The Burning (29 page)

‘I’ll be honest with you, Mr Maddick. I don’t like the way you talk about Rebecca, and I don’t like the attitude you have taken since the beginning of this investigation. Some people don’t like the police. I can understand that. But when someone is hostile from the very start, with no apparent reason for it, that makes me interested in them. And at the moment, I’m interested in you.’

He stepped back. ‘I don’t know why you’re so convinced I’m a bad guy. I’m not who you’re looking for. I’m just unlucky in my choice of girlfriends.’

‘They don’t seem to have too much luck either.’ I closed the gap between us again.
Let’s see how you like being on the receiving end of some aggression
. ‘I’m watching you. And if anything happens to Louise – if she so much as breaks a fingernail because of something you do or don’t do – I will come after you and I will not rest until I make sure you’ve paid for what you’ve done.’

‘Don’t tell Louise about Chloe.’ The words came out fast, as if what he said was unpremeditated, and he didn’t try to disguise the worry on his face. ‘Please. Not yet. She won’t understand.’

‘If you’re serious about her, and about your relationship, shouldn’t you tell her about it anyway?’

He looked more hopeful. ‘Will you let me tell her in my own time?’

‘If by that you mean immediately, yes.’

‘Great.’ His voice was bleak.

‘It’s not going to be any easier to deal with it if she finds out later.’

‘Except that by then she might have learned to trust me,’ he said bitterly. ‘Which is not the case at the moment.’

‘Good for her,’ I said crisply, and ducked out of the room before he could respond.

I went looking for Louise, to say goodbye. The front door was ajar and I found her outside in rubber gloves and wellies, washing a silver BMW Z3.

‘Very nice.’

‘Thanks, it’s new.’ She blushed. ‘I know it sounds weird, but I suddenly felt that I should do something crazy. Something that Rebecca would have approved of. My old car was far too sensible.’

‘What was it?’

‘A fourteen-year-old Peugeot 306. Navy blue. Very practical.’ She grinned at me as she pulled off the gloves. ‘I mean, I like driving, and I could afford a flash car, so what was stopping me? I sometimes think I’m too careful for my own good.’

‘There’s a time and a place for being reckless.’ I moved closer to her and lowered my voice. ‘But Louise … don’t be stupid, OK? The first time I met you, you were worried about Gil and what he might have done to Rebecca. You need to trust your instincts; you felt that way for a reason. Suddenly you’re letting him get close to you, and it worries me.’

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. ‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘Do you? Like your friend did?’ She bit her lip and I pressed home my advantage. ‘I’m not saying that Gil killed Rebecca, but he’s not off the hook by any stretch of the imagination, and until I can tell you absolutely, definitely that he wasn’t involved, I’d really like you to stay away from him. He has a history of leaving a trail of damage behind him, Louise, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. Whatever he did or didn’t do, he’s bad news, and you don’t need him.’

‘You don’t know him.’ She looked up at me, and there was pure stubbornness in her eyes. ‘And you don’t know me. You don’t need to worry. I’ll be fine.’

I made a snap decision and dug in my pocket for a card. ‘Right. Well, here’s my mobile number. Call me if anything happens.’

‘What are you, my mum?’ She was holding on to the card with the tips of her fingers, as if she wanted to drop it there and then.

‘I’m just worried for you, Louise, and there’s not a lot else I can do. Think of it as friendly interest.’

She looked mildly bemused. Then she smiled. ‘Thank you, Maeve. It’s a long time since anyone has bothered to check up on me.’

‘It’s my job,’ I said simply. And I didn’t want to have to watch Glen Hanshaw conducting an autopsy on Louise too. ‘If you feel threatened at any time, don’t call me. Call 999. They’ll get to you quicker.’

‘I really doubt that’s going to be necessary.’ She was struggling not to laugh. ‘Thanks for the advice anyway.’

I had done my best. I nodded to her before walking away to where I’d parked. As I drove off, I saw Louise standing in the road, watching me go, getting smaller and smaller in my rear-view mirror, until I turned the corner and she disappeared.

