‘I see.’
‘By the way, we haven’t made an official statement yet, confirming the body is that of the missing girl, not until after the postmortem. Anyhow, I need to be getting back, we’ve another briefing in half an hour – you know how these things go, by the time I get any sleep tonight, I’ll have at least three of them under my belt.’
‘Where’s the briefing?’
‘We’re working out of the Incident Room in Tallaght. The next meeting is a biggie. Everyone will be there. Do you remember Gunning from the Dunmore case?’
‘How could I forget?’
‘Well he’s mighty pissed off that the investigation has moved from his territory to mine.’
‘So he’s no longer involved?’
‘The chief wants him to stay in, but only to assist, along with some extra detectives from Harcourt Square, criminal bureau guys. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad of the extra support, but some of those DI’s are right elitist bastards.’
‘Not behaving, are they?’
‘They’ll do their job. I’ll make sure of it.’
‘I know you will.’
‘Just one other thing, Kate.’
‘Go on.’
‘Caroline, she was wearing a pair of small stud earrings.’
‘Like the ones in the school photograph?’
‘Yeah, the thing is, they’re missing.’
‘You’re thinking a memento, souvenir?’
‘They could be. But listen, Kate, I don’t need to spell out what I came here to ask you.’
‘Will he reoffend?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Hanley is sure the girl wasn’t killed where she was found?’
‘The site’s too clean, although we’re not ruling out the surrounding area. The tech guys are still there, and I’ve given instructions to move the search area out farther, but it’s a hell of a place to find anything. Chances are he brought the victim there, but he certainly found himself a nice secluded spot.’
‘We know he is organised, O’Connor, and specific in how he handled the body. He didn’t seem to panic in the terrain, and although he had no way of knowing that the victim would ever be found, putting her, as you say, in a nice secluded spot, there is no argument that a lot of care went into her burial. Your killer went to huge lengths for a body he didn’t want found. She meant something to him. If he is not connected with her directly, then chances are he might have chosen her. This doesn’t look random.’
‘So he could strike again?’
‘If he does, I doubt he’ll do it in a hurry.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘He is, as I said, particular, probably a man who likes to take his time. Something about this girl drew him to her. My guess is he didn’t reach his decision quickly.’
‘So we have time?’
‘I think so, but he didn’t arrive at this juncture overnight.’
‘I know that, Kate, but having time on our hands is exactly what I want to hear right now. I don’t need to tell you,’ he paused, ‘every parent, granny and bloody tabloid newspaper out there are all asking the same thing.’
‘What’s that?’
‘When the hell are we going to catch this fucker?’
St Michael’s Psychiatric Hospital,
Dr Samuel Ebbs’ office
SAMUEL HAD A LARGE NUMBER OF PATIENTS UNDER his care, all of whom needed different things. Ellie Brady might have been considered one of the least optimistic cases at St Michael’s, but after meeting with her the previous day, hers was certainly one of the cases that intrigued him most.