End Game

"You said that like you know Katie."

No more lies.

"I do."

Bethan saw Christine bristle.

"That's right! She's not who you thought she was!" Dave chirped and felt his mood lift a little at this development. He may be able to use it to his advantage.

"How?"

Bethan thought how best to continue. Christine was going to feel hurt no matter what but she decided to follow the path laid out by truth. Answer briefly and honestly and let Christine lead the way.

"She sent me the photo."

Dave had been about to comment again but the mention of "photo" silenced him.

"What?" Christine questioned, moving closer.

Dave was wary. He had to get untied and out of there. He kept his eyes on his wives and focused on getting himself free, willing his hands and feet to shrink and loosen off his binds.

"The photo. Of the boys. On the film of the camera she found."

Christine shook her head. "The photo? That you talked about earlier?"

"Yes."

"But I thought you were sent that anonymously?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you saying it was Katie? I don't understand."

Dave continued to wriggle his arms. If Houdini could do it, so could he. Was there more give? It felt like it. If he could just...

"I contacted Dave when I first got the photo. He refused to talk to me so I decided to follow him, to ambush him."

Christine's eyes raised at this. She recognised something of herself in this response.

"And?"

"I could never corner him. I wanted him on his own somewhere where we wouldn't be interrupted."

Dave was squirming on the ground, fighting the pain that was returning now that adrenaline had retreated, desperately hoping that his movement would loosen something and allow him to escape.

"In the end, I found out where he lived."

Christine let out a little gasp at this. Bethan had reached the point where this revelation would go one of two ways.

"I knocked on the door and Katie answered."

Christine stared at Bethan, mouth wide.

"You came to our house?"

"Yes."

"And Katie...what did she do when she saw you on the doorstep?"

"She knew who I was and...and...," Bethan hesitated, "she let me in."

Christine's shock didn't need to be vocal. It sent out waves regardless.

Bethan continued. "She knew who I was because she'd sent the photo. Must have researched me. Found out where I lived. She'd found the camera and developed the film that was in it."

Dave stopped his squirming. That damn camera! He'd been a fool, an arrogant fool, to think that he could hold on to it and it not be a problem. He had it, he'd thought and so he'd assumed that it couldn't harm him because it was under his control, hidden. He should have been more careful. He'd let his hubris be his undoing. Living a double life and getting away with it for years will do that to you: make you feel like you're untouchable, unseen, disguised from what you are whilst presenting everything that you wished you could be. A loyal, devoted husband. To you. Alone.

But he was something very different.

Christine was no longer standing. She had sat heavily on one of the bigger boulders remaining in the gravel pit. It was coincidentally where Dave had found Laney's camera all those years ago, placed there before a game of Tag with three young boys.

Christine placed her head in her hands and thought about what she'd just been told. She'd been so oblivious. She'd had no idea that Katie had done anything with that camera until today. She'd assumed that her suspicions were all her own. She'd not wanted to include Katie in any of this drama and now it seemed like she was the catalyst that had caused this. No, she thought. That's not fair. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for Dave.

However, despite her rationalising, she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that she'd been kept in the dark, that Bethan, this stranger, because that was what she was, no matter her connection to Dave, had more knowledge than she did and had been sharing this with her daughter. Her daughter.

"I need to talk to Katie," she said.

"Yes," Bethan said. "But first, I think we need to deal with this..." and she waved towards Dave, "situation."

Christine looked up at Bethan, then over at Dave. She didn't want to have to deal with this at all. She stared at the pathetic man on the floor and felt such hatred for him that it took all her effort not to get up and kick him again. She didn't feel heartbroken; she didn't feel hurt; she felt an incandescent rage for this man and his audacity and his selfishness.

But she had nothing to hide, unlike him. She had been justified in what she had done to him and now, it seemed like not only she but Bethan and now her daughter could all corroborate what he was. She wondered what else had been on the film.

Christine nodded finally. Bethan hadn't realised that she had been holding her breath. She needed Christine if Dave was going to be punished. They needed to be on the same page.

Christine got up. She went over to Dave.

"Christine, think about this. Think about what you are doing. Think about how this looks." Dave looked pleadingly at her.

"I know how this looks and now I know what you are." Again, she resisted the urge to kick him and took a deep breath. "I may not know all of it but I know enough."

Dave's face fell and was replaced with a sneer. "Well, it's taken you long enough. Both of you."

"Call, Christine. Make the call. Let's end this." Bethan said.

Christine made the call and Bethan pulled out her own phone. She looked at Katie's last few texts. She'd show them to Christine once they were at the police station so she could see what their exchanges had been about. Hopefully, she'd see that she, Bethan, had just been a reassuring presence and offering support, nothing else and that Katie had wanted to protect her mum. Bethan wondered about what else Katie had discovered on the film, why Dave had decided to keep it secret.

She turned back to Dave.

"It's over now, Dave. The police will question you and you'll have the chance to finally come clean."

Dave snarled, "Fuck off" and with renewed vigour, started to wriggle and squirm, roaring his frustration as he remained tightly tied.

"You tried to kill me and I've been wondering why. What threat was I to you?"

Dave didn't answer, still manoeuvring himself to try to get free.

Bethan pressed. "You swore that you didn't kill Laney so if it wasn't that, what was it?"

He continued to ignore her.

"The camera is the key to it all, isn't it? There has to be something about that and what was on that film that made you act like this. What was it, Dave? You can tell me now. It's going to come out that you were a bigamist." Bethan looked thoughtful. "What your biggest concern should be is not being found out to be a cheating duplicitous bastard but whether or not you can prove that you're not a killer. Because why wouldn't the police think that you killed your own daughter?"

Dave stopped moving again and Bethan knew that she had his attention. "I mean," she continued, "you found the camera here. You kept the camera and didn't hand it in. Why would you do that unless you wanted to keep it secret? Your missing daughter's camera and you had it. And said nothing. How do you think that looks, Dave?"

Her comment was met with silence.

"I reckon they'll be interested in searching this quarry. What do you think, Dave? And I wonder what they'll find?"

Christine walked back towards them, the phone call having been made.

"The police are on their way."