‘Well, when I say know, I mean cyber-know. He’s a security expert. He’s approached me a couple of times about software apps. We’ve chatted online. He’s very good.’ She looked worried. ‘Is he our suspect?’
‘Is that a problem for you?’
Stacey shook her head but still looked troubled. ‘It’s not a problem in the sense of a conflict of interest. He’s not a friend, he’s not someone I have a business relationship with . . . It’s just that, if he doesn’t want to be found, it’ll be hard to find him.’
‘Great. That’s all I need,’ Carol groaned.
Stacey’s face cleared. ‘I’ll consider it a personal challenge. The one thing I have going for me is that he doesn’t know me as a cop. He thinks I’m just another geek. If he thought he was going up against me, he’d be taking every precaution he could think of, but if he thinks he’s just dealing with standard plod, he might be a bit careless. I’ll get right on to it. But there’s something else I wanted to run past you.’
It was always worth paying attention when Stacey took the time to talk. ‘I’m listening.’
‘I’ve been doing some tinkering,’ she said. ‘The codes that the RigMarole people very kindly handed over have let me in the back door of their system. It would be quite easy for me to set up a global C&A on Rig.’
‘Can you translate that?’ Carol said. ‘I thought C&A was a chain of European department stores.’
‘Capture and analyse. You tell the server to look for a particular combination of keystrokes and then set up elimination criteria. I could set it up to deliver me anyone whose username is a double letter. Then we could manually look at what they’re saying. We might be able to identify the next targets that way and stake them out. Then we’d be able to catch the killer in the act.’
Carol looked dubious. ‘Could that really work?’
‘The computer end of it is perfectly feasible. I can’t speak for what will happen once you go live into the field with it. It’s a lot of work. But I think it’s worth trying.’
Carol thought for a moment then made her decision. ‘OK. Do it. But Warren Davy is a priority. If you can ping his mobile and locate him that way, that would be a huge bonus.’
‘Abracadabra,’ Stacey said as she left. Carol could have sworn there was irony there.
CHAPTER 37
Alvin Ambrose was late. Paula had been detailed to meet him and bring him up to speed, but he’d just called to say he had a flat tyre and would be another forty minutes at least. She’d got his message in the car park at Bradfield Cross, just as she and Carol were heading back from a frustrating meeting with the consultant in charge of fertility services. ‘I’m going to talk to Blake,’ Carol said. ‘I need him to authorise the surveillance if Stacey comes up with a potential victim. Why don’t you grab something to eat before you meet up with DS Ambrose? The way things are going today, it might be your last chance.’
Paula knew how to make that an even better idea. She texted Elinor’s pager: In Strbks. Lattes r on me. She wasn’t holding her breath, but it would be more fun if she didn’t have to eat alone. She bought two coffees and a panini and sat by the window. Back to the hospital, though. She didn’t want to look pitifully eager.
Eleven minutes later - not that she was counting - Elinor appeared in a flurry of white coat and black jeans. ‘I’ve only got twenty minutes,’ she said, leaning down to give Paula a warm kiss on the cheek.
‘I’ve not got much more than that myself.’ She pushed one of the lattes towards Elinor. ‘I didn’t know if you wanted anything to eat.’
‘I’m OK. How’s your day been?’
‘Up and down. I was in the office till four, then back at seven. Your brainwave with the DNA has really given us a new angle. Thanks.’ She grinned. ‘Even if I did get the piss taken out of me mercilessly.’
‘Just as well Stacey was there to alibi us,’ Elinor said drily.
‘In spite of the piss-taking, I did get to be the star of the morning briefing. Which was nice, because it’s been downhill since then.’ She told Elinor about her encounter with Mike Morrison.
‘I can’t imagine how distraught he must be,’ Elinor said. ‘How do you climb back from losing your son like that, then your wife too?’
Paula sighed. ‘It’s amazing what you can recover from.’
Elinor gave her a shrewd look. ‘You can tell me about it one of these days.’
Paula smiled. ‘It’s a pity not all doctors are as accommodating as you.’
‘Meaning what?’ Elinor stirred her coffee and gave Paula a speculative look.
Paula chuckled. ‘Not like that. We’ve just had an exasperating encounter with your Mrs Levinson.’
Elinor made a face of horror. ‘Not
‘I think that only explains part of why she was so unhelpful, ‘ Paula said. ‘I do actually think in this case she does have the law on her side.’
‘What were you after?’
‘Well, we established that all four of our victims are blood relatives. Half-siblings, probably. In three cases, the mothers were inseminated here at Bradfield Cross. We wanted to know how we could find out who the donor was.’
Elinor pursed her mouth into an O and drew her breath in sharply. ‘You guys have no fear, do you?’
