A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith (great books of all time .TXT) 📕

consensual sex, not even close to it. His victim was traumatised. When she finally stopped crying long enough to tell me what happened, she told me your client had told her several times over that he intended to rape her. Her wrists and ankles were chafed bloody from where she’d been struggling against the ropes binding her.’ Beth held up a hand to stall Irving’s protests. ‘I know you have a job to do, but please, credit us with a little intelligence while you do it; otherwise you’re going to end up making yourself look foolish when you peddle his lies for him. So, Mr Cooper, Mr Irving, you might want to have a think about your options, because from where I’m sitting, pleading guilty is the only thing that can lessen your sentence.’

‘No comment.’

Irving looked at his client, who sat back in his chair and folded his arms, so Beth did the same until she felt a tap on her ankle from O’Dowd.

‘Tell me, Mr Cooper, do the names Christine Peterson, Joanne Armstrong, Harriet Quantrell and Felicia Evans mean anything to you?’

‘No comment.’

Beth put a puzzled expression on her face. ‘That’s odd. Either you’re going to say no comment to everything we ask you, or you’ve just made a serious mistake. You see, those four women were all murdered after being raped. What you should have said instead of no comment, was no. But you didn’t, did you? That makes me wonder if you said no comment because you don’t want to comment on those women.’

Without waiting for an answer, Beth pulled open a folder and removed four pictures which she put on the table. As she laid each one down she named the victim, said a little bit about them and stated the date and location of where they were found.

O’Dowd’s hand slapped onto the table. ‘Cat got your tongue, Mr Cooper? Are you not going to say no comment again?’

‘Please, DI O’Dowd. There’s no need to be rude.’ Beth laid a hand on O’Dowd’s wrist as she gave the prearranged admonishment. It was one of the routines they’d developed. Sometimes Beth would play good cop, and at others, she’d ramp things up past O’Dowd’s level. The inclusion of the word rude was a signal to O’Dowd that she was about to really turn the screw on Cooper and that O’Dowd should back off a little.

O’Dowd gave a curt nod and a mumbled apology.

‘Those women were all sexually assaulted and strangled. One of them was assaulted further after she died and one was only assaulted after she’d been strangled.’ Beth gave her head a tiny shake. ‘That’s the kind of monster we’re looking for. A man who’d satisfy his lusts on a woman he’d just killed. Can you imagine what a criminal psychologist would make of such a man?’

‘No comment.’

Beth was just getting started; she’d only tossed a question in so Cooper would become part of the conversation.

‘My guess is they’d say the killer was a single man, between twenty-five and fifty-five, but then, they always say that. They’d also say the rapist and killer was someone who harboured a lot of resentment towards women. That he’d been repeatedly scorned or spurned by women. They might suggest that he was a virgin until he raped his first victim, or that the only success he’d had with the opposite sex had been with prostitutes. Does any of this sound familiar to you, Mr Cooper?’

‘No comment.’

‘I reckon the criminal psychologist would speak of the killer’s anger, their resentment. He may purport to a sexual inadequacy, such as erectile dysfunction, as a major reason the killer has had to force himself on women and then kill them to ensure their silence. Another thing he may well suggest is that the killer was unattractive to the opposite sex, perhaps on a visual level and maybe on a personality basis. I’m not going to shy away from it, Mr Cooper. We have statements from Miss Brown and another lady that state that your personality was best described as predatory. But I need you to tell me if what I’m saying is true. Can you do that? Can you admit that you had to resort to rape because woman after woman spurned your advances?’

‘No comment.’

Beth leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. She wanted to close the gap between her and Cooper, both physically and psychologically. When she started speaking again, she made sure her tone was soft.

‘You do know you’re in a lot of trouble, right? I caught you, remember? You were caught by a woman. I bet that doesn’t sit well with your opinion of women, does it? You probably see us all as bitches for rejecting you. You probably hate all women because of the ones who’ve spurned your advances.’ Beth pointed to her cheek. ‘I hated all men for a while after I picked this up. I get why you feel that way. I understand that you probably hate me as well. That goes with the job; I caught you, I’m the reason you’re going to prison. It’s natural for you to hate me. In a way I’m your nemesis. Tell me, Mr Cooper, how does it feel to have been caught by a woman? You couldn’t beat me when you tried to escape, you’re not going to beat me now. I have you, I have the evidence against you and I’m going to hand you over to the CPS in a gift-wrapped box tied up with a pretty pink ribbon. Would you like to know how I’m so sure you raped and murdered four women and were about to rape a fifth that you also planned to kill?’

Irving gave a dry cough. ‘I would.’

‘When we searched your client’s home, we found clothes in his wardrobe. Nothing unusual in that. Clothes are supposed to be in a wardrobe. It’s just that Mr Cooper lives alone.’ Beth made sure she had eye contact with Cooper before she dropped the