“You there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” He cleared his throat. “Thanks, Liz. I appreciate the call.”
“You’re welcome. I’m off home. I won’t be doing the post-mortem until Friday, but at least you know it’s her. That should help you get the ball rolling.”
“Thanks again.”
Rob stared at the wall for a long time as he tried to make sense of the discovery. Until this moment, there’d been a chance it wasn’t Arina. That it was another little girl, from another time and place. Nothing to do with their investigation.
Now, his thoughts came fast and furious. Was this the same person who’d abducted Katie? Did it mean Katie was dead too? Would they find her body when they searched the nature reserve? What about the other girls? What about the open spaces and commons near to where they were last seen?
Suddenly there was much to do.
He thought about Tessa Parvin and the abject terror on her face when she’d come flying out of the woods. She’d known. She’d always known.
The Shepherd watched as they pulled his little angel from the sacred ground and carried her to the van.
How dare they disturb her final resting place!
She’d been safe there, under the canopy of trees. Away from the people who’d hurt her. Sleeping peacefully for an eternity. Yet that eternity had been cut short.
Now she was just a pile of bones being taken to a lab to be analysed, probed and prodded.
Such ignorance.
His darling little angel. He recalled watching her pale face as her eyes fluttered closed and she stopped breathing. At peace at last.
He remembered the smell of her hair, freshly washed. Thick and luxurious. And how it felt as it slipped through his fingers. He never knew anything could be so soft.
“Darling Arina,” he muttered. “What have they done to you?”
The shroud he’d used to cover her delicate, damaged body was gone, probably torn to shreds by now. Her skin and flesh wasted away to nothing.
A high-pitched screech only meters away made him jump. Then a woman came hurtling out of the trees. Once his heart rate had returned to normal, he recognised her. She was the girl’s mother.
Stupid bitch.
It was all her fault. She was just like the others, a neglectful, selfish parent. If she’d performed her maternal duty, her daughter wouldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t have had to die.
He blinked as a tall man in dark jeans and a casual shirt caught the hysterical, sobbing woman.
Who was he?
Was this the detective in charge? The Senior Investigating Officer?
He strained his eyes. The man looked uncomfortable, unsure of himself. He didn't know how to handle the hysterical woman in his arms.
Fool.
Most men were useless when it came to emotion, but not him. He felt their pain. He felt it so acutely it took his breath away.
So, this was the man who was going to try and track him down. The Shepherd knew how these things worked. He also knew how incompetent the police were.
If they’d done their job properly, he wouldn’t have to do what he did.
He watched as Arina’s remains were loaded into the van and driven away. Tears welled up in his eyes and it was a few moments before he could see clearly again.
Then, he turned and melted into the shadows of the trees.
29
Rob addressed the team. “DNA has confirmed it was Arina Parvin’s body discovered at Bisley Common yesterday.”
The news had filtered down and even though it was early, everyone was amped and eager to get to work. The air in the squad room pulsed with energy.
Mallory stood beside him in a smart suit. He’d wheeled out the whiteboard from Incident Room 2, which contained photographs and essential information on the other four female victims.
“There’s a hell of a lot to get through,” said Rob. “So we’re going to work in our designated teams. My team will dig into the people involved in Katie’s life, particularly the men. I know we’ve looked at the list her mother provided, but we have to go deeper. I’m convinced this wasn’t a random attack. The kidnapper must have met Katie at some point. He would have watched her, stalked her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”
He turned to Jenny who was hanging onto his every word. “Jenny, go and see Lisa Wells. Make a list of everyone who visited the house in the last few months, no matter how obscure. Take Celeste with you. We’re missing something.”
“Yes, guv.”
“Jeff, you and Mike coordinate the second search of the nature reserve, Barnes Common and the wetlands. Bring in the cadaver dogs. I think we have to consider that she could be buried somewhere in the local area.”
Both constables nodded, only too pleased to be taken off the CCTV work.
This was going to be expensive, but they were working six different cases. Seven, if you counted Jo’s sister, Rachel.
“Will, I need you on the Arina Parvin investigation. Follow up on old witness statements, talk to her friends, and see if you can track down that white van. It could belong to our killer. There must be other footage of it in the area.”
“I’m already searching the ANPR database,” he said.
“Good. I have a feeling that’s going to be key.”
Rob nodded at Mallory to take over the briefing.
The DI cleared his throat.
“My team looked into the disappearances of Rosie Hutton, Elise Mitcham, Chrissy Macdonald and Angie Nolan. We divided the victims between us and familiarised ourselves with their cases, all of which are still open.”
“Talk us through them,” said Rob. It was important they shared information in case there were any crossovers. It would all be marked on the database, however, he was a firm believer in open channels of communication.
“Rose Hutton was twelve years old and lived in Cheam, near Sutton. She was abducted on her way home from an ice
