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  ”We did not feel it was right for anyone to

  publicly release this information, but yes, we

  did tests on the three bodies in the basement

  and the two children were not Sammy and

  Alex Milligan. They were two other children

  who have been missing for a while and their

  parents have been informed. The other male

  body cannot be identified at the moment. We

  were unable to get any dental records because

  the body had no teeth.”

  I stare at the television screen in disbelief.

  Tanya lied to me, she said I killed Sammy and

  Alex but I didn’t. They must be still alive.

  I walk across the room and knock on the

  window to get a nurse in here.

  “Oi Oi help.” I shout.

  “Sit down Mr Milligan.” I hear a female voice

  say from behind the window.

  “No please, I need to talk to someone. I’m

  innocent.” I say but there is no response. I

  pick up a chair and smash it against the glass.

  The double-chinned and beady eyed woman

  turns to me, astonished. Her chin wobbles as

  she’s eating.

  “I’m innocent, I didn’t kill anybody; I’m being

  set up!” I yell.

  The door to my left slams open and two bald,

  stocky men in white robes come in.

  “I’ve been set up. I’ve been set up, help me.”

  I say as the two men grab me and force me up

  to the wall.

  They then pull me out of the room and

  march me through the corridors.

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  “I’m fucking innocent, I didn’t kill my kids. I

  didn’t do it! They’re alive.” I shout.

  They launch me into my room, I slide to the

  floor and I get straight back up. As I run

  towards them, one of the men punches me in

  the stomach, knocking me to the floor.

  I move myself onto my back and look up at

  the man who punched me. He kneels down

  next to me and whispers: “You may not have

  killed your own kids but you killed someone

  else’s you sick fuck.”

  He slaps me across my face and leaves me

  alone in the room.

  I stand up and go over to my bed. I think

  back to two years ago when all the suspicious

  goings on happened on Mulberry Lane and

  what was written in the book by Liam

  Graynnil.

  There was the writing around the house. I go

  over to my desk to get my pencil. I go back to

  my wall and write down all that was spelled

  out.

  I write: ‘Beneath men sit’. I then write below

  it: ‘Beaten hints me’ and then I write: ‘Sin

  beaten them’. I write the sentences below

  each other like a shopping list.

  If Liam Graynnil likes puzzles and mind

  games and the letters from his name makes up

  my name, then surely these random sentences

  must make up a word, they must mean

  something. I write down the letters used in

  each phrase, across my wall. That achieves

  nothing, I cannot see what it spells out, it

  could spell out anything, and even if I did

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  spell it out, it could just be another word to

  mean something else for me to work out, so I

  move on.

  I think about the foxes I kept seeing around,

  following me. The dead one in the shed, the

  one going into Shola’s house and then the one

  I found dead in his home. They don’t really

  have anything to do with it but Shola was the

  main man in this and he was killed. I don’t

  believe it was me, but then again it could have

  been Graynnil.

  Killing for Your Love, the book itself,

  everything in there seemed real with Don and

  the morgue, with the murders, but the group

  with Mr S, who is Mr S?

  I know that the group must be real, they

  came to Shola’s and burnt it down but who

  are they?

  I go back to finding the documentation of

  Liam Graynnil and the extension plans. How

  did nobody know about the extension? Why

  didn’t Andrew Myers tell anybody? And if his

  body was in the freezer, then yes they have no

  dental records because he had no teeth but he

  didn’t decompose as much as the children so

  how could they not identify the body?

  It hits me. Something is going on, something

  has happened with some people and they’ve

  set me up, maybe I’m not mad at all, what if

  I’m not?

  I think of the body in the freezer, the over

  grown beard and hair, the severely beaten face

  and body and then the writing of ‘In the

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  basement.’ My mind stops circulating. My

  thoughts pause.

  “In the basement!” I shout out loud. “In the

  fucking basement!” I shout again. I look over

  to the sentences I wrote down and the letters

  next to them. I begin to write on the wall.

  I write I and cross out the I on the letters I

  wrote, I then write N and cross out the N on

  the letters, I spell out ‘In the basement’ and

  when it’s spelled out I have no letters left,

  they are all crossed out.

  “So that’s what those sentences meant.”

  I stand back from the wall and stare at it.

  There is no way I’ll ever to be able to prove

  that I am innocent, there’s footage from the

  fox cams of me in the woods and of me

  killing people. They got that evidence from

  Sandra’s bin. But in that footage, I did not

  once see my face, my lawyer pointed that out

  he said it was my clothing but I am never

  positively identified in the footage. Maybe I

  have been set up by the group that is after me,

  but who are they? And how am I going to

  prove this?

