‘We have to tell her.’ Kelly looked in horror at the screen, on which was listed in precise detail what could only be Zoe Walker’s commute to work.
‘Is it definitely her?’ Lucinda asked. Kelly and Nick were leaning over the DI’s desk, his laptop open in front of them. The lights were off elsewhere in the large, open-plan space, and the yellow strip light above Nick’s desk was flickering slightly, as though the bulb were about to go. Lucinda was working at a neighbouring desk, painstakingly checking each image on the website against the London Gazette adverts.
‘The description matches, the date of the listing fits, and Hallow & Reed is where she works,’ Kelly said. ‘There’s no doubt it’s her. Should we tell her over the phone, or go and see her?’
‘Wait.’ Nick hadn’t said much when Kelly had explained how she’d worked out the password. He’d taken one look at her phone; the small screen showing now a change to the text above the white box.
Log in or create an account.
He had dispatched the rest of the team home, with strict instructions to return at 8 a.m. the following day for another briefing. ‘Tomorrow’s going to be a long day,’ he’d said grimly.
It had taken them just seconds to fire up Nick’s computer and access the website. Far longer to try and get through to Finance; a process that, out of hours, was so frustrating that Nick eventually slammed down the phone and took out his own credit card from his wallet.
‘We can’t let the media get hold of this,’ he said now, ‘it would cause a riot. That means keeping it from Zoe Walker for the time being.’
Kelly took a second to compose a more appropriate response than the one that threatened to burst from her lips. ‘Sir, she’s in danger. Surely we have a duty of care to warn her?’
‘At the moment the situation is contained. The person – or persons – responsible for this website doesn’t know the police are involved, which means we have a chance of identifying them. If we show this to Zoe Walker she’ll tell her family, her friends.’
‘So we ask her not to.’
‘It’s human nature, Kelly. She’ll want to make sure other women she knows are safe. Before we know it, the papers will pick up on it and there’ll be widespread panic. Our offender’ll go underground and we’ll never find him.’
Kelly didn’t trust herself to speak. Zoe Walker wasn’t cannon fodder.
‘We’ll see her tomorrow and suggest she changes her route to work,’ Nick said. ‘We can give her the standard advice for anyone concerned about their personal safety; mix it up a little, don’t be predictable. She doesn’t need to know any more than that.’ He closed the laptop, sending a clear message to Kelly that the conversation was over. ‘You two can head off now, if you like. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.’ Just as he finished talking, the bell for the outside door sounded. Kelly went to answer it.
‘It’ll be the Cyber Crime guy,’ Nick said. ‘Buzz him up.’
Andrew Robinson had black-rimmed glasses and a goatee beard trimmed to next to nothing. He wore a grey T-shirt and jeans beneath a khaki parka he took off and dropped on the floor next to his chair.
‘I appreciate you coming by,’ Nick said.
‘It’s no bother. We’re snowed under at the moment, so I wasn’t planning on going home any time soon. I’ve had a look at your website. Whoever owns the domain name has paid to opt out of the WHOIS directory – that’s like a telephone book for websites – so I’ve submitted a data protection waiver to obtain their name and address. In the meantime I’m working on identifying the site administrator via their IP address, although my guess is they’ll be using a proxy, so that’s not going to be straightforward.’
Despite understanding little of what Andrew was saying, Kelly would have liked to have stayed to listen, but Lucinda was already putting on her coat. Reluctantly, Kelly did the same. She wondered how late Nick would stay working on the case, and if he had anyone waiting for him at home.
They took the stairs down to the ground floor. Lucinda’s hair was as sleek and shiny as it had been first thing that morning, and Kelly felt suddenly conscious of the unkempt crop that stood on end every time she ran her fingers through her hair. Perhaps she should dig out some make-up. Lucinda didn’t seem to be wearing much, but a slick of lip gloss and defined brows gave her a groomed, professional look that Kelly definitely lacked.
‘Where are you heading?’ Lucinda asked, as they walked towards the Tube station. She was taller than Kelly by a good couple of inches, with long strides that made Kelly move rather more briskly than usual.
‘Elephant and Castle. I share a flat with two other BTP coppers and an A & E nurse. You?’
‘Kilburn.’