Carol grinned. ‘You look like you’re expecting Handy Andy,’ she said. When Tony said nothing, she added, ‘Sorry I’m a bit early. I did try ringing, but you were engaged.’
‘Sorry,’ Tony mumbled. ‘I must have accidentally left it off the hook from earlier. Come on in, it’s no problem.’ He found a smile from somewhere and led Carol into his study. As he reached his desk, he slid the phone back on the hook.
Carol registered that the phone’s engaged signal had been no accident. Deduction: he didn’t want to be disturbed, not even by the answering machine. Probably, like her, he couldn’t resist a ringing phone. She glanced at the sheets of paper sitting on the printer table. ‘You’ve obviously been busy,’ she said. ‘And there was me thinking you were taking your time answering the door because you’d gone for a quick zizz.’
‘Did you get some sleep?’ Tony asked, noting that she looked more clear-eyed than she had done earlier.
‘Four hours. Which is about ten too few. I’ve got a couple of bits of information for you, by the way.’ She filled him in succinctly on the results of her visit to Scargill Street, leaving out Cross’s hostility.
Tony listened carefully, making a couple of notes on his pad. ‘Interesting,’ he said. ‘I don’t think there’s a lot of point in pulling in the sex offenders again, though. If Handy Andy’s got form, it’s more likely to be juvenile offences, petty burglary, minor violence, that sort of thing. Still, I’ve been wrong before.’
‘Haven’t we all? By the way, I checked with the HOLMES room, and there’s no one there who knows anything about statistical pattern analysis, so I’ve asked my brother to see what he can do for us. Should I just give him a set of the photographs, or is there some other way of presenting the raw data?’
‘I suppose there’s less chance of a mistake if he works directly from the photographs,’ Tony said. ‘Thanks for sorting that out for me.’
‘No sweat,’ Carol said. ‘Secretly, I think he’s quite chuffed to be asked. He thinks I don’t take him seriously. You know, he writes games software, I do the real thing.’
‘And do you?’ Tony asked.
‘What? Take him seriously? You bet I do. I respect anybody that understands something as far beyond my grasp as computers. Besides, he earns about twice what I do. That has to be serious.’
‘I don’t know about that. Andrew Lloyd Webber probably earns more in a day than I do in a month, but I still don’t take him seriously.’ Toby stood up. ‘Carol, do you mind if I abandon you for ten minutes? I need a quick shower to wake me up.’
‘Fine, feel free. It’s me that’s early.’
‘Thanks. D’you want a brew while you’re waiting?’
Carol shook her head. ‘I’ll pass, thanks. It’s cold out there, and there aren’t many places a woman can have a pee in Temple Fields in the early hours.’
Almost shyly, Tony picked up the sheaf of a print-out and proffered it to Carol. ‘I’ve started the work on the victims. Maybe you’d like to take a look while I’m gone?’
Eagerly, Carol took the paper. ‘I’d love to. I’m fascinated by this whole process.’
‘This is just very preliminary,’ Tony stressed, backing towards the door. ‘I mean, I’ve not drawn any conclusions yet. I’m working on that.’
‘Relax, Tony, I’m on your side,’ Carol said as he left the room. She stared after him momentarily, wondering what it was that had unsettled him. By the time they parted in the afternoon, they had built up an easy camaraderie, she’d thought. But now, he was edgy, abstracted. Was it that he was tired, or was it that he was uncomfortable to have her sitting in his home? ‘God, does it matter?’ she muttered to herself. ‘Concentrate, Jordan. Pick the man’s brains.’ She focused on the first sheet and studied the data.
* BODY WASHING: No fragranced materials appear to have been used, suggesting that the offender is not using the washing process as a means of denial; rather, in line with the rest of his cautious behaviour, I suggest that this washing is intended to obliterate forensic clues, especially since the killer appears to have taken particular care with the fingernails. Scrapings on all four victims showed nothing except traces of unperfumed soap.
** LIGATURES: None were found on bodies, but postmortems reveal bruising consistent with handcuffs on wrists, slight traces of adhesive, missing hairs and bruising round ankles consonant both with parcel tape and with separate ligatures, and traces of adhesive on face around mouth. No traces of blindfolds.
A: Adam Scott. Dislocation of ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and several vertebrae. Consistent with being stretched on a rack. Tentative postmortem cuts to penis and testicles.
B: Paul Gibbs. Severe lacerations to rectum, virtual destruction of anal sphincter and partial disembowelment. Suggestive of spiked object repeatedly inserted via anus. Also some burnt tissue internally, suggesting the possibility of heat or electric shock. Face badly beaten before death; bruising, broken facial bones and teeth. Postmortem cuts to genitals, more pronounced than in A.
C: Gareth Finnegan. Irregular pierce wounds to hands and feet, ½″ diameter approx. Lacerations to left cheek and nose, suggestive of glass or bottle being broken across face by right-handed assailant. Shoulders dislocated.? Possible crucifixion? Postmortem wounds to genitals, virtually castrated.
D: Damien Connolly. Dislocations similar to A, but no major spinal trauma, ruling out the idea of a rack. Large number of small, star-shaped burns to torso. Penis severed postmortem and inserted in victim’s mouth.
Query: Were Damien Connolly’s handcuffs still in his home or police locker?
Query: Why are the bodies always dumped Monday night/Tuesday morning? What happens on Monday that allows him to be free? Does he work nights and have Monday off? Is he perhaps a married man who has Monday free because his wife does things with friends, e.g., girls’ night out? Or is it that Monday isn’t a traditional ‘going out’ night and he can be more sure of finding his victims at home?
Carol was aware that Tony had returned, but she carried on reading, simply raising one hand and waving her fingers to indicate she knew he was there. When she reached the end of the report, she took a deep breath and said, ‘Well, Dr Hill, you have been busy.’
Tony smiled and shrugged himself away from the door-jamb he’d been leaning against. ‘I can’t believe there’s anything in there that you didn’t already have filed neatly away in your head.’
‘No, but seeing it laid out like that somehow makes it clearer.’
Tony nodded. ‘He has a very specific type.’
‘Do you want to talk about it now?’
Tony looked down at the floor. ‘I’d rather leave most of it for now. I need to let it sink in, and I need to go through all the rest of the witness statements before I can think about a profile.’
Carol couldn’t help feeling disappointed. ‘I understand,’ was all she said.
Tony smiled. ‘Were you expecting more?’
‘Not really.’
His smile broadened. ‘Not even a smidgen?’
The smile was infectious. Carol grinned back. ‘Hoping, maybe. Expecting, no. By