Priest could see what had happened; it was only because he was thinking about Karl that he had recognised him from the photograph in his house, but even then he had known something was wrong. It was hardly surprising that Elinor, who had problems with her memory anyway, hadn’t made the connection.

‘What happened?’ said Priest.

‘They met at university. They were both doing media studies and Michael – Karl – was clearly infatuated with her. We used to get flowers, cards and chocolates here all the time. And letters too. They were all addressed to Elinor. She knew about some of them but we binned a lot before she even saw them – I didn’t want her upset. Poor child had been through enough, even if she couldn’t remember exactly what.’

‘I’d have taken a gun to the back of the boy’s head, if Rose had let me,’ Dennis grunted. ‘Bloody pervert.’

‘Dennis!’ exclaimed Rose, casting him another warning look. ‘That’s enough. It was a schoolboy crush, no more. At least, that’s what we thought.’

Priest nodded and took a sip of tea. That might have been wishful thinking, but what else were they supposed to do?

‘Anyway,’ Rose continued. ‘The diary that Ellie was writing was a very sensitive subject for us, obviously. We kept all her work, she was keen to show us and she could write very well; we encouraged her to do more but persuaded her not to try and publish it, thank goodness. Anyway, everything was kept on our computer – all her work, all her medical notes, so we had everything safe.’

‘Or at least we thought it was safe,’ Dennis added.

Rose continued, ‘We don’t know what happened. But when the computer kept crashing we took it to be repaired and the man said there was a virus on there. I don’t know what it was called, can you remember, Dennis?’

‘Trojan, or something.’

‘Anyway, he said the computer had been hacked and all of the data stolen.’

‘We didn’t know who did it,’ Dennis growled. ‘But my money has always been on Karl.’

Priest nodded. Turned out to be a good bet.

Karl Jones had the key to everything. He had launched himself into a delusional crusade for a girl who hardly knew he existed. What a pathetic waste.

‘Can I ask, Mr Priest,’ Rose began, ‘how did Alexia and Dominque die?’

Priest bit his lip, exhaling deeply.

‘In the end, Rose, they got what they deserved.’

Chapter 64

Chapter 64