Helen Fields - Perfect Remains - A gripping thriller that will leave you breathless

‘Am I so very predictable after such a short time?’ he asked.

‘It’s your safety net,’ she said.

‘What’s yours?’ he asked, instantly regretting prying into her personal life again. Ava didn’t even blink.

‘I play act at being confident, sharp and funny,’ she said.

‘Why would you need to do that?’ Callanach asked, appreciating the brandy more than he’d expected.

‘Because then no one will see how terrified and out of my depth I feel most of the time,’ she smiled. ‘Maybe discussing work would be best.’ She drained the glass of brandy and replaced it with her coffee cup. ‘Why would two unrelated women leave their babies to die in the same park? I can’t think of a good reason, aside from there being a baby-stealing psychopath roaming the city, but then the mothers would have appeared.’

‘If this isn’t a copycat, and that seems almost impossible in the circumstances, then the two mothers have met, agreed to do this together. They are making a point,’ Callanach said.

‘Which would be?’ Ava asked.

‘The public disposal of the children,’ Callanach said. ‘So maybe they never wanted them in the first place?’

‘You’re thinking rape victims,’ she murmured.

‘Perhaps,’ Callanach said, ‘but there are other possibilities to consider. Often women who are trafficked whilst pregnant have their babies taken from them forcibly. That might explain the lack of complaint from the mothers.’

‘It might, but there’d be no point the traffickers leaving the bodies to be found. It just puts the DNA on file. It’s something to think about. Why is it easier to see other people’s cases so much more clearly than your own?’

‘Distance and perspective,’ Callanach said. ‘I, on the other hand, have a faceless kidnapper turned murderer who plans everything to perfection, suggesting an elevated ability to control his emotions and behaviour, but who talks to himself in public, presumably without even realising it.’

‘Internal debate and subconscious reassurance,’ Ava said. ‘He’s lonely, has no one to talk to or to validate his behaviour. There’s a theory that we need people to challenge us as much as to praise us, so that we can justify and reason. People lacking that create a second voice, an out loud voice.’

‘Do you think that’s why he took Elaine and Jayne?’ Callanach asked.

‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ Ava replied.

‘Why not?’ Callanach shifted his chair closer to Ava and away from the previously arguing couple who’d progressed to making up, and were engaging in louder than necessary kissing.

‘If he wants them for company, why kill them?’ Ava asked.

‘He’s only killed one of them, so far,’ Callanach said, ‘but if you’re right about the motive for the abduction then there’s a chance Jayne Magee is still alive, no?’

They were interrupted by a scuffle at the door. A cursing, drunken twenty-something burst through followed by a couple of mates equally worse for wear, all staggering towards the loved-up couple on the next table.

Callanach glanced at the barmaid who was looking around for help.

‘What the fuck, Suze? I still love ya. Tell me you’re no’ gonna marry this wee piece o’ shite?’

‘Aw, Gary, really?’ the girl answered, looking bored rather than perturbed. ‘I’ve told you, and my dad’s told you. You need to keep away from me. It’s over.’

‘I know you still love me. Ye said you’d always love me. And he’s an insurance salesman. What sort of pissy job is that?’

Callanach raised his eyebrows at Ava who huffed and finished her drink.

‘You should leave now, pal,’ the insurance salesman-cum-fiancé declared, although he sounded more self-assured than he looked.

‘I’ll go when my girlfriend tells me to go. You’ll keep your gob shut, if you know what’s good for you. Come on, Suze, we need to talk outside.’

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