Minette Walters: Fox Evil

Monroe grinned. "He'd have come anyway… and you wouldn't have had my expertise."

Another grunt of amusement. "So what about the wife and Mrs. Weldon? Any ideas? Ankerton's after their blood, but the Colonel's refusing to prosecute because he doesn't want the incest allegations in the public domain. He says-and I agree with him-that it doesn't matter how powerful the DNA evidence, mud will stick."

Monroe stroked his jaw. "Arrest and caution? It would be water off a duck's back to a fifteen year old, but it may just terrify the living daylights out of a couple of middle-aged harpies."

"I wouldn't bet on it," said the inspector. "They'll be back in each other's pockets before the week's out, blaming Bartlett for their problems. They've no other friends. You could argue the Colonel brought his problems on his own head. If he'd been more welcoming to newcomers, the women wouldn't have behaved the way they did."

"I hope you didn't tell Mark Ankerton that."

"I didn't need to. The Colonel seems to have realized it for himself."

Nancy and Bella stood side by side at the drawing-room window, watching James and Wolfie in the garden. Wolfie looked like the Michelin Man in some oversize castoffs that Mark had discovered at the bottom of a chest in Leo's old bedroom, while James had decided to sport his great-grandfather's tatty ulster. The pair of them stood with their backs to the house, gazing out over the valley and the sea beyond and, from the way James was gesturing, it looked as if he were giving Wolfie a brief history of Shenstead.

"What's gonna happen to the poor little tyke?" asked Bella. "It don't seem right to let him be swallowed by the system. Boys of his age never get adopted. He'll just be parceled around from foster mum to foster mum till he starts to get stroppy in adolescence, then they'll bung him in a home."

Nancy shook her head. "I don't know, Bella. Mark's going through Ailsa's files at the moment to see if he can locate a copy of this housing application she made. If he can find a name… if Wolfie was one of the children… if Vera was right about teaching him manners… if there are relatives…" She broke off. "Too many 'ifs,' " she said sadly, "and the trouble is, James thinks Fox or Vera has already done a similar search. According to him, Ailsa's boxes were neatly stacked the last time he went into the dining room… now they're all over the place."

"Martin Barker ain't holding out much hope. He was the community policeman at the time of the squat, and he reckons it was a woman with daughters." She touched a comforting hand to Nancy's shoulder. "Better you hear it now, darlin'. The other thing he told me was they've found kids' and women's clothing in a hidey-hole in Fox's bus. They think they're trophies, like the fox brushes he hung."

Tears sprang into Nancy's exhausted eyes. "Does Wolfie know?"

"It ain't just one kid and one woman, Nance. Martin says there's ten distinct pieces-all different sizes. They're doing tests to see how many DNA prints they come up with. Looks at the moment like Fox has been murdering wholesale."

"Why?" asked Nancy helplessly.

"Dunno, darlin'. Martin says people would've accepted him easier if he had a woman and kids with him… so he'd take on some spares till he got bored with the crying… then, wham, he'd hit 'em with a hammer." She lifted her shoulders in a heavy sigh. "Me, I'd say the fucker probably enjoyed it. I expect it gave him a sense of power to get rid of people no one else gave a shit about. Scares me rigid, to be honest. I keep wondering what would have happened to me and the girls if I'd been stupid enough to fall for the sod."

"Were you tempted?"

Bella pulled a face. "For a couple of hours when I was stoned. Didn't trust him much, but I liked the way he made things happen. Put it this way, I can understand why poor old Vera fell for him. Maybe your grandma, too. He could turn on the charm when he wanted, that's for sure. They always say psychos are good at manipulating people… 'n' you can't do that without charisma."

"I suppose not," said Nancy, watching James kneel down to put an arm around Wolfie's waist. "Why do you think he left Wolfie alive?"

"If you believe Martin, 'coz he needed a kid to make himself look respectable for this adverse possession lark. I don't buy that, though. He could have picked up a junkie and her babes the last place he was at. I mean he wasn't gonna hang around long, so it didn't matter who he brought with him. I only spoke to Wolfie's mum once 'n' I wouldn't have been remotely surprised if he'd changed her for a different model.'' She gave another sigh. "It makes me feel bad. Maybe I could've saved her if I'd taken a bit more interest… but you don't think , do you?"

It was Nancy's turn to offer a comforting hand. "Not your fault. So what's your theory on Wolfie?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but I reckon Fox liked him. He's a brave little bastard… been telling me about his John Wayne walk, so Fox wouldn't think he was scared… 'n' talking posh so Fox'd think he was clever. Maybe he's the one kid the fucker took a shine to. The way Wolfie describes it, Fox doped him up to the eyeballs before he took the hammer to Vixen 'n' Cub… and the only reason Wolfie saw it is because he woke up when his brother started calling for him. It makes your heart bleed, it really does. There ain't a kid in the world should have to go through something like that… but you gotta reckon Fox put him out so he wouldn't have to kill him."

"Will Wolfie work that out for himself?"

"I hope not, darlin'. He's gonna have enough trauma in his life without building Fox into a sodding icon."

They turned as they heard Mark come into the room. "It's hopeless," he said despondently. "If Ailsa ever kept a copy, it definitely isn't there now. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that the police locate theirs." He joined them at the window and put an arm around each of them. "How are they doing?"

"I think James must be telling him about the lobster industry," said Nancy. "I'm not sure the ulster's going to last much longer, though. It seems to be splitting at the seams."

"Good thing, too. It needs throwing out. He says he's been looking to the past too much." It was his turn to sigh. "I'm afraid the police are pressing for Wolfie to be handed over to social services. They want you both to persuade him to go."

"Oh, God!" said Nancy. "I promised him he wouldn't have to do anything until he was ready."

"I know, but I think it's important. They have experts to deal with children like him, and the sooner they can start the process the better. It's what Bella just said. He needs to put Fox into perspective and he can only do that with professional guidance."

"It don't make sense that he can't remember who he is or where he came from," said Bella. "I mean, he's ten years old and he's a bright kid. Yesterday lunchtime he told me he'd always been with Fox-today he's saying he thinks he lived in a house one time. But he ain't got no idea when. He just says it was when Fox wasn't there… but he don't know if it's 'coz Fox went away… or if it was before Fox. Do you reckon fear can do that?"

"I don't know," said Mark. "Put it this way, I shouldn't think drugs and permanent malnutrition helped."

" I know," said Nancy with feeling. "I've never been so scared in my life as I was last night. My brain stopped working completely. I'm twenty-eight years old, I have a degree, I'm a professional soldier, and I can't remember having a single thought for the whole time that I stood in front of these windows. I don't even know how long I was there. Imagine what it must have been like for a child to put up with that level of terror day in, day out for months on end. The miracle is he isn't a complete vegetable. I would have been."