Chapter Eleven

M
AEVE

Even though the superintendent had promised me I’d be able to take part in the surveillance operation, there was a tiny part of me that was convinced it wouldn’t be permitted. I sat at the back of the room during the briefing, trying to look inconspicuous. For once I wasn’t the only woman present, and I certainly wasn’t the most eye-catching in my jeans and sweatshirt. The undercover officers fitted the victims’ profile – young, attractive women with long hair. They wore high heels and above-the-knee skirts, party outfits that were accessorised currently, incongruously, with uniform jumpers. The detectives sitting directly in front of me were not put off that the women were their colleagues, but were enjoying a long and speculative discussion about them in terms that made me blush – even though I was used to it and I wasn’t particularly thin-skinned.

The room was overheated and overcrowded, and if the buzz of excitement was tempered by cynicism about our chances of success, it didn’t do much to keep the noise level down. It gave me more than a little pleasure to watch Judd bouncing on the balls of his feet at the front of the room, sweeping the assembled cops with a withering glare while he waited for a silence that didn’t come and his face became redder and redder. Only when Godley himself stood up and raised a hand did a hush come over the group.

‘Right, this is the briefing for Operation Mandrake. You all know why we’re here,’ Judd began. He sounded even harsher than usual, his voice rough-edged with tension. ‘We’re being proactive in our search for the serial killer currently operating in the Kennington area. There is a good chance that he will be out there tonight, according to the profile that Dr Chen has written for us.’

The criminal psychologist was sitting at the front of the room, facing us, her head on one side and her eyes cast down as she listened to Judd. There was a pained expression on her face, which was triangular like a cat’s, with wide cheekbones and a pointed chin. She had painted her small mouth scarlet, like her fingernails, but sat with her lips pressed together so the colour was only visible as a line. I had met her a couple of times, but looking at her across the room, it struck me that I had never actually seen her smile. Her legs were crossed and I wondered what she would make of her swinging foot if asked to analyse her own body language. Dr Chen was not among friends, and she knew it. I admired her for having the guts to sit in such an exposed position, even if I didn’t warm to her as a person.

‘We know that so far he’s been active on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. We are very concerned that he’s likely to be out there again tonight. Obviously, the surveillance teams on this operation are crucial backup for the UCs who are going to be on the streets. You will need to be discreet, but attentive. You’re going out in twos and I don’t want both of you to have your eye off the ball, by which I mean the UC officer, at the same time – no toilet breaks or food runs together.’ Judd looked around the room. ‘Remember, ladies, you’re not pretending to be prostitutes tonight. His victims are nice young girls on nights out, minding their own business. We don’t want to scare him off, do we?’

The UCs looked unimpressed; if this was their first encounter with the chief inspector, he had just told them everything they needed to know about him, i.e. that he had the natural charm of a ten-day-dead mackerel. Judd ploughed on.

‘We’ll have a dedicated radio channel but try to keep communication to a minimum. I’ll have thirteen teams to keep track of, I don’t want you chatting for no reason. The UCs will be using earpieces and covert microphones. The forecast is for rain, but I want you covering your area, not standing in doorways or sitting in the back of the car, please. We know he takes women as they are walking towards their homes or public transport. We also know that he doesn’t move them very far from where he finds them so we believe him to be on foot. Pay particular attention to pedestrians, especially if you see them more than once. Dr Chen tells me he’s likely to spend a lot of time moving around his territory, watching what’s going on before he acts, so we’re looking for anyone who seems to be too interested in what’s going on. Anyone who tries to strike up a conversation with you, ladies, treat them with caution until you are sure they aren’t a threat. This is a violent man who acts quickly and although you might think his MO is reckless, he hasn’t come close to being caught yet so we have to assume that he’s good at what he does.’

