Flowers for the Dead: An absolutely gripping serial killer thriller by Barbara Copperthwaite

Author:Barbara Copperthwaite [Copperthwaite, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture

Twenty-Two

Dahlia: Dignity

Fifteen Years Ago

The amount of time the average person wasted on sleep amazed Adam. It was 3 a.m. and he was at his computer, wide awake. Tapping away, clicking on links, working on his plan.

There was little else to occupy the sixteen-year-old’s mind, given that he no longer went to school. Adam, though exceptionally intelligent, had never shone in formal education. Lessons did not suit him. He had never made friends either, though neither had he been picked on. Even the most determined of bullies had given him up as a bad job, growing bored of never getting a reaction. It was like picking on a blank piece of paper. The move seemed the perfect chance to turn his back on academia, and his mother had backed him – he assumed because it gave her more opportunity to keep an eye on him.

But Adam was never idle. Tap, tap, tap, click, click, click, he worked away on his plan. The memory of being caught by Mr Nixon that time, remembering his public shame, imagining the punishment his mother would mete out if she caught him… it all pushed him to think of every conceivable angle before he acted.

Before he actually firmed his ideas up, he needed to set certain things in motion, he had quickly realised. So currently he was on Nigella Lawson’s website, noting down a recipe for a tasty but simple sausage casserole.

By mid-afternoon Adam was cooking up a storm, having studied the recipe with his usual attention to detail. He grabbed wine from the wine rack; his mother considered herself a lady who lunched these days, so they always had good stuff in. Set the table in the dining room, getting everything just right. No flowers, though, as he could not bring himself to lie that blatantly.

When his parents returned from a day of watching cricket at nearby Edgbaston, the teenager presented them with the surprise.

His dad laughed in delight. ‘Well done, son. What’s all this in aid of?’

Sara eyed him in the same way an eagle might eye a rabbit that has pulled out a big stick – mildly wary, but not threatened.

Adam looked down. ‘I w-wanted to do something nice for you both. You’ve had such a hard time, losing Gran.’

A moment passed between them all. His father’s head hung sadly; Sara’s too. It was she who broke the spell, brushing away an imaginary piece of fluff from her sleeve and the conversation with it.

‘Well, let’s sit,’ she said, removing her jacket to reveal a royal-blue Karen Millen dress, which clung to her slender body. Karen Millen had become Sara’s favourite shop to buy cheap everyday clothes.

All three of them sat together and took their first mouthfuls, each making pleased noises at the taste. Adam knew his dad really loved the idea of the family all sitting down together for meals; it was something he often spoke of, and hated it when Adam sneaked up to his room. By doing the meal, the teen had definitely scored brownie points.

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