That evening, as she made her way downstairs to finish up in the kitchen, she chanced to overhear Chief Inspector Matthews and Theo speaking together in the sitting room. The Chief Inspector was saying, '-has to be connected in some way. All of the victims appear to have had consensual sex just prior to being killed. That your Pamela managed to fight him off tells us something, but what? By all appearances, none of the others even tried.'
'What are you saying?' Theo said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically sharp, strained. 'That they wanted what happened to them?'
Seeming to choose his words carefully, Mr. Matthews said, 'I think, and keep in mind that this is pure supposition on my part; I think that he meant to leave us with the impression that the young women had consensual sex with him, just to make us believe that he had total power over them.'
'Only a sick, diseased mind could conceive of doing such a despicable thing,' Theo said.
'Or an evil mind,' the Inspector said, quietly. 'A truly evil mind.'
'Please, Inspector,' Theo said. 'Next, you'll be back to that business about ghosts and demons.'
'There are many of my most experienced and unimaginative officers who have taken to calling this fellow Grendel. Did you know that?'
'I'm familiar with both stories, past and present,' Theo told him. 'As I told you before, the myth is just a myth, and Albert Askrigg is just a man, not an inhuman, supernatural monster. And what is more, a man who will one day be caught and brought to justice, like any other.'
'I'm beginning to wonder,' the Chief Inspector said. 'You forget that I fought the man, along with five other officers. Ed Townsley, you remember him? He got the side of his skull crushed by a blow from Askrigg's fist. Brian Cleese suffered massive internal injuries when Askrigg picked up the officer over his head and flung him against an iron railing. He slapped me down like a rag doll after I'd thrown myself against him. It was like diving onto a spur of rock!'
In an ominous, menacing tone, Theo said quietly, 'Chief Inspector, it's getting late. If I am forced to deal with Albert Askrigg myself, I will. And if I do, what's left will be fit only for-'
Her heart pounding uncontrollably, Pamela hurried away from the door, not wishing to hear any more. When was this nightmare going to end? This business with Albert Askrigg had begun like a blight and had gradually spread to the point where every aspect of her home life had become tainted. She couldn't even sleep without her thoughts turning to the lurking, menacing danger that waited for her like the eyes of some unknown night animal in the wood.