Splinter the Silence (33 page)

Brandon caught the signal and got to his feet. ‘And that’ll be all for now, ladies and gentlemen. If you have any operational queries, please direct them to Pamela James in the press office.’

‘Is it true you’ve got Tony Hill on the payroll?’ The voice was familiar. Penny Burgess, the crime correspondent who had dogged Carol’s footsteps for years, wasn’t quite done.

‘Ask him,’ Carol said, turning away and leading the charge from the stage. Her relief at having got past the worst of the questioning was tinged with a niggle of worry. Why was Penny Burgess asking about Tony? She’d created more trouble for Carol and her team over the years than the rest of the press corps put together. When she showed an interest, it was never a good idea to ignore it. Before she could figure out what to do, Brandon was clapping her on the back.

‘Brilliant job, Carol. You put them in their place.’ His congratulations were echoed by the other officers on the platform, except for the Bradfield DCC.

He gave her an appraising look. ‘You implied you’re already working a case. Which one?’

‘Early stages,’ she said vaguely. ‘We’re not ready to take it outside the team yet.’

‘Interesting. I thought today was your first official day in the job.’

She smiled sweetly. ‘We don’t hang about. Thanks for giving us your support. I look forward to a productive future relationship.’ And she turned away, making a point of glancing at her watch. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go,’ she said to Brandon. ‘My team are waiting for me.’

Brandon nodded. ‘Good luck.’

‘Thanks. We’ll need it, judging by that lot in there.’

‘The eyes of the country are on you, no doubt about that,’ he said. ‘I know you won’t let us down.’

42

T
ony stared intently at the screen, trying to read the body language of the press conference participants on the CCTV feed from the media room to the ReMIT office. He was oblivious to the comments from the rest of the team, fixed on Carol as she shifted from apprehension to frustration at Brandon’s line before finally arriving at confrontation. It was a beautiful shift; her whole body seemed to change in shape and size as she grew back into herself. You could see where game makers got their ideas about transformation.

And yet, he couldn’t help a shiver of unease. The angry response that had come so naturally – and reasonably – from Carol was exactly the kind of statement that provoked the trolls. And hot on the heels of the trolls, the man who was killing women who didn’t know their place. He shook off the idea. With so many vulnerable targets, this man wasn’t going to come after a woman as strong as Carol.

The others were vocal in their irritation both at the press and at Brandon and the top brass. ‘Don’t even give them the satisfaction of a response,’ Kevin growled. Then when Carol composed herself and issued her passionate mission statement, they howled in delight and punched the air. And then Paula made a celebratory coffee for everyone with their shiny new machine.

By the time Carol walked through the door, they were in high spirits, ready to take on the next phase of their investigation, whatever that might be. They settled round the big table in the middle of the room and looked expectantly at Carol. ‘So, now you know what we’re up against,’ she said. ‘We’re not getting a honeymoon period, and that’s mostly down to me. I would apologise, except that I’m quite happy we’re not being lulled into a false sense of security. I don’t want to feel the love until we’ve actually earned it. So, Stacey, what have you got for us?’

Stacey tapped her tablet and studied the screen. ‘I now have real-life IDs for all five of the men who repeatedly trolled Kate, Daisy and Jasmine. I know where they live and where they work.’

‘So let’s hit them,’ Alvin said. ‘Let’s make those evil little shitbags wish they’d never been born.’

‘Woo hoo, who’s had too much caffeine?’ Paula teased.

‘He’s not one of them,’ Tony said. ‘If he trolled the women at all, he’ll only have done it once or twice and probably not gone down the death-threat route. It’s too easy to be threatening online when you think you’re anonymous. It’s the kind of thing you do when you’ve had a few beers or a row with your girlfriend or a bollocking from your boss, especially if she’s a woman. It used to take a fair bit of effort to deliver a proper death threat. To go to all the trouble of cutting the words out of a magazine and sticking them on paper then finding out where to deliver them to – that all required dedication. It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction.’

‘But why does that rule out our killer? Just because anybody can do it doesn’t mean he hasn’t. If you see what I mean,’ Paula said.

