AVENGE

PART FOUR - CONFESSIONS - CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN - DETECTIVE MULRAINE

67.

DETECTIVE MULRAINE

Detective Mulraine and Casey Simpson were sitting at an interview table in a private room, within the prison, waiting for Henry Morton to be brought in. Robert could see Casey silently wringing his hands together in his lap.

"You don't need to be nervous, Casey."

"Oh. I think I do. I killed his son."

"It was an accident. If you hadn't been firing a gun it wouldn't have happened, but you were."

"Why have you brought me here? It's only going to bring pain to us both."

"I have a reason. In due time you will find out."

"If I was him, I'd probably strangle me as soon as I saw me."

"He's not like that. Angry and sad maybe. It's one of the reasons why I'm still pursuing this."

"Really. Then why is he in prison?"

"It's complicated. I don't believe he is a threat to society and I'm trying to prove that by going after the real killer."

"He confessed to all the murders. It was all over the news."

"Like I said. It's complicated."

There was a rattle of keys and a second door into the room, that led into the prison, opened.

Escorted by two prison guards, Henry Morton walked into the room and sat opposite them. He stared at Casey.

"Why have you brought him here? Are you trying to torture me?" Henry continued to stare at Casey.

"Thank you, guard. That will be all," said Robert.

The guards left the room and the door shut with a metallic clang. They heard the rattle of keys as the guards locked the door.

"I have developed an idea about how we'll capture Colin Pressman. I can't allow him to go free when he is the real reason both your lives have changed so drastically."

"You believe me then," said Henry. "That still doesn't explain why he's here."

"I'm so sorry, man. I didn't mean to shoot your boy. I... It just sort of happened."

"You all destroyed my life. I'll never see them laugh or cry again. I'll never see my kids grow up. You took that away from them. From me."

Casey looked towards the floor.

"We don't have long so I need to get started. Mr Simpson. On the day that your gang committed the shootings - did you or any of the gang receive a phone call?"

"No. I didn't. I don't even own a mobile."

"Did your gang receive calls, Casey? They would have been one after the other just before you left wherever you were not long before the shooting."

"Dwayne took a call just before he had us find the other gang."

"Anyone else?"

"No. Just him."

"Did he seem different after the call?"

"Are you suggesting..." Henry stopped talking as Robert waved his hand.

"Yes. We had never done anything like that before. I told him it would start a gang war."

"So, he received a call and then you all left straight after?"

"Yes."

"Okay, Henry. Here's what I'm thinking. Colin Pressman had such a big vendetta against you that he hatched this plan which started all the way back to the day of the tragic loss of your family. He must have injected Dwayne at some point before that day and activated him with the call."

"Wait. What do you mean injected him?" asked Casey.

"It is impossible to hypnotise and program someone to kill, or indeed kill themselves. Colin Pressman has developed some technology that suppresses a person's morals and forces them to commit whatever acts the hypnotist so wishes. He would have had to inject Dwayne at some point before that day in order to program him."

"Oh shit." Casey looked at Henry. "Is that how you killed all those other people?"

"Yes," said Henry.

"Only, he had already been injected by Colin and was forced to carry out all of the murders," said Robert. "He was no more responsible for his actions than Dwayne was."

"Then why did you admit to the killings? Nothing was ever mentioned about you being forced to do it," said Casey.

"The fact is - I did do it. Whether I was forced to or not is irrelevant. Plus, at the time, I had a chip in me. I could have been activated again."

"Has the chip been removed?"

"Yes."

"Do you see why I think Mr Morton is not a danger to society?" asked Robert.

"Yes. But the damage has already been done. No one will trust him now."

"You're probably right. He will have to start fresh. Now. Back to what I was saying. Casey. Did Dwayne have a reason to stop the car outside the restaurant?"

"How do you mean?"

"Did it run out of petrol? Did a tyre burst? Was the road blocked?"

Casey closed his eyes for a few seconds. "No. He just stopped the car and headed for the restaurant. We all followed him."

"So there was a good chance that the other gang, who were firing at you, could accidentally hit Mr Morton or his family with stray bullets." He paused for a few seconds thought. "Did Dwayne deliberately target Mr Morton's family at any point?"

"No. He had been shot at the park."

"Oh. Who was driving then?"

"Trevor."

"But Dwayne did tell him to stop and take cover in the restaurant?"

"Yes."

"Did Dwayne still have his gun?"

"No."

Robert looked at Henry. "Mr Morton. Do you think it is possible for the pain from a gunshot wound to overcome the programming that Mr Pressman subjected him to?"

"I don't know. Possibly. But I think not. He did get the driver to stop outside the restaurant. It probably meant that he was unable to target my family himself though."

"Now we just have to figure out how to implicate Colin Pressman."

"Doesn't my video confession do that?" asked Henry.

"Unfortunately not. It leads us in his direction, but it isn't proof."

"Can you find proof at his workplace?"

"We could possibly prove that he made the medical gun. But making something is not using it. Besides, I don't want to forewarn him that we are looking in his direction. He must think it's all over now. He has got what he wanted. Your reputation is destroyed and your family is dead. You will forever be feeling the pain of that. I think he must be more than satisfied with the outcome."

"He needs to be stopped. He's caused all of these innocent deaths over his own inadequacies," said Casey.

"Hang on," said Henry. "Wouldn't Dwayne still have a chip in his neck?"

"Yes. He's not been checked," said Robert. "I'll get the whole gang checked."

"And me," said Casey. "Just in case. I don't want to receive a phone call and then start killing people."

"Thank you for your time, gentlemen. I'll get started on this right away."