Dr Chen leaned forward. ‘May I interrupt? My profile suggests we are looking for a highly competent and controlled individual, someone who is prepared to take calculated risks to achieve satisfaction. He doesn’t exhibit a great deal of sophistication in his methodology, but the level of violence he uses is significant and increasing, and he is highly dangerous. We think he encounters his victims by chance, but that doesn’t mean the murders are the indulgence of a spur-of-the-moment whim. He plans, he prepares, he is confident and he will not stop unless we stop him.’ Her small hands were bunched into fists in her lap and although her voice was soft, her tone was emphatic. I could understand her being tense. Her reputation was staked on the killer being out on a wet, cold night, looking for a victim.

Judd had been waiting for her to finish, impatience in every line of his body.

‘Surveillance teams, please be aware that you might have to take up positions that don’t give you a full view of your designated area. I want you to be careful not to be observed. These are the teams. Listen up. Team one: Pollock and Dornton in the car, UC is Rossiter, and you’re to concentrate on area A, that’s Myatt’s Field and the surrounding streets. Your callsign is TA61. Team two: Elliot and Freebody in the car, UC is Fairchild. Area B. Callsign is TA62.’

I listened idly, waiting to hear my name. When it came, I was somehow not surprised to hear that I was to team up with Sam Prosser, or that the area we had been assigned was the recreation ground where Alice Fallon’s body had been found.

Katy Mayford, the young UC who was supposed to work with us, was not happy. ‘Is there any point in concentrating on areas where he’s already been? He’s not likely to go back there, is he?’

‘On the contrary,’ Dr Chen said, ‘he’s quite likely to return to somewhere he has been successful – if not to hunt, to relive the experiences of the previous murder. It’s very common for serial killers to return to the scenes of their crimes, particularly if the location holds some significance for them. In this instance, I would expect the killer to derive great pleasure from revisiting the locations in question, particularly since there are still signs of his work visible in some of them – scorch marks on the ground, damaged shrubbery and trees. Don’t forget that there is probably a sexual component to these crimes, even if it’s not immediately clear to us. You should pay close attention to anyone exposing themselves or masturbating in these areas.’

A ripple of laughter went through the room at that and Dr Chen looked irritated. Judd clapped his hands.

‘All right, that’s enough. You heard the doctor. If you see any flashers and perverts, we have a couple of uniformed crews in the area who can make arrests without jeopardising the undercover op. Call it in and leave it up to them, please.’

He went on with the list of teams and locations, carving up the chosen area into neat little parcels. It was a comprehensive operation, lots of resources committed, and even if it was all likely to be a huge waste of time it was effective window dressing. Word would leak out to a friendly journalist about it – no details, just enough to make the task force look dynamic and imaginative. And everyone could go home happy, knowing that they’d done their best, while we did what we couldn’t admit we were doing and waited for another body.

When Judd at last finished, Godley gave us his final blessing in the manner of a high priest officiating at a sacrificial ritual. Once it was over, I got up along with everyone else in the room and shuffled towards the door, intent on making a few final preparations before collecting Sam and Katy and heading out. I was planning to read through the briefing notes somewhere quiet and grab a sandwich. For the detectives who had been in front of me in the briefing, final preparations consisted of a fag, a slash and a cup of vile, bitter coffee, which was all that was available in the South London police station where the briefing had been held. Each to their own.

The corridor outside the briefing room was crowded. I threaded my way through, trying not to bump into anyone or, worse, rub up against any of the older detectives. Fragments of conversation struck me as I passed.

‘This woman is convinced her husband is having an affair …’

‘… stops him for not wearing his seat belt …’

‘… nice little arse, too …’

‘… comes home early, thinking she’ll catch him in the act, but he’s just sitting on the sofa, watching the football. But she’s still suspicious. She searches the whole house, top to bottom, under every bed, in every cupboard, attic, cellar, the works …’

‘… checks the boot and there’s a fuck-off great bag of coke. So he hauls the driver out of the car, cuffs him, puts him in the back of the area car …’

‘… gagging for it …’

‘… the woman has a massive heart attack, keels over and dies. When she gets to heaven, the first person she sees is her next-door neighbour …’

‘… he has a look under the seat and finds a sawn-off shotgun, fully loaded. He gets back in the area car and says to the bloke, you’re in a lot of trouble, mate.’

