‘Okay, I’ll be wild, get me an orange juice.’
While O’Connor went to the bar, Kate took both copies of her report out of her leather satchel. Despite everyone having less money in their pocket, the place was busy, with singletons and couples starting out on their Saturday night on the town. There was a good-humoured atmosphere that was a million miles from how Kate was feeling. She looked at the people around her, and everyone looked so free and unworried. She found herself thinking that they mustn’t have children – or lukewarm marriages, or any of the other concerns that seemed to be taking residence in her brain these days. She shook her head, pulling her mind back from self-pity. This was work time, that was all.
‘Right, Kate, I’m all ears.’
‘Just read through the report first.’
O’Connor took a gulp out of his large brandy, picking up his copy of the report and studying it. ‘You have him at thirty plus? But the guy at the swimming pool is probably older.’
‘I know, it’s just a guide. It doesn’t rule out the swimming pool guy, far from it.’
‘It also says that murder is not his main motivation?’
‘He’s looking for something, O’Connor. If he did court Caroline, he was looking for something from her and if it isn’t sexual or motivated by a desire to kill, then it has to be some kind of relationship. He likes to get close, to study the girls and get to know their movements before he makes his own. But murder isn’t his primary motive. It might have become necessary with Amelia, but only because things changed once you found Caroline. And that’s the other thing. The burials could have a two-fold reasoning for him. One to presumably protect himself, but based on their elaborate nature they could also be a form of protection for the victims too.’
‘A strange protection,’ O’Connor said. ‘You’ve listed burglary, why do you think that?’
‘He calculates risk. He abducted Caroline in broad daylight. If he did something like that, he has already tested the waters, developed confidence in breaking the law and probably getting away with it. With the snooping, it makes sense he’s watched people before, broken into places just for the thrill of it, that sort of thing. Anyhow, what I really wanted to talk to you about is that while there’s a lot in the report we’ve already covered, there are a couple of things I’ve purposely left out.’
‘Yeah? What and why?’
‘Well, I can only put things in the report that I can back up fully.’
‘Sure.’
‘What do you think of, O’Connor, when you look at the images?’
O’Connor placed her report on the table between them. ‘I think of a lot of things, but mostly that I want to get the bastard.’
‘But what do you see when you look at the girls, other than the horror, when you look at the positioning, how would you describe the way they are lying?’
O’Connor’s eyes narrowed as he thought about this. ‘They’re both in the foetal position, so I suppose they remind me of babies.’
‘Yes, but what else?’
‘The fingers are joined, and I see in your report you think they are in prayer.’
‘Don’t you?’
‘Probably. Could be.’ He sighed. ‘Nolan really hates that religious stuff.’
‘So what else? What words would you use to describe how they look?’
‘Asleep? Innocent?’
‘I agree. I don’t know why, but he is crafting them, O’Connor, trying to create or recreate an image.’
‘Meaning, he has history?’
‘We all have history, but everything about these crime scenes feels staged. Do you know what I thought of earlier when I looked at both girls?’
‘Enlighten me,’ he said with a touch of weariness, beginning to tire of the question-and-answer game.
‘I thought that they both looked like angels. Don’t look so sceptical, O’Connor.’
‘Well, I don’t know, Kate, it’s a big ask. I mean, bloody angels?’
‘That’s why I didn’t include it in the report,’ Kate said, shooting him a meaningful glance. ‘Look, all I’m saying is that we don’t know for sure what this guy sees when he looks at them, but he sees something. And that’s not the only thing I’ve left out.’
‘Go on, I’m listening.’
‘It’s the crucifix.’
‘The one Caroline Devine was wearing?’
‘Yeah, you see it’s been bothering me all along. Our man is neat, organised, almost takes pride in how he buries the girls. The crucifix is an iconic symbol, so if he left it there, he must have been happy to do so.’
‘But Amelia didn’t have one.’
‘Exactly. That was why its significance initially seemed less crucial. Do you remember when I said we have to look at the murder and then the burial of Caroline Devine as two different things – one frenzied, the other calm, planned and careful?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, the same goes for how we look at the two girls. There are the similarities, but there are also differences.’