Poe had finished explaining what had happened.

‘I'm sorry.'

‘I would have liked him to know I haven't forgiven him. That I hated him most of all.'

‘He knew, Bethany. Trust me, he knew.'

‘What if he didn't?'

‘Then take comfort from the fact that he died alone in a rank police cell with toilet paper stuffed down his throat. Take comfort from the fact that everyone will know what he did to you.'

Eve moaned. Her eyes fluttered open. ‘What's happening?' she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

Bethany caught Poe's eye and winked. Despite the heat, he shivered so hard it was like a spasm.

‘You don't have to do this, Bethany,' Poe said. ‘By any modern measure, an eye-for-an-eye is barbaric. And while I get Cornelius Green deserved everything he got, please don't forget that Eve is right. She and Aaron were victims of Noah and Grace. Yes, they betrayed you, and yes, they murdered and lied. But they deserve prison, not death. And if you let them go, I'll make sure that happens.'

‘An eye-for-an-eye doesn't mean revenge, Sergeant Poe,' she said. ‘It means reciprocal justice. It's about limiting compensation. The Old Testament is very clear: a life must be paid for with a life.'

‘But you're no longer dead.'

‘And I no longer believe in God's justice.'

She turned her back to Poe and pushed the mallet under Eve's chin, lifting up her face. She gently kissed her half-sister on the lips.

‘Goodbye, Eve,' Bethany said. ‘I'll try to make this quick.'

‘No!' Poe screamed.

But it was too late. The first blow had already removed Eve's jaw.