‘Cynthia, she says, how did you die? I froze to death, she says. What about you? So she tells her the whole story – coming home early, searching the house.’

‘He says, never mind about the gun, am I going to lose my licence?’

‘… until she couldn’t walk in a straight line.’

‘Cynthia goes, shit, what a shame. If only you’d checked the freezer.’

Seeing a detective roughly the size and shape of a fully grown rhino moving in my direction, I dived sideways and fetched up beside a back I recognised.

‘All right, Rob? Which area did you get?’

He turned around and the expression on his face was pure embarrassment. ‘Oh. Maeve. Um … hi.’

I looked past him to see the two DCs he’d been talking to, Harry Maitland and Ben Phipps, killing themselves laughing. I only knew them slightly, but what I knew of them made me think that their amusement was at my expense. A phrase I’d heard moments before floated back into my mind and repeated itself in Rob’s voice.
Until she couldn’t walk in a straight line
… and I knew without the least doubt that the first part of the sentence would not bear repeating in polite company. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to find out that he was just like the others, but it was, somehow, and I wondered which of the UCs had caught his eye.

‘Not dressed yet, Maeve? Thought you’d be getting all dolled up like the others.’ Maitland grinned at me, baring yellow teeth in what he obviously thought was a winning smile. ‘You’re disappointing us.’

‘Sorry about that,’ I said. ‘You know I live for your approval.’

The smile widened. He had white gunge that might have once been bread wadded between two of his molars. ‘Langton here tells us you look good half-naked. Maybe we can persuade you to dress down for us later on.’

My usual non-confrontation policy when it came to suggestive remarks was just not going to cut it. ‘Yeah, or maybe you can get stuffed.’ While Maitland thought about his comeback, I turned to Rob, who was looking acutely uncomfortable. ‘Can I have a word?’

‘Sure,’ he mumbled, and walked beside me down the hall, away from the others.

‘What the fuck was that?’ I was still smiling, still looking serene. No one would have known I was shaking with rage.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I really don’t care if you want to join in with the sexist bullshit directed at the UCs – that’s your business, nothing to do with me – but I do mind that you let Maitland insult me and said nothing.’

‘I didn’t really get a chance to say anything.’ Rob sounded injured. ‘You were pretty quick off the mark.’

‘And what was that about me being half-naked? Did you tell them about coming over to my house? Were you talking about what I was
wearing
, for Christ’s sake?’

‘Not really. No. I just – it just came up.’ He rubbed his hand over his head, ruffling his hair and smoothing it back down. ‘Shit. Look, Maeve—’

‘No, you look. You shouldn’t have said anything about that night. It was out of hours, we were off duty, you were a guest in my home and I was entitled to expect that you wouldn’t brag about it to anyone.’ I looked at him, puzzled. ‘And God help you if you think it was worth bragging about anyway. What, we shared a pizza and that’s gossip? Did you tell them about my boyfriend coming home while you were there?’

Rob looked over my shoulder and grimaced. In spite of my best intentions, my voice had risen and the calm demeanour I’d been struggling to maintain had gone by the wayside. We were attracting attention of the wrong sort. He grabbed my arm and dragged me another few yards down the corridor and around a corner where we wouldn’t be observed.

‘Look, I didn’t mean to say anything. They were speculating about what you’d look like in a short skirt, OK? No one here has ever seen you in anything except suits and trousers, and I know it’s deliberate because you want to be taken seriously but it does a damn good job of hiding your figure. Phipps said he thought you probably didn’t have good legs – tall birds never do, according to him. I was just telling them that he was wrong. You have amazing legs.’ The lighting wasn’t particularly good in the corridor, but I was fairly sure that he had gone red. ‘Sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing.’

‘For Christ’s sake,’ I said again, but the heat had gone out of my anger. In spite of myself, I started to grin. ‘So I should say thanks for the compliment, is that it?’

‘No.’ He gave me a look that was simultaneously shy and cheeky. ‘I owe you an apology. But would you take a coffee instead?’

I checked my watch. ‘We don’t have time.’