Within the Shadows Page 17

  'We haven't found one.'

  'What about Jack Roberts? Do you think he suffers from the same disorder as them? He sure shows symptoms of it.'

  'I've got Ally looking into his history. Anyway, how are you? Is everything okay at home?' Barnes asked him.

  Jacob sat in the chair, and Barnes noticed tears welling up in his eyes as he explained what had been going on in his own life. He didn't want to seem self-absorbed, knowing what Barnes had been going through in his own life.

  'Wow, our lives seem to have taken a toll for the worst lately,' he comforted Jacob. 'Look, I know you want to jump straight back into work, but these past few months have been hard, not just for you, but for all of us, and I think the thing we all need right now is to have a holiday. Once this case is over, I want you to take a break as will the rest of us,' he continued.

  'I think that's a good idea, sir,' Jacob agreed.

  Before another sentence could be said, Ally came rushing through the door with some new information.

  'Boss, I've found something,' she started, before closing the office door behind her. 'When Jack Roberts was younger, he was put into the care system.'

  'Right,' Barnes said, wanting her to get to the point.

  'The reason for that was because he watched his parents get murdered,' she continued.

  'Do you think he had post-traumatic stress disorder which brought on Dissociative Identity Disorder?' Barnes theorised.

  'Could be. Maybe sparked up once he saw his wife's body,' she also put her theory out there.

  Jacob interrupted the pair of them. 'But if you think this is multiple personalities, he said he'd seen the disfigured man lurking before the incident. How'd you explain that?'

  'Maybe something else triggered it, and his brain was showing him the personality before he murdered his wife.' Ally continued.

  'I think Mr Roberts is suffering from D.I.D, but I think it's quietly been there since his childhood and suddenly something has caused his secret personality to come out and take over,' Jacob expressed his concern. 'The thing we need to find out is what caused it to come out.'

  'There's got to be a connection between these three people. I don't believe it's a coincidence that three people with D.I.D are all in the same city. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Hannah had just escaped from Felicity to be murdered by Jack. There's more to this that we're not seeing,' Barnes started to get frustrated.

  'Or that we choose not to see,' Jacob interrupted.

  'What do you mean by that, DS Wright?' Barnes questioned him.

  'Look, last year we were searching for a cult of witches that were doing sacrificial killings. I'm just saying, let’s look at this with an open mind,' he explained his thoughts.

  'You think this is supernatural in some way?' Ally asked him seriously.

  'I wouldn't rule it out,' he replied.

  'Okay,' Barnes said, rubbing his finger across his chin, deep in thought. 'Myself and Ally are going to interview Jack Roberts again and I want you, Jacob, to be listening in. It's better to have more eyes on this,' Barnes ordered.

  Chapter 18

  Jacob and Ally left the CID for lunch and sat inside a quiet little cafe a couple of miles away from the station to discuss the three cases and their similarities. Jacob ordered a cheeseburger and fries, but Ally wanted to watch her figure and chose a salad.

  'Do you think all three of them really are suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder?' he asked Ally.

  'I sure think Jack Roberts is, but I'm unsure of the others. Like Barnes said, how can three people in one city all have this rare disorder? Only seven percent of the world’s population suffer from it and three of those people are all in the same city and involved in our case? It doesn't make sense,' she explained.

  'What makes you think Jack is suffering from it?'

  'Because I saw the pain on that man's face the night we turned up at the scene. He was a broken man and I think he truly loved his wife.'

  'What about the murder of Mr Hussain?'

  'I don't think it was him. I think it was his other personality,' she said.

  The waitress appeared with their food, placing it in front of them. Jacob took a huge bite of his burger as the waitress disappeared back to the counter, leaving them to continue their discussion.

  'You need to ask him about the personality in the interview,' Jacob muttered between bites.

  'I would but I think the personality is the one who’s doing the talking.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'When we interviewed him this morning, he wasn't the same guy. He showed no remorse for what he had done, he just kept smiling, and I mean it wasn't just an average smile, it was creepy.'

  'What about the bloodstained clothes? Did he ever say who he’d hurt?' Jacob asked.

  'Nope. No idea and the victim is still out there somewhere. We have no idea who they are or where they are.'

  'And the other person involved with Felicity, did they find them?'

  'Again, no.'

  They were both silent for a moment while Jacob looked out of the window, trying to think of a connection when Jacob noticed a man staring in at him from across the street. Ally noticed Jacob's face change and glanced out of the window.

  'Not again,' he said quietly.

  'What's the matter?' she asked, turning her attention back to him.

  'I just keep seeing my father. I think I'm suffering from some post-traumatic stress myself,' he expressed.

  'I don't think you are,' she replied.

  'Why?'

  'Because if you are talking about the man across the street, I see him too,' she explained.

  Jacob jumped off his seat and rushed out of the cafe, running in the man's direction. Ally was close behind him.

  'Stop, police!' Jacob shouted. 'Stay where you are!'

  The man started to run away and headed for an alleyway close by. Jacob ran so fast, he didn't realise he was leaving Ally behind. As Jacob turned the corner, he saw the man right in front of him, standing completely still with his back to him. Jacob stood still on the spot, gasping for breath, but keeping his focus on the man who resembled his father.

