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Magnus had interviewed, on first acquaintance Coulter appeared friendly, solicitous, even charismatic, especially during his work on the doll. None of that meant he related in any way to Magnus’s understanding of the world.
    When Coulter had finished tidying his workbench, they returned to the interview room and sat down again, this time with a cup of coffee each. Coulter seemed to have something in particular he wanted to say, and while Magnus waited for him to get to the point, he observed the other man’s body language. The intensity of his stare had lessened, but the buzz was still there, together with an underlying eagerness which was currently being suppressed. It could be that it was nothing more than self-importance. There had certainly been an air of showing off in the workroom and Magnus suspected Coulter had rather enjoyed his reaction to the doll. But that was natural enough. People who didn’t mind spiders often took delight in the discomfort of those who were frightened by them. Magnus didn’t care if he shared a room with a spider but he didn’t think he would like to share it with a baby doll. Not one as realistic as Coulter’s. A sudden memory of that life-like face brought another wave of revulsion.
    There was a greasy shine now to Coulter’s skin. The room was warm, but Magnus didn’t think that was the reason. It was excitement that was making the man sweat.
    Coulter spoke quietly, as though he didn’t want his minders to hear. ‘Women write to me in here. Lots of them.’ He shifted slightly in the seat. ‘More now since I started making the dolls.’
    This phenomenon was well documented, particularly among inmates on America’s Death Row. Psychopaths were known to have an uncanny ability to recognise and use the kind of woman who had a powerful need to help or mother others. Such ‘nurturing’ women tended to look for the goodness in people while minimising their faults. Magnus wondered how those who corresponded with Coulter managed to reason away a child murder.
    Coulter resumed his intent stare. ‘One of them, Caroline, suggested I get in touch with you about my diary.’
    ‘Why me?’ Magnus knew his response had been too swift.
    Coulter suppressed a smile. ‘She read about you in the papers.’
    Coulter was waiting for him to ask for more information, relishing his interest. Magnus decided not to indulge him. If he was going to work with this man, then he must be the one in charge. Instead, he decided to indicate the interview was at an end.
    ‘Maybe we can talk about this the next time we meet.’
    He was rewarded by a flicker of annoyance crossing Coulter’s face, then he was all smiles and enthusiasm again.
    ‘I’ll look forward to that.’
    Touché.
    ‘You understand that our next interview will last much longer?’
    ‘Once I finish Jacob, the one I showed you, then I have to start on Melanie, but I should be able to fit you in.’
    Magnus kept his face expressionless. It wouldn’t do to remind Coulter that it was he who had requested this meeting, not Magnus.
    ‘Good.’
    They shook hands, then the minders escorted Coulter from the room.
    Magnus waited, assuming someone would come to collect him. The smell of Coulter’s spicy cologne still hung in the air. It mingled with other scents that the man had carried on his clothes. Paint, varnish, a faint odour of plastic. Magnus longed for Dr Shan and her flowery fragrance to arrive and dispel the memory of Coulter and his doll.
    In truth, he was perplexed by the interview and his response to it. His mind was already analysing this, putting it down to an abhorrence of Coulter’s work on the Reborn.
    But it wasn’t that, not entirely. It was more about the true nature of the man. Psychopaths were routinely branded as ‘evil’ by the policemen who pursued them and the victims that survived an encounter with one. Magnus thought ‘evil’ was less about something present, more about the absence of something. The absence, in