He turned to her. ‘Too right she is. But if she can put together a good photofit, it could be the best lead we have to date. There is only so far we can push her, but I’ve a feeling it won’t be the last tête-à-tête we’ll be having with young Jessica. I’m going to assign a female officer to stay inside the house as extra security. It might spook the family even more, but that mightn’t be a bad thing. If there are more answers to be had, we might as well shake them out of her sooner rather than later. What do you think about what she said, about the guy?’
‘If it is him,’ Kate said thoughtfully, ‘he came across as calm, relaxed enough with Caroline not to worry Jessica unduly, even if he did, as she says, give her the creeps. Caroline was a quiet girl, sensitive, wouldn’t have created a scene, happy to be polite. If he is our guy and he is the one who gave her the book, he would have spent some time watching her, testing her with brief interactions before he made his move. He wouldn’t have been just grooming her, he would have been courting her as well.’
‘Go on.’
‘My guess is he watched Caroline, followed her home, studied her. Whatever about Amelia, I don’t think his plan was to kill Caroline. I think she was special to him in some way. The burials, the killings of Amelia and Caroline are at odds. There would have been a lot of blood caused by the blows to Caroline’s head. After the second hit, the place would have looked like an abattoir. Far too messy. He’s a planner, he wouldn’t have meant things to turn out the way they did. You only have to look at Amelia’s killing for that. If he wanted someone dead, he would plan it to be neat and controlled. The blows to Caroline’s head were frenzied, which means more than likely he reacted to things not going his way. If he is the guy at the swimming pool, then what he wanted from Caroline was some form of relationship, a closeness of sorts.’
‘But not necessarily sexual, right?’
‘No. He might be naturally drawn towards younger females, even children. Jessica did say she remembers him talking to other children, so perhaps he doesn’t find adult relationships easy to form and is emotionally attracted to or stuck within a particular type. He could be isolated, a loner, damaged – and if he is, he probably has been so for some time.’
‘So why act now? That’s what I keep asking myself.’
‘Damage never remains stagnant, O’Connor, it’s a bit like an addiction, and the fallout increases over time. He may have been happy for a while, indulging his fantasy, developing what he perceived to be a close relationship with Caroline, but then something must have acted as a trigger. It wouldn’t necessarily take a lot to make him cross the line, maybe a need to know more or wanting a bigger reaction from her, or even a specific reaction. The trouble is, we know it didn’t end there. Caroline didn’t work out, so she ended up dead, and now Amelia, sadly the same.’ She looked at O’Connor, wondering how he’d react to her next sentence, ‘The thing about him, though, is that he will look for his fulfilment elsewhere. He won’t stop. For him, the challenge is working out the best candidate, and the best time to make his move. That’s probably what he loves most of all – when he’s caught up in all that planning and potential.’
O’Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes. ‘Christ, I already feel I’ve been on this case too long.’ He looked at Kate. ‘So I’m up against a guy who’s already choosing number three?’
Kate shrugged. ‘I think so. So what’s next, O’Connor?’
He looked at his watch. ‘I’ll get on to Morrison now, and about two million other people I need to check in with. The next meeting in the Incident Room is scheduled for 5.15, and Nolan will be looking for concrete progress. Fuck!’
‘I’ll start working on my report as soon as I get back home.’ She smiled back at him, despite knowing it wouldn’t change his mood. ‘I’ll need you to send over the images from both burials. Can you do that quickly?’
‘Will do.’
‘Thanks for the lift.’
‘Anytime, Kate. You all right now?’
She stopped, her hand on the door handle. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Earlier today, after that thing with Innes, you seemed a little shook up. I don’t want to pry, but—’
‘I’m okay, just a couple of things on my mind.’
‘Well, you know where I am if you need me. We’re not strangers.’
‘Yeah, me and the two million other people,’ she said, smiling at him again. ‘Thanks for the offer, though.’
Kate got out of his car and walked over to her own. It was time to go home, to Charlie and Declan.
Ellie