  'Dad? Is that really you?' Jacob asked.

  The man turned around and stared at Jacob right in the eyes. He realised the man wasn't his father. His eye colour was different, knowing his father's eyes were blue and not green, like this man's.

  'Who are you?' Jacob asked the man.

  Ally came rushing with panic around the corner. Not knowing what was going on, she just spectated.

  'I'm your uncle,' the man explained.

  'My uncle?' Jacob seemed confused.

  His father had never explained his own past with his son's. As far as they were aware, their father never had any family. His past was kept a secret from them.

  'I'm guessing your father was telling me the truth when he said he kept the family history a secret from you and your brother,' he laughed.

  'What are you laughing at?' Jacob yelled at him.

  'You don't have to be afraid...'

  'I'm not!' he interrupted him.

  'Good. I'm not going to hurt you.'

  'Why am I only just finding out about you now? And what's your name?'

  Jacob started to relax slightly, but still keeping up his guard.

  'My names Dan and I can explain everything you want to know, just not out here,' he explained, his head turning from side to side like he was worried about something.

  'Jacob,' Ally alerted him. 'We've got to get back to the station.'

  Dan handed him his number. 'Call me when you're free. I'll explain everything your father kept hidden.'

  Jacob never said a word, just stared at his uncle he never knew existed, then turned to follow Ally back out on to the street. He kept wondering, Why now?

  'I have no idea what's going through your mind right n
ow, but I need you to focus on the interview later,' Ally said as they approached the car.

  'Life doesn't seem to be giving me a break lately, does it?' he said as they got inside.

  Ally sped back to the station, not wanting to sit in the awkward silence a minute longer. Minutes later they arrived at the station and headed inside the CID. Jacob strolled over to his desk while Ally walked into Barnes' office and shut the door.

  'Did you know John Wright had a twin brother?' she asked him.

  Barnes lifted his head and looked strangely at her, trying not to reveal the truth. 'I had no idea. I knew the guy for years and he never once told me, and he told me a lot of secrets,' he explained. 'Where's this coming from?'

  'We met him earlier when we were on lunch. Jacob saw him from the window and gave chase. He confronted him in an alley and he told him who he was.'

  'What was his name?' Barnes asked, grabbing a pen and paper. 'I'll do a background check.'

  'He said it was Dan,' she told him.

  'Leave it with me,' he said, as she rose to her feet.

  Ally left the office and headed for the briefing room to prep for the interview. She wanted to know if their theory about Jack Roberts was true. Barnes began to panic, worried about the lies he was keeping would come back to bite him later.

  Jacob remained at his desk, wondering why all of a sudden his uncle wanted to get in contact. Does he want to meet because my father's not in the way? he pondered. He began to remove his focus from his thoughts and back onto his work. He researched Dissociative Identity Disorder and the main causes of it. The more he researched, the more he felt they were headed in the right direction about Jack.

  Barnes opened his office door and stood glancing around. He then moved over to the briefing room and peeped inside to see Ally writing down notes on a notepad. When he opened the door, Jacob got off his seat and marched over to see what they were discussing.

  'Are you ready?' Barnes asked her.

  'Almost.'

  Jacob entered the room. 'What's going on? Are you about to interview him?'

  'You need to get yourself ready, Jacob. We will be soon,' Barnes informed him.

  'I've been researching D.I.D, and I believe his trauma may have brought this on,' Jacob explained his thoughts.

  'Good. I'm glad we're all on the same page about this. Now let's go and ask Jack or whatever personality he is today, where this unknown victim is,' Barnes demanded, trying not to raise his voice.

  Jacob entered a room with a video surveillance screen set up, while Ally and Barnes entered the interview room, to see Jack Roberts alone without Simon Ballard present.

  'Mr Roberts, do you not want your solicitor here?' Barnes asked.

  'No, thank you,' he replied calmly with a smile.

  'Okay then,' Barnes said as he sat down, while Ally placed the tape in the recorder.

  Barnes did the usual speech into the tape recorder before they started the interview again.

  'Mr Roberts...'

  'Call me Jack,' he interrupted.

  'Earlier we spoke to you about the bloodstained clothes we found at the Premier Inn you were staying at, and who the victim is? Are you going to tell us now?' Barnes continued.

  'Maybe,' Jack replied, still smiling at them.

  'Look, Jack,' Ally interrupted, 'Just tell us who and where this person is!' she raised her voice and lifted herself from her seat.

  'Detective Inspector Miller, please don't interrupt your senior officer,' he spoke with a calm and well-spoken tone.

  'Are you even Jack Roberts?' she asked while placing her bum back on her seat.

  'Why do you ask?'

  Barnes butted in. 'We think Jack suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, triggered by witnessing his mother and father’s murders. What we want to understand is why it's taken so long for you to make an appearance?'

  'I'd like to say I've always been there, hiding within the shadows, but I'd be lying,' he confessed.

  'So how long have you been in Jack's head?' Barnes continued with his line of questions.

  'Since December,' he said sharply, remaining in the well-spoken tone.

