Big Ben shrugged. ‘So all she needs to do is fish out the ol’ meat and two veg and Robert is your father’s brother.’
It had crossed my mind that discovering Jane to really be a man dressed as a woman might ruin the Sandman’s plans. However, I doubted the killer’s first reaction would be to shake Jane’s hand and let her go.
When I expressed that, Big Ben asked, ‘You have a plan though, right?’
‘Not a plan, exactly. I have a list of things to do and the fervent hope we can work out something from Jane’s notes and what we already know. Which isn’t a lot,’ I added.
‘We need to check on Jane’s grandmother,’ said Amanda, writing Grandmother on the whiteboard in big letters.
Big Ben started for the back of the office and the car park beyond. ‘Text me an address, I’ll see what the old lady knows.’
‘Take Basic with you,’ I called out. ‘He’ll be bored here.’ Basic jogged to catch up.
Big Ben didn’t break his stride. ‘Sure thing.’
‘And see if Jane’s car is there,’ I yelled just as the door swung shut.
Big Ben’s hand came back through the gap, a thumbs up gesture showing me that he heard.
Then he was gone.
Crossing to the board, I picked up a spare pen to write Jane’s car in big letters. If we could find it, the location it was in might give us a clue about where she had been taken. Or it might tell us nothing and lead us after a red herring. We wouldn’t know until we found it.
Blowing out a breath to steady myself, I was just about to start discussing tasks when someone knocked on the office front door.
Peering to see who it was, I spotted Alice and Jagjit outside looking in.
‘I’ll get it,’ volunteered Hilary, no doubt feeling like a fifth wheel. Our friends came in, adding two more to our number. How many we might need could be debated forever, but I wanted more yet and their arrival had prompted me to consider someone else.
‘Does anyone have the number for Jane’s boyfriend?’ I asked.
Jagjit and Alice knew Jane was missing, presumed kidnapped, because Amanda told them as much on the phone. However, they were in the dark about the Sandman, as was Hilary. I would fill them in as best I could as we went along.
Alice frowned. ‘I thought Jane broke up with her boyfriend?’ she questioned.
‘Jane started dating a cop,’ I let her know. ‘She met him when we were all in France with the Yeti.’
That appeared to satisfy her thirst for knowledge but if she wanted to know more, Amanda cut her off. ‘I know Jan. I’ll call one of the girls at the station and get his number.’
‘Jan and Jane?’ questioned Jagjit. ‘That must get confusing.’ Putting the matter to one side, he asked the same question Big Ben posed, ‘What can we do?’
It was reassuring to have so many good people I could call on at such short notice. Between us, we were going to sift the clues and find Jane. If only I felt as confident as the voice in my head sounded.
Mentioning Jan reminded me to send Quinn Jane’s file. Yes, it felt like I was aiding my enemy in a way. The information sharing would never be reciprocated, yet I told myself the chief inspector was not my enemy, he was a tool to be used. My goal was to get Jane back and capture the Sandman. To do that, I should employ every tool I could access.
I sent the email, with almost no text. Just the attached file, and a simple instruction: Read the file, catch a serial killer.
Amanda ended a swift phone call, pulled the phone away from her ear, and focused on the device in her hands still, she said, ‘I’ve got his number. I’ll call it now.’
We waited silently, listening to see if her call went through. Quinn might not be on our side but having a serving officer to assist us would be a big boost if Amanda could contact Jan.
She showed us a frustrated face. ‘No answer. I’ll leave a voicemail and send him a text.’ When that was done, she suggested, ‘How about Alice, Jagjit, and I go through Jane’s notes in my office.’ Looking at me she said, ‘You and Hilary can work on the same notes out here and we see what we come up with. I haven’t looked at her file on the Sandman yet, but since it’s Jane it is bound to be extensive. It’s going to take all of us to go through it if we want to do it fast.’
Fast was necessary.
We broke into two groups, each heading in a different direction. The coffee machine pinged to let me know it was ready for use, but it got ignored as I slotted into the chair at the reception desk.
Finding the right file was easy enough; we all obeyed a file naming system to make it easy for each other and they all sat on a central server. The file was huge, just as Amanda predicted. It contained photographs, maps, newspaper articles, and statements from relatives. How Jane found all the information was testament to her ability as a researcher.
Plus, she was invested in identifying the person behind the mystery – he was threatening her life too.
‘How long have we got?’ Hilary asked nervously.
I huffed out a hard breath through my nose. ‘I don’t know. Not long probably. My guess is that once he takes his victims, the Sandman kills them the same night, but talking to Jane about it, he messes with them for days or weeks before he gets to the point where he performs the kidnap.’
Hilary sounded incredulous when he asked, ‘Why?’
I could only shrug. ‘Why
