Eye for an Eye

right-wing extremist who hates socialists.’
    ‘Maybe he’s a Rangers supporter.’ Jack dug his fingers into Chloe’s shoulder. She laid her hand on his, and some unspoken message seemed to pass between them.
    Gilchrist talked on. ‘Out of all the mumbo-jumbo, the psychological evaluation, the printouts, the discussions, the endless theories’ – he shook his head – ‘no one even knows for sure if the Stabber’s a man or a woman.’
    Chloe frowned. ‘What do you think?’
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘according to our one and only witness, the Stabber’s a young man.’
    ‘So what’s the problem?’ It was Jack.
    ‘I’m not sure I believe him.’
    ‘Why not?’
    Why not, indeed? What could he say? That he thought MacMillan was too far away on too bad a night? That Maggie Hendren might have been cruel to animals? That something was niggling the back of his brain? He held up the newspaper. ‘Maybe it’s this,’ he offered. ‘Just when you think you have it sussed, the Stabber goes and does it differently.’
    ‘If it is the Stabber,’ said Chloe.
    ‘Maybe Chloe’s right,’ said Jack. ‘Why would the Stabber change his habit?’
    ‘He’s smart,’ said Gilchrist.
    ‘Maybe
she
’s smart,’ said Chloe.
    Something seemed to settle in Gilchrist’s mind at the sound of Chloe’s words, as if the fact they had been spoken by someone unconnected with the crimes confirmed his suspicions. ‘She knows we’re closing in,’ he said, pleased with the way the feminine pronoun slushed through his lips. ‘She knows we’re on to the meteorological service every hour of every day checking when the next storm is forecast for the east coast. And she knows that when it does, we’ll be out on full alert, because we know that’s when she kills.’ He grimaced. ‘But now she’s done a flanker, I wonder what the profilers will make of that.’
    ‘You sound convinced it is the Stabber,’ added Jack.
    ‘Oh, it’s the Stabber, all right.’ After the second murder, Gilchrist had known they had a serial killer on the loose. By the third, he was convinced the Stabber bore a grudge against men who abused women. That was when females hit the top of his list. But a female serial killer was a rarity, and when he presented his own criminal profile to Patterson, he had been all but laughed from his office.
    ‘Do you think they’ll catch her?’ It was Chloe.
    They.
Not
you
. Gilchrist felt a stab of hurt at his exclusion, but nodded anyway. ‘One day,’ he said, and added, ‘Sooner rather than later, I hope.’ He felt another stab of uncertainty. They would catch the Stabber. Of that he was certain. It might take time. But they would prevail. And when that day came, Patterson would pile the glory onto DeFiore’s head and revive his efforts to remove Gilchrist from the Force. Then what? It didn’t bear thinking about.
    ‘Right,’ said Gilchrist, and slapped his hand on the bed. ‘I’d better get up. I must see Maureen before I head back.’
    ‘Maureen’s in Edinburgh for a couple of days,’ said Jack. ‘Didn’t Mum tell you?’
    ‘We never really spoke about you and Maureen.’
    Jack nodded, as if understanding, and Gilchrist was pleased he did not press for details. ‘What’s she doing in Edinburgh?’ he asked. ‘Did you tell her I was coming?’
    ‘It’s her new boyfriend. Larry somebody-or-other. Total wanker. But you know Maureen. Head over heels in sixty seconds flat.’
    Sixty seconds flat. Maureen’s reaction to the opposite sex reminded him of his own relationship with Gail. He had sworn his undying love to her on their first date. Making love in the Valley of Sin had helped, but look where it got him. He dreaded Maureen being hurt the way he had, and made a silent promise to himself to talk to her the first—
    ‘You can have it,’ said Chloe.
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘My painting. Jack and I would like you to have it.’
    Gilchrist glanced at Jack.
    ‘What can I say?’ Jack’s eyebrows shuffled. ‘It’s a gift.’
    ‘I can’t accept your work as a gift,’ Gilchrist said.
    ‘Please.’ Chloe glanced at Jack as if seeking support, but from his silence she was on her own. ‘I want you to have it,’ she said to Gilchrist.
    ‘Only if you let me pay.’
    ‘It’s a gift from Jack and me.’
    ‘How much?’
    ‘Nothing. Please.’
    ‘I can’t, Chloe.’
    ‘Please?’
    He realized that his obstinacy was hurting her, so he gave a smile of defeat and thanked her with a kiss and