‘Because he’s careful. He’s a planner. He thinks things through. And he’s not stupid. He’s going to know that once we understand what’s going on, we’ll be throwing all our resources at identifying the trolls. If he’d been an old-fashioned death-threat maker, he’d have used magazines from a bin. Something that had absolutely no connection to him. He’d have worn gloves every step of the way. He’d have bought paper and glue in different shops in different towns. He’d have travelled fifty miles in the opposite direction to post the letter. He’s too smart to hurl abuse at a woman he’s planning to kill. He’ll be the one standing back on the sidelines and watching other people dig themselves a hole. He might even needle some of them to go in a bit harder. But the bottom line is that he’ll have understood the importance of invisibility.’ Tony gave a little shrug, spreading his hands. ‘I’m sorry to sound so negative, especially since Stacey’s done such an amazing job.’

‘And it is amazing,’ Carol said. ‘I’m not going to ask how you got your hands on information that’s supposed to be beyond our reach.’

‘Better that you don’t know,’ Paula said.

‘Quite. And I understand the point Tony’s making, but right now, we don’t have any other leads. So I think we should interview these losers. Shake them up a bit, and see whether, as Tony suggests, anybody urged them on.’

Tony caught Stacey’s eye. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a small nod. ‘Actually,’ Tony said, ‘there might be something?’

Carol sat back in her chair with the air of someone whose expectations have been proved right. She smiled. ‘Of course there might. What have you been cooking up behind my back?’

‘The one thing we can track directly back to him is the books,’ Tony said. ‘They’re what revealed the pattern. They show that what’s driving him is more than simple misogyny. It’s very specifically a strike against women who publicly stand up against traditional male attitudes and behaviour. He’s using the writers as exemplars.’ He made a quotation mark sign in the air with two curled fingers, ignoring Carol wincing. ‘“When you think these bad thoughts, when you behave in ways that run contrary to what women are supposed to do, here’s what your outcome should be. You should understand your life is insufferable now”. That’s what he’s saying and that’s the key to everything that’s happening here.’

Carol nodded impatiently. ‘Yes, that all makes sense, but how do we make that work for us?’

‘He’s a planner, you said?’ Paula spoke slowly. ‘So he’ll have worked this all out in advance, won’t he?’

Tony pointed a finger at her. ‘Give the girl a coconut. And that means, what…?’

Paula’s brows furrowed as she worked it out. ‘He bought the books before he started the killing.’ Her face cleared as she found a conclusion. ‘He might have bought all the books from the same place at the same time.’

‘Almost certainly,’ Tony said. ‘Because you can’t walk into the average bookshop and find them all sitting on the shelves. The Anne Sexton is out of print, for starters. When you do a search for all three titles together, there’s only one retailer offering them all.’

‘Don’t tell me, let me guess,’ Kevin said. ‘Valhalla.co.uk.’

‘I see why you chose this lot, Carol,’ Tony said ironically. ‘That’s right, Kevin. Valhalla.’

Kevin groaned. ‘Well, that’s no use. They never hand over information. And – no disrespect, Stacey – even hackers can’t get into their systems. They pride themselves on it.’

‘There’s a first time for everything,’ Stacey said. ‘No system is bulletproof.’

Carol looked at Tony then at Stacey. ‘You’re on this already, aren’t you?’

‘I spoke to Stacey yesterday when I had the idea,’ Tony said. ‘I reckoned you had enough on your mind getting through the press conference without having to contemplate more law-breaking.’

Carol covered her ears. ‘Enough. I don’t want to know. Just bring me the answers. And in the meantime, let’s look at these abusive trolls. What’s the geographical spread like, Stacey?’

‘Two in London, one in Sunderland, one in Rochdale and one in Cheltenham.’

Carol thought for a moment. ‘Paula, you’ve already made contact with an officer in the Met on this case, haven’t you?’

‘DS Lee Collins. He was managing the Kate Rawlins case.’

‘What did you make of him?’

‘He was helpful. Didn’t get the hump at me calling to basically ask him if he’d done his job properly. I thought he had half a brain too.’

‘OK. I’ll speak to his DI and brief him to interview our losers for us. Alvin – Cheltenham’s not that far from your old patch, is it? How do you fancy taking off now and giving somebody a hard time on your way home?’

Alvin grinned. He’d left home that morning with no idea when he’d get home again. But it looked as if Carol was cutting him a break on his first formal day in harness. With any luck, he’d be home in time to put the kids to bed. That’d be a novelty. ‘It would be my pleasure, guv.’

