Marina checked her notes, stood up. Mickey looked at her. She was well-dressed as usual, made-up. But she looked drawn, haggard. Like she had been up all night. Mickey remembered how she and Phil had looked when they came into work the previous day. Together, but apart. He didn’t like to speculate on what was going on between the two of them. But he didn’t think it was anything good.
‘OK,’ she said, ‘I’ve now made a full analysis of the markings on both the cellar wall and the house opposite. I’ve cross-referenced them with every existing bit of data I could get my hands on and I think I can state, quite confidently, that they are calendars.’
She handed out photos of the wall markings.
‘At first I thought they might be influenced by the zodiac, but that’s not the case. They’re seasonal.’ She held the photo up, pointed to the relevant section. ‘See here? This is the summer solstice. And here? The autumnal equinox. And so on. The way it’s been positioned on the wall has the equinox at the top. If you look closely, you’ll see that it’s been painted over. Made to rotate. Whichever event is happening is always the uppermost one.’
‘When’s the autumnal equinox, then?’ asked Mickey.
‘Good question,’ said Marina. ‘Now. Today’s the last day of it. And based on what we’ve discovered so far about the boy and what he’s told us about his life – which isn’t much, to be honest – I think it’s safe to say that we’ve got a serial killer operating here.’
88
Glass looked sceptical. ‘Without wanting to bring any of your calculations and conclusions into doubt, Ms Esposito, because I’m sure they’re all perfectly valid, I have to ask, are you sure about this?’
‘Yes. I am. I wouldn’t make a statement such as that lightly.’
‘I’m sure you wouldn’t, but a serial killer… ’
‘I’ve dealt with them before… ’
Mickey saw her hesitate. He could tell why. She didn’t want to use Glass’s first name, too familiar. Nor did she want to use his rank. Too formal. She settled for not saying his name at all.
‘So I do believe I know what I’m talking about.’
‘What’s the evidence?’
‘Well, circumstantial, I’ll admit. But we found that child in a cage on the equinox. The cellar was prepared and dressed for the enactment of a ritual.’
‘We’ve had preliminary DNA back,’ said Adrian. ‘That was definitely blood on the workbench and the tools.’
‘Thank you,’ said Marina. ‘It was set for a ritual murder. And based on calculations made using the calendar on the wall, whoever does this does it at regular intervals. Four times a year. Multiply that by however many years he’s been doing it… ’ She shrugged. ‘Serial killer.’
‘And why would he do it?’ asked Glass. ‘What would he get out of it?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Marina. ‘This one seems a little hazy. Obviously the main reason is because he enjoys it. Whatever self-justification they use, however they dress it up, the bottom line is because it gives them a sexual thrill. But there’s something more to this one than that. The calendar, the tools… I think he believes he’s doing this for a reason. An important reason. Find that out and we’re well on the way to finding him.’
Glass nodded. ‘Good. Thank you.’
‘There’s something else,’ Marina said. ‘The window of opportunity. As I said, today is the last day of the autumn equinox. Finn, the boy, was abducted from the hospital last night. The killer wants this ritual to go ahead. We have to find where he is by midnight tonight to have any hope of seeing that boy alive again.’
Silence round the room.
‘He’ll have somewhere else,’ she continued. ‘Not the East Hill place, but somewhere like it. Find that and you find him. And hopefully the boy.’
‘Do we know where?’ asked Glass.
‘No,’ said Marina. ‘But I’m setting up a geographical profile. See what I can get from that.’
‘If he’s been killing all this time,’ asked Jane, ‘where are the bodies?’
‘Good question,’ said Marina.
‘We’ve had the radar out in the wasteland between the two houses,’ said Adrian. ‘Nothing yet, but they’re still trying. The bodies have to be somewhere.’
‘Thank you,’ said Glass.
Marina sat down. Mickey watched her. There was something she was holding back, he thought. Something she had kept to herself. He didn’t judge her for it, just wondered why. After all, he was doing the same thing himself.
‘Well, there we have it,’ said Glass. ‘That’s where we are at the moment. I want the boy to be our number-one priority. Find the car. Find him. Stop whoever this is from doing whatever it is he wants to do.’
Well put, thought Mickey, leaning back, arms folded.
‘I’ve put in a request for extra staff,’ Glass continued. ‘Hopefully they should be with us later today.’ He swept the room with his eyes once more, making sure he had made contact with everyone. ‘As most of you are probably aware, Detective Inspector Brennan is suspended from duty and will take no further part in this investigation. I realise that will come as something of a shock to you. But please believe me when I tell you I had no choice. He was insubordinate and his judgement just plain wrong. He could have put this investigation into severe jeopardy, and even worse, put your lives in danger. I’m afraid he left me with no choice.’
Glass sighed as he spoke, like he had just made the most difficult decision of his life. Mickey didn’t believe a word of it.
‘In the meantime, Detective Sergeant Philips will be running both investigations – and MIS – and reporting directly to me.’
Mickey looked up, unable to hide the surprise on his face.
‘Any questions?’
There weren’t.
‘Good.’ Glass stood up. ‘Everyone has a job to do. Let’s do it. And see if we can save that little boy’s life.’
The team stood up, started filing out. Glass stayed where he was.
‘Marina? Could I have a word, please?’
Marina nodded, turned to follow Glass.
Mickey didn’t know what that was about. But he doubted it was anything good.
89
‘Hey.’
Anni slowly opened her eyes, looked up. It took a long time for them to focus, but when they did, she managed a small smile.
Hi,’ she said, her eyes closing again.
Phil sat down on a bedside chair. Anni was in a private room in the General. Three quarters of one wall was given over to windows. It was tranquil, restful. Bright and airy. The opposite of Finn’s darkened room.
Phil had had trouble dressing to come out. His working clothes were far more casual than most people’s, so he could just have put them on. But if he did that, he would feel like a fraud for not going to work. So he had compromised. Jeans, Converses, jacket and T-shirt instead of collar and tie.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, his voice low, so as not to disturb her.
She opened her eyes once more. ‘Like I’ve been shot,’ she said, smiling again.
Phil returned the smile. ‘Does it hurt?’
‘Not much.’ Her speech was slurred. ‘Would be a lot worse if they hadn’t pumped me so full of morphine. Mmm… ’ Another dreamy smile, eyes closing once more.
