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‘I’ll follow the murder manual and I’ll call in all the specialists I can think of. I’ll run a thorough, methodical investigation and if that’s how we catch this bastard then great, but me and you both know there’s something odd going on here.’

‘To put it mildly,’ Poe agreed.

‘How has he chosen his victims? Why did he abduct two of them? And why did the female victims have anaesthetic in their system? Why use a surgical tool on one but not the others? Why stage body parts over three consecutive days and then go quiet? Is he sending a message? Has he finished? Is he only just getting started? And what the hell is hashtag BSC6?’

Poe let her vent. It was useful to hear someone else voice what he was thinking anyway.

‘What can I do for you, ma’am?’

‘DS Ian Gamble told me you’re the best he’d ever seen at finding what doesn’t want to be found. At following the evidence, not the story.’

‘I’m sure he was exaggerating,’ Poe replied.

‘I’m bloody not. He said you’re a contrarian but I think that’s what I need right now. My team and I will continue to investigate but I want you … I want you to do the things we won’t. Talk to the people we can’t, look for the things we’d miss. In short just do what you did in the Immolation Man case.’

‘I hardly—’

‘Find me something I can fucking use, Poe,’ she snapped, and hung up.

He stared at his phone for almost a minute. He then sent a text to Bradshaw saying he would pop into the North Lakes Hotel soon and could she meet him in the lobby. He sent another to Flynn asking if she had time to meet when she was finished with Amanda Simpson. Finally, he sent a text to his neighbour, Victoria, asking if she could keep hold of Edgar for an extra night.

Within a minute all three had said yes.

Chapter 15

Flynn had arrived at the hotel an hour after Poe. She looked exhausted.

She must have had the same conversation with Nightingale as he’d had, as she said, ‘Where do you want to put yourself tomorrow, Poe?’

‘I want Tilly to examine Rebecca’s laptop, boss.’

‘Why?’

‘It’ll be protected with MoD encryption. No way the High-Tech lot in Cumbria will be able to open it.’

‘You ever consider that we’re not meant to open something like that?’

‘Not for a second,’ Poe replied. ‘And I’m not interested in her work. There’s nothing to suggest that’s how the victims are being chosen.’

‘Then why examine her computer?’

‘Amanda Simpson’s abduction would have been simple enough. Straight in and out in an area with a low population at this time of year. And Howard Teasdale’s murder, well … he was a registered sex offender with an Xbox. Total recluse by the looks of things. If he wasn’t at the takeaway the chances were he’d be at home whacking off.’

‘What’s your point?’

‘I can see how he did it with Amanda and Howard but I can’t with Rebecca. I don’t know how he broke into her house and I don’t know how he knew when she’d be in. The front of her house is on a main road and a six-foot wall protects the rear. All her doors and windows have modern, burglar-proof locks.’

‘So?’

‘So I need Tilly to see if she’d emailed anyone her work schedule or any other appointments she had,’ Poe said. ‘The only way I can see it happening is if the killer knew exactly when she’d be leaving her house. It’s possible he simply rushed her and bundled her back inside.’

‘That doesn’t sound like the man we’re after.’

‘It doesn’t,’ Poe agreed, ‘but it’s all I’ve got.’

‘Do it then,’ Flynn said.

She then talked them through what they knew about Amanda Simpson. It didn’t take long. They had a three-day window for her abduction – the time she was last seen and the missed Skype chat with her boyfriend. The working theory was that she’d been taken from her flat. Because students went home for Christmas, only Amanda and an old man on the top floor had been in during that period. CCTV didn’t cover the flats but Nightingale had a team combing through the town’s cameras anyway. They weren’t expecting anything. This killer was only seen when he wanted to be.