Carol chuckled. ‘Correct response. Paula, Rochdale. And Kevin, short straw: Sunderland. I know you like a drive. Let’s hit them at their workplaces if we can, put the pressure on to the max. And Stacey? Keep on doing what you’re doing until you’ve got something to tell me.’ She started gathering her things together.

‘I already have something to tell you,’ Stacey said, cutting across everyone’s preparations for leaving.

‘Let’s hear it,’ Carol said, stopping what she was doing and giving Stacey her full attention.

‘We talked about the possibility of predicting who the next victim might be. I came up with a search algorithm based on the three women we already know about. It’s not as sophisticated as I would like but I think it’s a quick and dirty way of identifying possibles. I’ve got six definite maybes that tick my boxes.’

‘Oh, Stacey,’ Carol sighed. ‘BMP were insane to have you doing routine data searches. You are a genius. Tony, any suggestions on how we approach this?’

‘I’d suggest you go to Rochdale to monster the troll and Paula gets on the phone to these women,’ he said, making no attempt to soften his proposal. ‘You’re good at being scary and Paula’s better at drawing people out than anyone I know.’

Judging by her expression, that hadn’t been what Carol expected. But she took it in her stride. ‘I was thinking more about the angle of approach,’ she said.

‘Establish the facts – what they said that was so provocative, how long the trolling has been going on, what’s been said, how many have been saying it. Then move on to the emotional stuff – how does it make them feel, what support do they have, do they want you to contact the local police on their behalf. And finish up with the practical suspicious things – have they noticed anyone hanging around? Following them? Any unexplained or inexplicable happenings lately?’ He gave Paula an apologetic look. ‘Only a suggestion. You’ll have your own ideas.’

Paula scribbled in her notebook. ‘Always happy to have input,’ she muttered.

‘OK. Back here tomorrow morning unless you hear otherwise. I’ll be on the end of a phone as usual if you need me.’ Carol got to her feet. ‘Let’s hit the bricks.’

‘What about me?’ Tony said plaintively.

‘Keep on thinking, Tony,’ Carol said. ‘It’s what you do best.’ There was, he knew, a tiny buried barb there, but he was content to let it go.

On their way to the lift, Paula drew Kevin to one side. ‘I need a word. Meet me in the canteen in five minutes.’

Kevin immediately looked anxious. In his experience, when Paula went off on one of her tangents, it always made for times that were interesting in the Chinese sense. She was a magnet for complications, and complications were what Kevin thought he’d finally left behind. He’d given up the quiet life for the time being but that didn’t mean he was eager for full-on aggravation again.

He arrived in the canteen to find Paula in a quiet corner with a can of Diet Coke and a small stack of Kit Kats. ‘The four main food groups,’ she said as he sat down. ‘Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and Diet Coke. You want one?’

‘Neither,’ he said. ‘Are you always like this when Elinor’s not looking?’

Paula pulled a face. ‘Pretty much. Not to mention that Torin hoovers up any stray biscuit, cake or chocolate in the house.’

‘That’s teenagers for you.’ The weary voice of experience. ‘So, what’s the word?’

Paula looked wary, which worried him even more. ‘Somebody leaked the story about Carol to the press.’

He flushed the dark blotchy red that sometimes afflicts redheads. Leaking was the sin that had cost him his inspector’s rank all those years before. Was Paula actually suggesting he’d be stupid enough to commit the same transgression twice? ‘I didn’t even know the details,’ he said quickly. ‘Don’t look at me, Paula.’

Her expression was aghast. ‘God, no, Kevin, that truly was the last thing on my mind.’ Her hand covered her mouth as if she wished she could swallow the words that had so upset him. ‘No, that never even occurred to me.’

He studied her eyes for what felt like a long moment. ‘OK. I’m a bit sensitive on the subject, even after all this time. So what are you getting at?’

‘Like I said, somebody leaked. Stacey and I decided we needed to know who. It’s always easier to deal with your enemies if you know who they are. And we need to know if this is someone inside or outside the tent.’

Kevin gave a grim smile. ‘So Stacey went walkabout inside the
Sentinel Times
server.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘And she couldn’t find anything,’ Paula said ruefully. ‘Not a single electronic trace. No memo, no internal mail, no payment linked to the story. And no payment requisitioned in the name of anyone we recognise.’