'Okay, I'll give you that, Julie. It's not the same m.o. at all.'
'And Woking is a long way from Bath.'
'That doesn't bother me,' he said.
Julie said, 'You're keeping something back, aren't you? Is she identified?'
'Not yet.'
'But you think you know?'
'An idea - that's all.'
She was there. It wasn't intuition or telepathy that made her say, 'The missing wife of that DCI? The ex-police sergeant. What was her name - Weather? Wasn't she found?'
Doubt flooded in. 'Was she?'
'I'm asking you,' Julie said.
He was mightily relieved. He'd built a mental case study of Mrs Weather's murder already. 'If she'd turned up, we'd have heard something, wouldn't we?'
'Maybe.'
'I'll check the Missing Persons Index.'
'What makes you think it's her?' she asked.
'Hang about, Julie. You put the idea in my head.'
She gave a quick, nervous laugh. 'Yes, I did.'
'And that was before this body turned up. Think about it. We know Mrs Weather went missing a week or so after Steph was shot. Early March. She'd have been wearing winter things.'
'Agreed.'
'You saw the computer item about her. Was there a description?'
'Nothing about clothes I can recall. There may have been something on her age and build. Hair colour. We can check again.' She paused before asking the key question. 'Why would anyone murder the wives of two policemen?'
'The wives of two detectives who worked out of Fulham nick in the early eighties,' he stressed.
She digested that for a moment. 'If it's true, it's going to transform the case.'
'Right - we can ditch all the cock-eyed theories and focus on this.'
'Where did Mrs Weather live?'
'Raynes Park, I was told by Louis Voss.'
'That's near Wimbledon, isn't it? How far from Woking?'
'Twenty miles, maximum,' Diamond said, sounding like Bobby Bowers. 'A hitman plots his route and goes where he needs to.' He hesitated. 'Julie, is this just one more theory, or have I struck gold?'
'I wouldn't go as far as that,'Julie said. 'But it deserves an airing. What's your next move?'
'That's my problem. Bowers is quick on the draw. It won't be long before he puts a name to his corpse. If she
'Against what?' said Julie. 'It's not so straightforward. They have some bones of a mature woman and some unremarkable clothes. No handbag, no rings.'
'Teeth.'
'That only helps if they can match them to a dental record.'
'They'll have a record for her.'
Still Julie doubted the efficiency of the system. 'They won't have her name - unless you suggest it. Remember there are different police services involved. I'll be surprised if anything is confirmed in the next twenty-four hours.' She paused. 'Is that what you wanted to hear?'
'If it buys me time, yes.'
'To outflank Curtis McGarvie?'Julie knew too well how he felt.
He said in his defence, 'It isn't personal. OK, I don't get on with the man, but I'm professional enough to put that aside. My confidence was shattered when he turned up on my doorstep with that search warrant. That was overkill, Julie. My worry is that when he gets this information, he'll cock up. The killer will get wise and head for the hills.'
'McGarvie is smarter than that.'
'I can't take the risk.'
She sounded sceptical when she asked, 'What can you do on your own?'
'If my gut feeling is right, and this body is Weather's wife, I'll know this goes back fifteen years, to my time in the Met. Some psycho out there has a major grudge against Stormy Weather and me. We need to compare notes.'
