Unfortunately, I had no idea how to hack my way into someone’s social media account.
‘Amanda?’ Alice’s voice floated through the air.
I got up and wandered around to Tempest’s office on the other side of the wall to mine.
Jagjit and Alice were sitting shoulder to shoulder, both transfixed by whatever was on the screen to their front.
‘Found something?’ I asked hopefully.
Their eyes never left the screen. ‘Maybe,’ Alice murmured. ‘A clue, perhaps.’ I was all ears. ‘Jane recorded that the Sandman was able to get into Karen’s home despite it being locked. There was no damage done so he had to have a key, right?’
It was a logical conclusion, and I didn’t wish to derail her train of thought so I said, ‘Could be a relative?’
She tore her eyes away from the screen to look at me. ‘That was my immediate thought, but if we believe him to be responsible for killing dozens of women, he cannot be a relative to all of them. Who else do people give keys to?’
I saw it instantly. ‘Neighbours.’
Alice continued. ‘I bet Karen had someone she was friendly with. Someone must have had a key, but even if she didn’t give them one, it could have been the previous owners who gave a key away. How many people change the locks when they move in?’
Her argument was logical, but I could see a major flaw. ‘You said the Sandman couldn’t be a relative to all his victims. Surely, he wasn’t a neighbour to them all either.’
Seeing my point, she grimaced. ‘I should have thought of that.’
Not to discourage her, I said, ‘This is good. We are spit balling different ideas. One of them will pay off and lead us to the next logical step. Maybe there is something in this after all. I’m going to speak with Tempest and see if he wants to do a drive by Karen’s house. He can speak to the neighbours and see what he digs up. One of them might have a forwarding address for her mail.’
Alice turned her attention back to the computer screen. ‘Wish him luck from me.’
Luck. We were going to need it.
Big Ben. Inside Grandma’s House. Friday, December 23rd 1653hrs
Coming into Jane’s gran’s house, I let the old lady know our names. ‘I’m Benjamin. I work with Jane and the others sometimes when they want a hand with something. This is James,’ I indicated Basic and gave her his real name rather than confuse things with an explanation.
Basic said, ‘Hullo, Jane’s gran.’
Granny frowned as if deep in thought and wriggled her top dentures from left to right. ‘That would make you Big Ben and Basic, yes?’
Surprised, I could only nod and chuckle. ‘Guilty,’ I admitted.
‘Jane talks about her work a lot,’ granny explained. ‘She says you’re a bit of a dick.’
A snort of laughter escaped me. ‘Guilty,’ I said again.
Now inside the small living room, I could see why I hadn’t been able to break down the door. Either side of the door frame were two steel brackets. Mounted to the wall, they were a U shape. Their appearance and purpose might have been confusing were it not for the large oak beam leaning against the wall.
‘Can you give me a hand to get this back in place, dearies?’ asked Jane’s gran. ‘It’s ever so heavy.’
It wasn’t. I picked it up with one hand, but though I didn’t struggle to lift it, I had to acknowledge that it was solid. I slotted it back into place where it formed a barrier behind the door. Held in place by the brackets, no one was ever getting into the house without a battering ram.
I felt a little better about failing to even make the door rattle when I kicked it.
‘Did Jane fit this?’ I asked, examining the brackets. There were tiny traces of brick dust on the carpet where the vacuum cleaner had failed to get them, a sure indication that someone had been drilling holes recently.
Gran nodded. ‘There’s another one on the back door. Jane said we needed a countermeasure because the Sandman was able to open doors even when they were locked. Is he magic?’ she asked.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Magic? No, I don’t think so. A locksmith maybe, but not magic.’
A locksmith?
I’d said it as a throwaway comment, but now I found myself questioning if maybe that thought held some merit. How many of the victims reported no damage to their locks and doors when they were visited? I had no idea what the answer to that might be, but my impression was that we didn’t know much about the other victims at all. What I did know, from a chance conversation with Tempest, was that the victim who came to us reported her doors were locked when she was visited.
‘When did you last hear from Jane?’ I asked, as Jane’s gran led us deeper into the house. The building had oak beams running along the ceiling, and built several centuries ago, it was not intended to accommodate people of my height. Even standing between the beams, I had to tilt my head to the side to make it fit.
Gran shuffled through a door and past the foot of the stairs to access the back of the house. There would be a small kitchen and dining room there.
She called over her shoulder. ‘I was just making a cup of tea, boys. Would you like one?’
I could think of no reason not to. ‘That sounds lovely. We really need to know about
