Page 10 of The Final Vow (Washington Poe #7)

After Mathers had left, taking the snacks with her, they got down to business.

Flynn said, ‘Tilly and I have been briefed, but you’re coming into this cold, Poe. Where do you want to start?’

‘I only know what’s been in the press, so elevator pitch me,’ he replied. ‘There are two hundred good detectives out there, so the basics are covered. The details are covered. We’re not a case review team; that spindly prick Locke wants us to think of something no one else has.’

‘OK,’ Flynn said. ‘There have been seventeen murders so far and, as far as we can tell, he’s only used seventeen bullets. He hasn’t missed, he hasn’t needed more than one shot.’

‘What calibre is he using?’

‘A .50 BMG.’

Poe whistled. ‘That’ll do it. That bullet’s heavy enough to go through an engine block,’ he said. ‘Not an easy round to get hold of in the UK, though.’

‘Mathers has fifty detectives working the gun angle. So far, zip.’

‘Anything on how he selects his victims?’

‘He’s an equal opportunities killer – men, women, children, white, black, brown.

No one is safe. Also, he’s never been in the same force area twice.

London was first, but he’s killed in Birmingham, Lancashire and Cambridge.

Taunton and Bristol. Warwick. Nottingham.

The last one was in Gretna Green so Police Scotland have joined the manhunt now.

The only part of the UK he hasn’t been is Northern Ireland. ’

‘He won’t risk taking his rifle on a ferry,’ Poe said. ‘Not unless he’s fashioned it into a crutch.’ He waited for them to get his The Day of the Jackal reference. They didn’t. He muttered, ‘Savages.’

Flynn ignored him. ‘Or he’s known over there.’

‘Mathers thinks there’s an Irish connection?’

‘She’s not ruling it out.’

‘We keep saying “he”,’ Poe said. ‘Is that intentional or are we going by bullet calibre? It takes a lot of rifle to fire a round that big.’

‘The crime-scene guys have measured impressions found at his firing positions, and the gap between his elbows and knees indicates the sniper’s over six feet tall.’

‘That doesn’t rule out the sniper being a tall woman.’

‘It doesn’t,’ Flynn said. ‘And historically, some of the deadliest snipers in history have been women.’

Poe nodded. He knew that. During what the Soviets called their Great Patriotic War, and the rest of the world called the Second World War, it was all hands to the pump.

Poe hadn’t been surprised to learn that the ten deadliest female snipers in history were all Soviets.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Ukrainian who fought with the Red Army, had 309 confirmed kills.

An astonishing number by today’s standards.

‘Tell me what Mathers is leaving out of her press briefings.’

‘The empty bullet case is left at the firing position.’

‘He doesn’t police his brass?’ Poe said, surprised.

‘He doesn’t,’ Flynn replied. ‘He ejects the casing and leaves it where it lands.’

‘That’s deliberate then,’ Poe said. ‘Sniper rifles aren’t semiautomatic. They don’t automatically eject the empty case and load a new one. It has to be done manually. Which means if he’s ejecting his brass, it’s because he wants it to be found.’

‘Yes. We figure at some point he’ll get in touch, and this is how he’ll prove he is who he says he is.’

Poe didn’t respond.

‘What?’ Flynn said.

‘Why do you think he’ll get in touch?’

‘He’s leaving a calling card. He’s enjoying the attention. Getting in touch is the next logical step.’

‘He isn’t going to get in touch, boss,’ Poe said. ‘He’s killed seventeen people without leaving a shred of actionable evidence. This lunatic is bark-at-the-moon crazy, but he isn’t stupid. He won’t get in touch.’

The door burst open. A fresh-faced woman stuck her head inside.

‘Commander Mathers needs you in the main incident room right now, please.’

‘Why?’ Flynn asked, getting to her feet.

‘It’s the sniper,’ the fresh-faced woman said. ‘He’s on the phone.’