  'What triggered him for you to come out?' Ally desperately wanted to know.

  'Do you really think I'm a personality?'

  'Because we have two other people who we think have the same disorder, in our custody,' Barnes informed him.

  'So you've found my brother and sisters?'

  'What do you mean by brother and sisters? What are you?' Ally continued.

  'DCI Barnes, I think you must already know. One of them must have told you when you were in their captivity,' he smiled leaning his elbows on the table between them.

  Barnes thought about what he said and remembered what Cain had told him in the warehouse about his siblings.

  'You know Nathan Lawrence?' Barnes asked him.

  'You mean Cain? I don't know Nathan Lawrence,' he answered.

  'Is Cain one of your siblings?'

  'One of three.'

  'Who are you?' Ally asked.

  'My name is Damien. You might know me by another name.'

  Barnes began to lose patience. 'Oh yeah, and what might that be?'

  'Death,' he replied, his smile growing wider.

  Nothing but silence filled the room. Barnes and Ally weren't sure how to react to what he'd just said. Barnes was getting frustrated by people claiming to be demons of some kind.

  'Are you telling us that you are Death? One of the four horsemen?' Barnes humoured him.

  'Yes, DCI Barnes, that is what I'm telling you,' he replied.

  'I didn't realise death was a murderer,' Ally began to smirk, knowing her comment would annoy him.

  'Are you going to tell us where your last victim is, or are we just wasting our time?' Barnes asked.

  Jack just laughed at Barnes, knowing they needed to know where his final victim was. 'If you want to know, I can show you where they are,' he answered.

  'Enough of your games. You know that's not going to happen,' Barnes shouted at him.

  'Then you'll never know who or where they are,' he leant back in his chair, still keeping the psychotic smile on his face.

  Barnes stood up and left the room, while Ally announced what was happening for the tape.

  'DCI Barnes has exited the room. Interview terminated at 15.07.' She stopped the tape. 'Mr Roberts, someone will be along shortly to collect you.'

  'I'm guessing he's not taking me up on my offer.'

  'I guess not,' she smirked at him, before exiting the room.

  Barnes was standing outside of the interview room waiting for Ally, his arms were folded and one arm reached to the bottom of his chin, with his index finger rubbing it.

  'Please tell me you're not considering taking him up on his offer?' she asked him.

  'Hopefully, we don't have to. I'm hoping he realises that he either tells us or doesn't, and thinks we're not giving in,' he explained his plan.

  'Let’s hope it goes to plan then.'

  Jacob came marching down the hallway towards them, his face red with anger.

  'You're not going to give him what he wants, are you?' Jacob questioned him.

  'What do you think?' Barnes answered with a rhetorical question.

  'Good. We don't need another guy like that out on the street.'

  The three of them walked back to the CID, contemplating what their next move would be, trying not to get to the conclusion of letting him out for a day trip to find the missing victim.

  'If Jack's correct about being one of four horsemen,' Jacob started, 'then we've got one more to find. We've already got three of them in custody.'

  'Jack Roberts seems to think he's Death, so we should find out who the other two think they are, and try to create a profile of who our fourth is identifying as, and locate how they'll kill their victims,' Ally expressed.
<
br />   'You're right. I think we need to interview Felicity James. Do you remember when she was brought in, Ally?' he asked her and she nodded. 'Do you remember what she was screaming?'

  'Yes, that it wasn't her that kept all those women prisoner,' she responded.

  'Yeah, and now we know what we know, it sums that moment up perfectly,' Barnes smiled with glee.

  * * *

  Kate was due to finish work at 4 pm. She glared at the time, 3.45 pm, as she wiped over the empty tables with disinfectant spray and a cleaning cloth. Belle approached her from the counter.

  'Come on, Kate. You haven't spoken to me all day. Talk to me, come on,' she pleaded.

  'Please just leave me to get on with work. I don't want to talk about it right now.'

  'You never want to talk about it. It could help you once you get your feelings off your chest.'

  Kate ignored her and moved over to the next table and repeated her actions. Belle continued following her, despite Kate's warning.

  'Will you just leave me alone,' she snapped at her quietly, making sure not to draw attention to them.

  'Fine!' Belle replied before storming away to the counter.

  Kate continued wiping the tables when she heard the door to the cafe open, making her glance behind her to see who entered. She soon regretted her decision once she locked eyes with the man claiming to be her father. She tried to scurry away but he was already stood next to her.

  'Can we talk?' he asked.

  'I don't want to talk to you. Not now, not ever,' she said angrily, but quietly once again, trying not to draw in an audience.

  'I get you're mad at me, but this isn't my fault. I never hid this from you. Please don't be mad at me. I just want to get to know you and try to figure out why your mother would keep me away from you.'

  Kate thought about it for a moment, before she realised his words made a little sense.

  'Meet me at the pub across the road. I finish in ten minutes,' she said.

  He left the cafe and she watched as he strolled across the road and entered the pub. She finished cleaning the dirty tables and removed the plates, glasses and filthy cutlery, and walked into the kitchen. Belle confronted her again, demanding to know what was going on.