Three hours later, the smell was almost intolerable. Alex had eventually managed to go into the bathroom and turn off the shower, but now the silence was almost a physical being trapped in the room with them, broken only occasionally by Vinny’s whimpers. He was still unconscious. He had woken up once, but as soon as he caught sight of Trigger’s limp form in the opposite corner he immediately passed out again. To try to help him, Alex had then moved Trigger’s corpse into the bathroom to join that of Midge. Yvonne hated watching him do it. She still couldn’t believe that Trigger could be dead; until you looked at the gaping wound in the back of his head, there was no sign that he had been hurt at all. And even that wound didn’t look mortal.

With two bodies in the next room, and the odour of Midge’s roasted flesh lingering and even getting stronger, Yvonne began to feel more and more alone. She sat close to Alex, thinking miserably about Owen and wondering what could have happened to him. Alex sighed. Yvonne knew that he was thinking much the same thing as her.

Suddenly, Vinny’s eyes snapped open. Fully awake, he leapt to his feet, eyes darting from side to side like those of a bird. He moved like a bird now, too, Yvonne realised. Alex got up and tried to make Vinny sit down on the cot against the wall opposite the door. But Vinny wasn’t interested in resting. His eyes flicked around the room once more, and he made for the door.

“Vinny! Vinny, come back,” Alex grabbed his arm. Vinny ignored him completely. He didn’t even try to shake Alex off, just kept walking as though he couldn’t even feel it.

“Vinny?” Yvonne was starting to get worried. Vinny was acting really weird. Almost – crazy. Then Yvonne remembered something. She got to her feet and walked past Alex, who was still struggling with Vinny, and picked up a crumpled piece of yellow lined paper that lay in the corner. She opened it out and read a line: I’d look out for Vinny, if I were you, he’s close to cracking. And as she looked up, Vinny broke away from Alex and dived for the door. A second later he had turned the key, wrenched open the door, and disappeared into the corridor. There was a moment of silence, and then – a gunshot, a pistol with a silencer, and Vinny’s blood spattered on the wall opposite the door. Alex closed it in silence and turned the key once more. Then he turned to Yvonne.

“I guess you’re wondering what’s going on. I think it’s about time you found out.” Alex’s eyes glittered ominously as he removed the key from the keyhole and put it in his pocket. Yvonne was suddenly afraid; it felt as though a big lump of ice had slithered down her throat into her stomach and now sat there, drawing heat from the rest of her body. She was cold.

“Can’t you guess?”

Yvonne simply stood where she was, still clutching the yellow paper. She couldn’t move, not even to shake her head.

“Okay. I’ll tell you. The reason that Trigger, Midge, and Vinny – and Owen by now, I should hope – are dead… is you.”

Yvonne went limp. She slumped to the floor. How could it possibly be her fault? She didn’t do anything. Obscure Purpose was everything to her, she would never do anything to any of them. She tried to tell Alex this, but the words twisted in her throat, and what she managed to say was, “…you…”

Alex nodded. “Yes. Me. I killed them. But it was your fault. You shouldn’t have joined us! YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED AWAY!” Alex seemed transformed; his eyes bulged and he quivered with suppressed energy.

“When Jake died… well. I should say, ‘was murdered’… when he died I should have been the lead. It’s like a ladder. You work your way up, and when you get to the top you stay there ‘till someone bumps you off, and then they take your place. But when I bumped Jake off… Owen made you lead. Not me! It should have been my turn. And they all loved you! Even Midge! I thought at least she would have been on my side.” Alex wasn’t talking to Yvonne any more. His eyes were blank and he seemed half asleep now, muttering to himself. But Yvonne still listened: “But she deserted my too. They all deserted me. And this is what happens to deserters! They deserved it. They deserved everything they got. All of it! YOU HEAR ME? THEY DESERVED EVERYTHING THEY GOT!” And as he roared this last phrase, his eyes snapped back into focus and he took the key out of his pocket. He slowly unlocked the door.

Alex turned back to Yvonne. “But, despite myself, I liked you, Yvonne. I liked you a lot. So… I won’t kill you. You can go. Look!” And he threw open the door. But Yvonne didn’t leave through it.

“Ah, I get it. You’re thinking about what happened to Vinny, aintcha? Don’t worry. All my friends are gone now. They did their job.”

“Yes they did.” A voice came from the hall. Alex turned around and found himself looking into the barrel of a pistol. He looked up above it into the face of the policeman.

“They got caught? They did, didn’t they.” It wasn’t a question. “I knew it. Why did I trust them? The IDIOTS!” He tried to dive past the burly man blocking the doorway, but when he got into the hall he was surrounded by more: five, ten clones of the first policeman. And they had ten identical guns, all levelled at the man who would kill to sing.

Alex was handcuffed and taken away, and the first policeman entered the room and looked down at Yvonne. She had fainted.

---

The trial lasted five months. Finally, Alex was found guilty of multiple cases of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison, along with each of the men who had helped him.

Yvonne was unable to bear witness in the courtroom. She moved to Portugal, and only in nightmares remembered the true meaning of Obscure Purpose.