Chapter 14
Dr Gabriel Kane sat in the secure interview room of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, waiting with the patience of a man with nowhere else to be.
Two orderlies flanked the door – standard protocol for Category A prisoners, though Kane had never shown any inclination towards violence during his three years of incarceration.
He was too intelligent for crude displays of aggression, preferring the subtler weapons of psychological manipulation.
The knock on the door was soft, tentative. Kane smiled slightly as Ruth Campbell entered the room.
‘Dr Kane,’ she said, settling into the chair opposite him.
‘Thank you for agreeing to see me.’ They were in a room furnished with living room chairs, designed to be more informal once the doctor trusted the patient a bit more.
However, Kane was seated in a chair that deliberately sank quite a bit, making it harder for someone to leap out of it.
The two orderlies stood at the door, keeping an eye on things, ready to jump all over the older man.
‘Doctor Campbell. Or may I call you Ruth?’ Kane’s voice carried the same cultured Edinburgh accent that had once reassured his victims. ‘I must say, I was intrigued by your request. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.’
‘You did help me a few weeks back. I appreciate that.’ It was important not to give Kane the upper hand, but she knew there was a bond between them now, tentative and fragile, but there nonetheless.
‘I did. And it was my pleasure, Ruth.’ There was no grey area now regarding what to call her.
Ruth folded her hands, studying Kane’s face with the kind of analytical attention she usually reserved for her other patients. ‘I’m worried about Liam. About this case he’s working on.’
‘The Embalmer investigation. Yes, I can understand your concern.’ Kane leaned back into the chair. ‘Your boyfriend has a talent for inserting himself into dangerous situations. It’s what makes him an excellent detective, and what might eventually get him killed.’
‘That’s why I’m here. I want to understand what he’s up against.’
Kane was quiet for a moment, his pale eyes studying Ruth with the intensity of a scientist examining a specimen. ‘Tell me, Ruth, what has Liam shared with you about the case? About his theories regarding The Embalmer’s return?’
‘He thinks the killer stopped for seven years and has started again.’
‘And what do you think?’
Ruth hesitated. ‘I think Liam’s in danger, and I don’t think he fully understands why.’
‘Very perceptive.’ Kane’s smile widened. ‘You’re quite right to be concerned. I’ve been thinking about this case since Liam’s last visit, and I believe I understand The Embalmer’s methodology better than I initially let on.’
‘What do you mean?’
Kane leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper despite the presence of the orderlies.
‘The Embalmer didn’t stop killing seven years ago, Ruth.
He changed his methods. Evolved his approach.
Became more sophisticated in his selection of victims and his techniques for avoiding detection. ’
‘But there were no more bodies found positioned like The Embalmer’s victims.’
‘Exactly. Because The Embalmer learned that theatrical displays attract attention, he found other ways to kill, other methods that wouldn’t be connected to his signature crimes.
’ Kane’s eyes glittered with professional interest. ‘I know this because I understand how killers like us think. We don’t simply stop creating.
We adapt, improve and perfect our craft. ’
Ruth felt a chill at Kane’s casual use of the word ‘us,’ as he included himself in The Embalmer’s category without shame or hesitation.
‘So why start using the old signature again? Why risk exposure?’
‘Because something changed. Something that made The Embalmer decide it was time for his grand finale.’ Kane paused, watching Ruth’s face for reaction. ‘I believe that something was Liam’s return to Fife two weeks ago.’
‘The missing DCI case?’
‘Precisely. The Embalmer has been watching, waiting, planning for years. When Liam was reassigned to work in Fife again, it triggered the endgame.’
Ruth’s stomach tightened. ‘What endgame?’
Kane’s voice became almost gentle, like a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis.
‘Ruth, The Embalmer’s ultimate goal is to make Liam his final victim.
Everything else – Emma Richardson’s murder, the return to the original signature, the careful staging – it’s all designed to draw Liam deeper into an investigation that will ultimately consume him. ’
‘Why Liam specifically? What makes him special?’
‘That’s the question, isn’t it?’ Kane tilted his head, considering.
