‘No. And this way I get to see where you work.’
Ten minutes later, they were stepping out of the lift on the third floor of Bradfield Police HQ. The night duty officer hadn’t batted an eyelid when Paula signed Elinor in. It made her wonder just how many of her colleagues used the office for their out-of-hours trysts. ‘We’re down here,’ she said, leading the way but not letting go of Elinor’s hand.
There was a light on in one corner of the office, a desk lamp augmented by the eerie light of Stacey’s monitors. ‘Stacey? Are you still here?’ Paula called in surprise.
‘I’m working that Central Station CCTV footage,’ Stacey replied. ‘You shouldn’t kiss your girlfriend in the lift, it’s on the internal cameras.’
‘Oh shit,’ Paula said. ‘It’ll be all over the intranet tomorrow.’
‘No, it won’t,’ Stacey said absently. ‘I’ve already wiped it.’ She stood up, her head barely appearing over the screens. ‘I’m Stacey,’ she said. ‘It’s nice to see Paula getting a life. That’ll make three of us.’
Paula couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard Stacey make such a long speech that wasn’t about ICT. ‘This is Elinor,’ she said.
‘I remember you from the Robbie Bishop investigation,’ Stacey said. ‘You’re the one who spotted the poisons. Very impressive.’
Paula was gobsmacked by this exchange. Did Elinor have this effect on everyone?
‘Thanks,’ Elinor said. She was wandering round the room, checking out the whiteboards, getting the feel of the place. ‘This place has a good vibe. Very grounded.’
Paula laughed. ‘You wouldn’t say that if you were here at nine in the morning.’
Stacey had sat down again behind her screens. ‘Since you’re here, Paula, come and have a look at this. I’ve been working on it for a bit, I think I’ve got something.’
Paula looked at Elinor, checking whether this was OK. Elinor smiled and waved her away with her hand. ‘On you go,’ she said. ‘I’m fine.’
Stacey blanked four of her screens, leaving two live. ‘This one here is the enhanced footage. See, the time here: four thirty-three. Plenty of time for Seth to have got here from school.’ She clicked her mouse and one of the figures moving through the station entrance was highlighted. The others faded into grey background. Another click and everything about the image sharpened and clarified. ‘I think this is Seth.’
‘I think you’re right. Kathy showed me some video of him this afternoon. I’d say that’s definitely him. So where does he go?’
More mouse clicks. Stacey had stitched together shots from several cameras that showed Seth moving across the concourse. He passed the Costa Coffee outlet and then disappeared. ‘Where did he go?’ Paula asked.
‘There’s a blind spot between Costa Coffee and Simply Food. There’s a passage that leads to the car park. I think he met someone and they left together.’
Paula groaned. ‘That is the shittiest luck.’
‘You think?’
‘Well, what else?’
‘Somebody who knows exactly where the cameras are and what they cover.’
A long silence. Then Paula said, ‘That’s a very interesting idea.’
‘I know. The nice thing is that he’s not quite as clever as he thinks he is.’ Stacey tapped some keys and the other monitor sprang into life. A fragment of monochrome video played for a few seconds. Stacey paused it and clicked the mouse. A figure that might have been Seth leapt into relief. ‘I think that’s Seth again.’
‘Could be.’
‘It’s the right area and the right time. OK, it could be practically anybody. But for the sake of argument and right time and right place, let’s say it is Seth. Now look at this.’ Another tap on the mouse button. A second figure was highlighted. Only half of him was visible because he was cut off by the Simply Food storefront. And the shot was from behind him so nothing of his face could be seen. But he definitely had his hand on the might-have-been- Seth’s arm.
‘That’s him,’ Paula said, the heat of the chase suddenly in her head.
‘For all the good it does us. We can probably tell his height and that he has collar-length dark hair, which might be a wig. But that’s all.’
‘Have you looked for him on the rest of the footage?’
Stacey sighed. ‘I know you all think I can do magic, but there are limits to my powers. This is needle-in-a- haystack time. I’ve had a try, but there are just too many possibilities.’
‘Still, at least we can put out an appeal. We can be very specific about where and when. We might get something to go on.’ Paula put an arm round Stacey and hugged her. ‘You are truly brilliant.’ She looked over at Elinor, who was browsing some papers on Kevin’s desk. ‘This woman is a genius.’
‘Someone has to be. It’s always good when they’re on your team. Well done, Stacey.’ Elinor seemed distracted and looked up, a thin frown line between her eyebrows. ‘Is there a reason why you haven’t released the fact that the victims are related?’
For a moment, Paula couldn’t make sense of what Elinor had said. ‘Well, we know the cases are related because of the MO. We’ve said we believe it’s the work of the same killer.’
Elinor shook her head impatiently. ‘No, I don’t mean that. I mean literally related. As in, relatives.’
‘What are you talking about? They’re not related. Why do you say that?’
