‘That’s the second thing that’s worrying me,’ said Laura. ‘This theory you have. You know, the subversive online subculture business? I haven’t been able to find any of it. And I’ve been looking hard. I’ve been on every Cambridge-based site there is, weeping and wailing and gnashing my teeth, pretending to be depressed and anxious and suicidal. All I’ve had back is sympathy. The online community around here is actually pretty supportive.’
Evi waited. She hadn’t the heart to argue and, besides, Laura was only coming to the same conclusion she had herself.
‘So, my inclination at the moment is to say that if these suicides are linked in some way, it’s not necessarily the case that they’re being goaded into it by some sort of suicidal group-think.’
Evi felt her eyebrows lifting.
‘I’ve spent a week attending psychology lectures,’ Laura said. ‘The odd technical term was going to rub off.’
Fair point. Group-think referred to the phenomenon of people being induced, through the influence of those around them, into behaviour that they wouldn’t normally contemplate. ‘So, I’m wrong,’ Evi said. ‘I always knew that was a possibility. I’m still grateful to you for looking into it.’
‘Oh, I’m not done yet,’ said Laura. ‘I think what we’ve got here could be much worse.’
Outside, a squirrel ran across the lawn, stopping to examine some fallen beech leaves. The dog jumped to its feet and trotted over to the window.
‘Worse than goading people into taking their own lives?’ said Evi.
Laura had been watching the squirrel too. She glanced back. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘These chat rooms and websites all operate at a distance. That’s why it’s always so difficult to prove any sort of crime has taken place. The victims and the perpetrators never meet. There’s no hard physical evidence.’
Evi waited.
‘Here, though, there’s a lot of physical stuff going on. Your stalker, for one.’
‘Which could be completely unconnected,’ said Evi.
‘Yep, could be coincidence. Then there are the rapes you told me about. Five of them.’
‘By person or persons unknown, with absolutely no proof in any case and just five over five years,’ Evi reminded her.
‘Then you have the disappearances,’ said Laura.
‘The what?’
‘Nicole Holt disappeared for several days shortly before her death. I spoke to friends at her college. She came back seriously under the influence of something, claiming to have no recollection of where she’d been or what had happened to her. Her bozo college friends didn’t get her checked out so we have no proof. But now another student’s disappeared. Did you know that?’
At the window, the dog was whining at the squirrel. The hackles on the back of its neck were erect. Evi shook her head.
‘Jessica someone. A few of the websites refer to it. And Facebook. Her friends are getting worried. And Nicole wasn’t alone when she died. I examined the scene. A bit more thoroughly than the local CID did because I found tyre tracks that couldn’t have been Nicole’s. I think there was another car there.’
Evi put her mug down on the table. ‘Laura, you’re going too fast. Jessica who?’
‘Sorry, they didn’t mention a second name. Why?’
Evi thought for a moment then shook her head. ‘Probably nothing,’ she said. ‘Anything else?’
‘Five years ago a woman tried to hang herself and was filmed in the process. The footage ended up on YouTube with nearly a million hits before it was taken off. This stuff isn’t happening by itself, Evi. Someone is orchestrating it.’
FOR SEVERAL SECONDS Evi didn’t speak. An expression crossed her face that made me think she was going to ask me to leave, to say that it was all too much for her to deal with. God knows I had been a bit full on. But four days in this place and I knew I couldn’t be a disinterested observer any more.
The scream had done it, I realized, the scream I’d heard up at Nick’s farm. It didn’t matter if it had been a hunting barn owl or a fox disembowelling a rabbit, it had sounded enough like a scream to drive home to me that women in this city were afraid. Something had scared Danielle, Nicole and Bryony, something was scaring Evi, and women who got scared in Cambridge had a habit of ending up dead.
And then, right before my eyes, I saw the fragile, nervous Evi Oliver come to exactly the same conclusion. She pursed her lips, widened her eyes and leaned towards me.
‘What do we do?’ she said.
No time for the sigh of relief. ‘I’m glad you asked,’ I said. ‘Because, first, we have to stop working blind. I need to know who the victims were. I need names.’
As I’d expected, she shook her head. ‘Laura, that’s confidential information,’ she began. ‘I can’t …’
I wasn’t letting her get a head of steam. ‘I need names, ages, colleges, courses, hobbies and interests,’ I went on. ‘I need to know what they looked like. Who their friends were. What medication they were on, who their GP was. Once I can get my SO interested, I can probably get it all inputted into the police major incident inquiry system. It will spot connections, links between the victims, in seconds. Far faster than we can. In the meantime, we’ll have to do our best.’
A deep line had formed between Evi’s eyebrows.
‘Isn’t there a rule that says that if you suspect people are at risk, that if they may harm themselves or others, you’re not just allowed to break confidentiality, you’re expected to?’ Anticipating Evi’s response, I’d done a bit of Googling myself that morning.
She didn’t reply and I knew I’d struck a chord.
‘Most of the people I’m interested in are dead,’ I said. ‘I know confidentiality doesn’t disappear but it will be a mitigating circumstance.’
Evi looked seriously troubled. The dog sidled up to her and glared at me. At that moment, a beeping on my phone told me I had a text message. I excused myself and stepped into the hall. It was from Joesbury.
I’ll be in London for a couple of days. Call me if it’s urgent, otherwise no electronic communication. I’ll manage without
I closed the text. Well, I hadn’t phoned or emailed Evi and I’d already guessed her computer had been compromised. As for keeping contact to a minimum, it was a bit late for that. Given the breakthrough I’d just made with her, I wasn’t going anywhere. I put my phone away and went back into the sitting room. Evi didn’t appear to have moved.
‘Nineteen students are dead,’ I said. ‘I’m a police officer, conducting an official inquiry. And you have a responsibility to those who may be next in line to tell me what you know.’
Silence for a moment. I gave her time. Then,
‘Tell me again what you need,’ she said.
AN HOUR LATER, Evi’s study resembled a police incident room. On one daffodil-yellow wall Laura had stuck