  I lie down in my bed and close my eyes. The

  same as per usual, every time I close my eyes,

  Tanya and the kids come into view. It’s like a

  picture of the three of them that I am staring

  at.

  I could never harm them.

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  Visitor

  The clunking of the locks turning brings me

  out of a deep sleep. I sit up fast and look to

  the open door.

  “You’ve got a visitor.” The orderly mumbles.

  I stand up off the bed and I walk out of the

  room down the corridor. As I am walking, I

  hear the stomps of the man behind me

  following me. I stop.

  “I’ve never had a visitor before, where do I

  go?”

  The orderly laughs and says: “Just keep

  walking down here and they will be the lunch

  hall on the left. You’ll see your visitor through

  the window before you go in.”

  I carry on past the resting area where we like

  to go just to watch TV. Then I see it, I look

  into the room through the window and see a

  blonde woman sitting in the room. She wears

  a purple coat and black blouse. Her blonde

  locks dangle down onto her shoulders. Her

  make-up is immaculate. I recognise her eyes

  first, surrounded by her black eye lashes.

  As I make eye contact with Sandra, I walk

  into the room and sit down opposite her.

  “Ryan, you look so good, have you been

  working out in here?” Sandra says to me,

  smiling.

  “What are you doing here Sandra?” I ask.

  Sandra sighs. “I needed to speak to you. It’s

  really important and I should have spoken to

  you before you were admitted.”

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  “What have you got to say? Hopefully a

  ‘sorry’ for using me.”

  “Ryan please just listen, this is so important,

  more important than our past.”

  “Okay well what is it then?”

  “Ryan, listen carefully, do not interrupt me

  and please believe me.”

  I nod and Sandra then leans in closer to my

  face.

  “I think that you have been used.”

  “I’ve been used?” I respond, confused.

  “Let me speak.” Sandra says and I nod again.

  “I think that you have been a victim in all of

  this. In some way you have been set up by a

  number of people. This Liam Graynnil and

  your split personality are completely made

  up.”

  “What?” I shout.

  The orderly says: “Are you two okay?”

  “Yes we’re fine.” Sandra snaps at him.

  “It might be time to end it.” He says.

  “No we’ve just sat down. Actually, can you

  stand outside the door please, what I’m about

  to tell him is really personal and difficult.”

  The orderly stays in position; his massive

  bulk blocks the doorway.

  “Please.” Sandra says, fluttering her eyelashes.

  “Yes okay. Just scream if he tries anything.”

  “Yes of course, thank you.” Sandra says.

  She watches him leave then continues to

  speak. “Ryan I don’t have time for this, I

  don’t have time for questions. You need to

  listen; this is hard for me and really puts me in

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  a difficult position. You need to listen to me

  and believe me okay?”

  “Yeah… okay.” I say and put my hands

  together.

  “Good. Ryan I know that you have been set

  up. You have been told to believe that you

  have a split personality disorder and believe

  that you are both Ryan Milligan and Liam

  Graynnil. I know who the person responsible

  is but they don’t know I know. They are in a

  group with a few other people who were in on

  setting you up. I don’t know names but I

  know one of the main men involved is Si.”

  Sandra pauses and takes a deep breath, staring

  at me, waiting for my reaction. “Simon is one

  of the people in on it Ryan, he’s part of this

  group and he’s one of the senior members

  and they call him Mr S I think.”

  “How did you find this out?” I whisper.

  “It was on Simon’s computer, there was an

  email to him from Andrew Myers calling

  Simon Mr S. I didn’t think anything of it, I

  thought it was an old email but then I looked

  at the date and it was only a few weeks after

  you were shot. There were so many emails

  between the two of them and another person,

  Don I think, but I can’t be sure.”

  “I was aware of the group Sandra but I

  thought they were hunting me down to kill

  me because they thought I killed Tanya and

  the kids.”

  “That’s what they wanted you to think,

  they’re the people setting you up for all of this

  don’t you understand? I haven’t asked Simon,

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  I looked through his texts and I followed him

  around instead. I should have told you, but I

  didn’t know what he was up to. I followed

  him early one morning; he got up earlier than

  he usually does for work. I watched him and

  he went over to Shola’s. He went around the

  back of the house a couple of mornings. I

  don’t really know why but I knew something

  wasn’t right.”

  “Why didn’t you ask him?”

