Dani winced. Ethan was right. She had doubted herself when she’d read those gruesome words in her diary.

Ethan moved over to the workbench off to his right where a variety of tools were laid out. A large glass jar half filled with clear liquid was on the worktop. Grim thoughts fired through Dani’s mind. Her conversations about serial killers with Steven Grant replayed in her head. Methods for disposing of bodies. How a killer could leave no trace.

But Ethan Grant was barely an adult. Could he really do such a thing?

Dani looked down at Jason. His eyes were still closed. Was he conscious? Did he understand what was happening?

‘You’ve got a lot to be thankful to DI Barnes for,’ Ethan said as he turned back to face her. ‘I felt sure that by now you would have been locked up for Paul Reeve’s murder, and I can only assume it’s his blind love for you which has saved your skin. For now. Unfortunately, the reward for DI Barnes’s loyalty isn’t quite going to be what he hoped for.’

‘You’re fucking crazy,’ Dani said. ‘No one will believe this.’

‘Believe what? That the twin sister of a sociopath is herself a sociopath? It’s not so hard to comprehend really. No, you’re one crazy bitch all right. Not only did you kill Paul Reeve and three innocent young women – quite why, no one really knows – but when the heat on you got too much you turned on your former boyfriend. After that… you just disappeared.’

The finality with which Ethan Grant delivered that final word sent a chill right into Dani’s core.

Ethan grabbed an object from the workbench he was standing by. A wallet? He started flipping through the contents. He put it down and picked up a thick rubber glove, then took the wallet and stepped over to the glass jar and lifted off the lid.

‘You’re going to like this next bit.’

Ethan moved the wallet down inside the jar and as it touched the liquid it began to foam and froth as the acid ate away at the material. Ethan looked at Dani, smiling when he saw the look of horror on her face. He carefully dropped the wallet into the jar and placed the lid back on top as the acid consumed the remainder of the object.

‘Quite something, isn’t it?’ Ethan said. ‘Dani Stephens, serial killer. Disappeared into the night.’

‘Tell me, Ethan,’ Dani said. ‘How many people have you killed exactly?’

The continued strength in her voice surprised Dani, as did the question itself. Of all the burning questions she could ask in that moment, she really wasn’t sure why that was the first to come from her lips. Was she simply looking to latch onto facts and concrete information, to help her try and work out and make sense of the whole situation?