me to hand over my investigation to you or anyone else. SIU’s not needed here. Me and my team will have this wrapped up in a few days, tops. We know how to hunt down bastards like this. Why don’t you save yourself for something a bit more exotic and leave this to us old-fashioned by-the-numbers detectives.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Sean told him. ‘Orders of Assistant Commissioner Addis. SIU are to take over this investigation.’
‘Addis hasn’t told me about SIU taking over anything,’ Vaughan growled. ‘Until he does – the investigation stays with me.’
‘He left it to me to tell you,’ Sean explained. ‘Addis wants SIU to take over and Addis gets what he wants. And you don’t want to get on Addis’s wrong side. Believe me – I know.’
‘I don’t take kindly to DIs marching into my crime scenes and telling me what’s gonna happen,’ Vaughan continued to dig his heels in.
Sean didn’t have time to argue, but neither did he want to alienate Vaughan and his MIT. He needed them onside and cooperative. He couldn’t afford to have anyone withholding some important fact they’d discovered – deliberately or otherwise. ‘I understand it’s a difficult situation,’ he said in a conciliatory tone, ‘but my unit was set up to deal with exactly this sort of investigation. I know you and your team could find whoever did this, but the fact is I have access to things you don’t, which means I’ve a better than decent chance of finding him sooner – before he kills again. That’s what we all want, isn’t it?’ Vaughan looked him up and down – weighing up Sean’s words. ‘All I need is full cooperation. I need everything you’ve found to date and in return I promise you’ll get full credit for what you’ve achieved.’ Still he sensed Vaughan wasn’t satisfied. ‘If we need any help I’ll come straight to you. Fair enough?’
Vaughan sighed in resignation. ‘Very well. Fair enough, but no airbrushing us out of what’s been done.’
‘Of course,’ Sean readily agreed, ‘but I need the forensic team to stop whatever they’re doing and prepare their exhibits for transfer.’
‘You want them to stop?’ Vaughan questioned his wisdom.
‘Like I said,’ Sean reminded him, ‘I have access to things you don’t – including a specialist forensics team who know exactly what I expect from them.’
‘If you insist,’ Vaughan agreed, unconvinced.
‘And I’ll need all the paperwork you have so far. Door-to-doors, witnesses spoken to. Anything you’ve generated – in order and filed properly, so I can find what I’m looking for.’
‘It will be,’ Vaughan assured him.
Sean moved on. ‘I understand the body’s been removed to the morgue at Guy’s?’
‘It has.’
‘Good,’ he said, knowing that it would fall under the care of his most trusted pathologist – Dr Simon Canning.
‘Your forensic team on their way?’ Vaughan asked.
‘No,’ Sean told him. ‘They’re briefed and preparing, but no point starting now. Better to start afresh in the morning, when your people have packed up and gone. Just make sure everything’s secure till then.’
‘Very well,’ Vaughan answered, but Sean had already started to drift away – looking out across the streets and the park close to the garage where William Dalton came to his violent end.
Vaughan noticed it. ‘You want to take a closer look at the scene?’
Sean looked at the houses and flats around the scene – full of light and life – children awake, meals being prepared, people walking home across the park, the smell of heavy traffic thick in the freezing air, its sound a constant hum in the background. It wasn’t right. ‘No,’ he told Vaughan. ‘This isn’t how it was.’
‘Excuse me,’ Vaughan asked, confused.
‘Nothing,’ Sean realized he’d been speaking out loud. ‘I’ll send a couple of my people over to your office tomorrow to pick up whatever you have.’
‘It’ll be ready,’ Vaughan assured him.
‘Good,’ Sean told him and turned to leave. ‘I need to be somewhere.’
‘One thing,’ Vaughan stopped him.
‘Which is?’
‘If you ever decide you’ve had enough of the SIU, give me a call, will you,’ Vaughan told him. ‘I wouldn’t mind that job myself some day.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind,’ Sean replied before heading off back to his car, fully aware that Vaughan wouldn’t be the only one who’d like his job and that Addis wouldn’t hesitate to replace him if he ever looked like he’d lost his special edge.
Anna Ravenni-Ceron entered the private members’ club in St James’s Park, close to New Scotland Yard, and was led to a large dark dining room where Assistant Commissioner Robert Addis sat in full uniform looking as trim and tidy as ever – his peaked cap and brown leather gloves perched on the edge of the table next to him. He sipped water from a crystal glass as he read from an open file he held expertly in one hand.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ the hostess murmured discreetly, making him look up. ‘Your guest has arrived.’
‘Anna,’ he smiled, but remained seated and made no effort to shake her hand. ‘Please, have a seat.’
‘Thank you,’ Anna told the hostess as she seated herself on the straight-backed chair that had been pulled out for her. Slim and elegant with a head of unruly wavy black hair caught and tamed into a mass of swirls and ringlets, her dark brown eyes stared from a pretty oval face, studying Addis as he waited until the hostess had left before speaking again.
‘I’m glad you could make it on such short notice,’ he told her. ‘You’ll understand this isn’t the sort of thing I’d want to discuss over the phone.’
‘So you said.’
‘Being the head of the Specialist Crime Operations can make one somewhat … cautious.’
‘No doubt,’ she agreed, before realizing she was being more assertive and questioning than she’d been with Addis in the past. If she didn’t play the game better he would pick up on the subtle change and become suspicious. He might even deny her access to the investigation and with it her chance to help or protect Sean. ‘Face-to-face is preferable,’ she lied.
‘Good,’ Addis relaxed somewhat. ‘Good.’
‘Is this the new case?’ she asked, her eyes indicating the file in his hand.
‘Yes,’ Addis told her, closing the file as if she’d somehow spied on its contents. ‘Have you heard anything?’
‘Only what you’ve told me,’ she lied again. ‘Two young adult victims. No apparent links between them. DI Corrigan and the SIU will be investigating … Which makes me wonder what you want from me.’
Addis handed her the file, which she accepted. ‘Same as always, Anna.’
‘I see,’ she said, trying to hide her disappointment. ‘You want me to look like I’m helping profile the killer, but really you want me to keep an eye on DI Corrigan and report back to you?’
‘No,’ Addis smiled condescendingly. ‘I want you to assist in profiling the type of person we’re looking for – not merely look as if you are.’
‘I understand,’ she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice, ‘but you also want me to observe DI Corrigan? Correct?’
‘You make it sound as if I’m asking you to spy on him,’ Addis said without a hint of irony.
‘Aren’t you?’ Anna asked.
Addis