‘To kill her.’ Jez’s eyes glinted in the deep shadows of the room. ‘Deano was only yards away, but he was so wasted he didn’t even wake up. And after it was over, and she was lying there, I didn’t know what to do. I felt so tired, Abs, so exhausted, and so I just went back to bed. I was going to tell everyone what happened, but I needed to sleep, just for a little bit. And later when Deano said he’d done it, I couldn’t believe it. I tried to tell you all, honest I did, but nobody would listen.’

‘Why?’ Abs couldn’t get his head round it. ‘Why would you do it?’

‘It was an accident, I swear,’ Jez pleaded. ‘One thing led to another.’

‘One thing led to another,’ repeated Abs in wonder. ‘All these years and you’ve never told me.’

‘Did you want to know, Abs?’ Jez met his eye. ‘Did you really?’

And he had no answer to that because, of course, he didn’t want to know. The last thing he wanted was to discover that his one true mate was a murderer.

‘And this poor girl?’ Abs pointed at the young woman called Sarah Tovey, cringing against the radiator. ‘What’s she all about?’

‘I tried to tell you the other night at the party about my… my urges, I wanted to tell you, and then… when I left I saw her walking along and I just… something came over me.’

‘Help me,’ begged Sarah.

Abs wanted to go to her, but he needed to hear the rest. ‘You snatched her off the street?’

‘I couldn’t help myself.’ Jez sighed. ‘Trouble is, once you know how to do it, and you make sure you have all the right equipment in the car – tape, something to put over their head, chloroform – it gets easier.’

‘Easier?’ Abs stared in disbelief. ‘There have been others? She’s not the only one?’

A look came over Jez’s face that Abs didn’t like at all.

‘No, she’s not the only one. When I killed Rhiannon, it released something in me. But I’ve been careful, Abs, really careful. They’re here, in the wood, where nobody will ever find them.’

‘Those missing girls in the news… that was you?’ Abs cried out. ‘Jesus Christ.’

‘If I’m honest, I’ve always had these… urges. You remember when you saved me from those two boys when we were kids? They were attacking me because I was hurting their sister.’ He laughed dismally. ‘Even back then, I couldn’t help myself.’

‘Listen to him, you have to help me,’ cried the terrified girl.

A terrible thought occurred to Abs. ‘And Deano and Tony, did you kill them?’

‘Of course I didn’t.’ Jez looked outraged. ‘I could never, but—’

‘You’ve broken my heart, mate,’ Abs blurted out. ‘I don’t know who you are.’