‘It could be professional respect – The Embalmer might see Liam as a worthy adversary, someone whose defeat would validate his superiority. Or it could be personal animosity, some perceived slight or interference that demands revenge.’
‘You don’t know which?’
‘If I had to guess, based on the sophistication of the planning and the patience involved, I’d say it’s personal.
The Embalmer knows Liam well enough to understand his psychology, investigative methods and weaknesses.
He wants to show his superiority.’ Kane’s smile turned cold.
‘He’s been studying your boyfriend for years, Ruth.
Learning everything about him. Including you. ’
The words hit Ruth like a physical blow. ‘Me?’
‘Of course. If The Embalmer truly wants to destroy Liam, he’ll attack what Liam values most. His career, his reputation, his relationships.
’ Kane’s voice carried the matter-of-fact tone of someone discussing weather patterns.
‘You represent Liam’s greatest vulnerability, Ruth.
His capacity for love, for connection to something beyond his work. ’
Ruth felt sick. ‘Are you saying I’m in danger?’
‘I’m saying that if I were The Embalmer – if I wanted to destroy Detective Chief Inspector Liam Brodie – I would first target the people he cares about. Force him to choose between saving others and saving himself. Break his spirit before taking his life.’
‘But you can’t know that’s what he’s planning.’
Kane’s expression grew almost pitying. ‘Ruth, I’ve killed a lot of people.
I understand the psychology of murder better than most psychiatrists understand the psychology of healing.
The Embalmer isn’t just a killer – he’s an artist, and Liam is his masterpiece.
Everything that’s happened so far has been preparation for the final act. ’
‘Then why are you telling me this? What do you expect me to do with this information?’
‘Survive,’ Kane said. ‘Make sure Liam survives. I have professional respect for The Embalmer’s work, but I also have personal respect for Liam’s.
He’s one of the few investigators who truly understood my methodology, who saw past the surface chaos to the underlying structure of my crimes.
I would hate to see such talent wasted.’
Ruth stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. ‘I need to go.’
‘Of course. But Ruth?’ Kane’s voice stopped her at the door.
‘When you warn Liam about what I’ve told you – and you will warn him, because you love him too much not to – remember this: The Embalmer is counting on Liam’s predictable responses.
His sense of duty, his need to protect others and his inability to walk away from a case once he’s committed. I told Liam much the same thing.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying that everything Liam does to protect you, to catch The Embalmer, to solve this case – all of it may be exactly what The Embalmer wants him to do. The investigation itself might be the trap.’
Ruth stared at Kane for a long moment, processing the implications of his words. If the investigation was a trap, if every move they made was anticipated and planned, how could they possibly win?
‘There is one advantage you have,’ Kane added, reading her thoughts.
‘The Embalmer expects Liam to behave like a typical detective, following standard procedures, making logical deductions. But love makes people unpredictable, Ruth. It makes them willing to break rules, to take risks that no rational person would take.’
‘Is that advice?’
‘It’s observation. The Embalmer has planned for Detective Chief Inspector Brodie. He hasn’t planned for Liam the man, Liam the lover, Liam driven by something more powerful than professional duty.’
As Ruth left the hospital, Kane’s words echoed in her mind. The idea that Liam had been targeted specifically, that their relationship might be used as a weapon against him, filled her with a cold fury that surprised her with its intensity.
If The Embalmer thought he could use her to destroy the man she loved, he was about to learn that psychiatrists understood structure better than most people. And Ruth Campbell was very good at finding the weak points in any design.
She reached for her phone to call Liam, then hesitated. How do you tell someone you love that they’re walking into a trap designed specifically for them? How do you warn them without altering their course of thinking?
Kane had been right about one thing – love made people unpredictable. And if The Embalmer was counting on predictable responses, Ruth would make sure he was disappointed.
She dialled Liam’s number, her mind already working through possibilities, planning countermoves to a game whose rules she was only beginning to understand.
The Embalmer might be an artist, but Ruth Campbell was an architect of the mind. And she was about to teach him the difference between creating beauty and building something that would last.