  “I was scared Ryan, Simon has a hell of a

  temper on him which I’ve seen a lot of times.

  Of course Shola is dead but I’m sure the

  house explosion was something to do with

  Simon. I remember him getting up during the

  night. I thought he went to the toilet. I dozed

  off and next minute I heard an explosion but

  when I woke up, Simon was taking off his

  trousers and a jacket. I didn’t question him

  but I should have. But even more importantly

  Ryan, Andrew Myers is alive, he’s living on

  Mulberry Lane with Tanya and Sammy and

  Alex.”

  “He’s alive and living in my house?”

  “It’s not your house anymore Ryan, it was

  given to Tanya because she was your wife at

  the time. But now you’re divorced, she’s

  engaged to Andrew Myers and they own the

  house. That makes me think that Tanya was

  also in on all of this.”

  “I don’t think Tanya would do that to me,

  she wouldn’t put our kids through that.”

  “Ryan! She is not innocent in all of this, what

  did she tell you in the basement? Did she tell

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  you that you change in the night and when

  you do change, you’re horrible to her?”

  I do not reply and instead look down to the

  table.

  “I know she’s in on it Ryan. I found out that

  on Andrew Myers’ Will, she was the person

  who was left the house, she sold up and that’s

  when you bought it. And anyway she seemed

  too calm in court and she seemed happy you

  were sent down and admitted here. She just

  cut you out of her life and took away any

  chance you had to see your kids again.”

  I look at Sandra’s eyes, although she wears

  heavy makeup, the bags under her eyes show

  through. She looks as if she is stressed-out

  about this. She must have really thought about

  all of this to be able to piece it all together.

  “I think you may be right Sandy.” I sigh.

  “Thank you Ryan.” Sandra says, sounding

  relieved. “We need to prove this; you can’t

  stay in here any longer. You’re innocent.”

  “I might not be completely innocent Sandy,

  we don’t know if I don’t have a problem.”

  “You know when I went missing, what

  happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What happened, how did you find out I was

  missing and where were you?”

  I look at Sandra and she stares at me,

  awaiting the answer.

  “Well I woke up next to you completely

  naked in the woods.”

  “Did you see it was me?”

  “I didn’t look at your face, I just couldn’t.”

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  “That’s fine. I remember waking up in the

  woods completely naked also but the last

  thing I did remember was going out to the

  bins and as I turned, a man grabbed me and

  put a cloth over my face. I began to pass out

  and I saw Simon poking his head around the

  corner. Again, I didn’t tell him, but I made

  out I didn’t see him and I didn’t tell the

  police. But Ryan, if you can get out or talk to

  the police somehow, then I will help you. I

  will help you prove you’re innocent because I

  know you are. I don’t know why they did this

  to you but I know you’re the victim here.”

  “Thank you Sandy. It means a lot to me.” I

  say as my throat tightens and tears form.

  “You don’t need to thank me; we’ll get you

  out somehow.”

  “What if I escape?” I whisper to her.

  “Escape? How are you going to get out of

  here?”

  “Me and a couple of us in here want to get

  out, I hear them talking all the time about

  doing it, maybe we could try, you could help?”

  “I can’t help you get out, what good would I

  be?”

  “I wouldn’t make you do anything major, I

  would just ask you to leave a car outside for

  me.”

  “You’ve got to get out of here first.”

  “We’ve spoken about it before Sandy, I will

  get out. Can I have a phone number to call

  you on?”

  Sandra stares at me, sighs and shakes her

  head. “I do have a new mobile you can call

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  me on. Don’t pass it on to anybody at all. I’ve

  left Simon and I don’t want him to find me.”

  “You’ve left him?”

  “Do you really think I can stay with

  somebody like that?” She says as she writes

  her number on a piece of paper. “Here you

  go, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll help you

  darling. Good luck though.”

  “No Sandra please, please help me. Promise

  you’ll do this for me when I get out. I’ll call

  and tell you the time and day to leave the car

  out there.”

  “I need to go. You can call me on the

  number I gave you. I’m sorry for everything

  and I hope Simon, Tanya and Andrew all pay

  for what they’ve done to you.”

  “Thanks Sandy.” I say as I stand up.

  Sandy reaches for my hand and stands up

  with me.

  “Take care Ryan, don’t get into trouble; keep

  your head down.”

  “Thanks for speaking to me Sandy, you’ve

  helped so much. For your information, I’ve

  been working out in here, there’s nothing else

  to do.”