‘The cleaning lady found her,’ Kate confirmed, as she looked out at the six detectives. ‘The pathologist is in there now, but I warn those of you with weak stomachs, from what I’ve seen so far it’s not a pretty sight.’ Until Underhill rocked up, someone had to take control, and who better than Kate? She hoped the supe would be as easy to convince.

Kate looked over Laura’s shoulder at the underground car park, which was now awash with bright light from the temporary halogen bulbs the SOCOs had erected.

‘There don’t appear to be any security cameras inside, but I’ve spoken to the night manager and he says access to the car park is restricted to a set list of employees who have spaces down here. He’s printing me copies of that list now. I want you to split into two-person teams and tackle the names on that list. I don’t care that it’s after ten, I want you to physically meet with every person on that list, secure alibis and confirm where their car-park barrier IDs are.’

Laura raised her hand. ‘Ma’am, if the barrier can only be raised by a small number of ID cards, can’t the night manager access the barrier’s records to find who the last person to enter was?’

‘We believe the cleaner was the last person to enter.’

‘Yeah, but he must be able to see who else passed through the barrier tonight. That would narrow our search, wouldn’t it?’

‘Ordinarily, yes, but the small office where the server is stored has been vandalised and the computer is currently down. The good news is the records are backed up to a secondary location, but we won’t be able to access that information until the morning. So, in the meantime, I want you to track the names on the list he’s going to locate.’

‘Ma’am, where was the night manager while all this was going on?’

‘He started his shift at eight and claims there was nothing untoward when he arrived. He went off to do his first round of checks in the offices upstairs, which takes him an hour to complete. He left the building to enjoy a cigarette and make a phone call, and he returned to his office to find the vandalised equipment around quarter past nine. That’s when he heard the cleaning lady screaming. She has to access the building via the car park.’

Kate looked back at the concrete ramp descending from the road into the belly beneath the eight-storey tower. They were only a ten-minute walk away from the West Quay shopping centre in the heart of the city. At this time on a Saturday night, the bars, clubs and restaurants surrounding the complex would be packed with revellers enjoying the damp and cold January evening. With two universities in the city, a bit of poor weather wasn’t enough to discourage the huge student population.

Laura raised her hand again. ‘Ma’am, what about appealing for witnesses? I know this end of town is quieter, but someone, somewhere, is bound to have seen something odd.’

‘All in good time, Laura. Let’s focus on what we can manage at this point. Shake down that list of names. There’s every chance that our killer is on that list, and it’s just a matter of narrowing down who hasn’t been at home.’

Kate was eager to get a proper look at the victim up close, but Laura had the bit between her teeth. ‘Ma’am, do we know if our victim worked in the offices?’

‘The victim has yet to be identified. Neither the cleaning lady nor the night manager said they recognised her. All of you: work that list and we’ll reconvene at the station at 1.00 a.m. If your spouses and partners were expecting you home tonight, you’d better make those phone calls first.’

Laura turned to Patel. ‘You want to buddy up?’

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. ‘Happy to.’

‘We should grab a coffee on our way. The McDonald’s drive-thru should still be open.’

He turned up his nose.

‘I know the coffee’s not barista-prepared, but it’s cheap and cheerful. You look like you need it more than me.’

He yawned again. ‘I’ve been awake since five with our youngest. She’s teething again and not sleeping well. I was supposed to be on Calpol-duty with her tonight. My wife won’t be happy I’m out.’ He shrugged. ‘But she knows the score.’

Kate handed out copies of the list of names and watched them leave, before signing in at the cordon at the entrance to the car park, changing into white protective overalls and ducking beneath the tape. The security barrier remained raised. She followed the trail of lights until she spotted the pathologist in his overalls by one of the cars. Why did it have to be Ben? They’d not spoken since Friday night’s argument, but she wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout of that yet.

‘What can you tell me?’ she asked, moving along beside him, sheepishly.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, lost in what he was doing. He cleared his throat, buying a few seconds to compose himself, then explained in a matter-of-fact way, ‘She’s been dead for less than an hour, I’d estimate.’

Both back doors to the Mercedes SUV were wide open. Ben was concentrating on the passenger side while a large halogen lamp illuminated the car’s interior from the driver’s side. Kate stepped forward so she could look past where Ben was crouching; the woman on the back seat was lying flat out, her legs hanging off the seat closest to Ben. Long copper-coloured hair covered most of her face, held in place over her cheeks, nose and chin by congealed blood.

The victim’s long-sleeved T-shirt was torn in several places, and her right breast poked through one of the tears. Her jeans were intact, but there were several large dark patches around both kneecaps and the groin area. It was then that Kate spotted the woman’s wrists, bent at unnatural angles. She covered her mouth.

Ben straightened and passed her a tissue. ‘Do you need a minute?’

Kate turned away for a moment to catch her breath and turned back. ‘I’m fine. What can you tell me about her? Any ID?’

‘No handbag or purse found inside the car. She’s dressed like she might have been meeting friends for a casual drink, so I’m surprised she doesn’t have any money with her. Unless the killer took it with him. She’s wearing a bracelet inscribed with the name Mary, but it could be the name of a child.’

Kate jotted the name in her book. ‘What else?’

His voice remained sullen. ‘At best guess, I’d say she’s in her early to mid-thirties, slim, red hair is natural. She’s suffered a frenzied attack, with multiple blows sustained to the face and neck. Both wrists are broken. I haven’t examined the knees yet, but I’m guessing they may also be broken. I found a small sledgehammer in the footwell on the driver’s side, which I’ve bagged up for SSD. It looks like there’s blood spatter on the head and handle. I believe the same instrument was used to smash the driver’s window to gain access to the vehicle.’

Kate glanced up and saw shards of glass jutting out where the driver’s window had once been. ‘So the vehicle didn’t belong to the victim or killer?’

‘That’s for you to determine. My best guess is the killer lured our victim here, maybe on the promise of sex, and then jumped her. I haven’t examined her genitals yet, but there appears to be large blood loss from that area, so I would imagine she was struck there too.’

Kate sighed. ‘I can’t believe somewhere like this doesn’t have security cameras.’ She paused. ‘Hold on, it’s the weekend, what’s this car even doing here?’

She stood suddenly and studied the rest of the car park. There couldn’t have been more than sixty spaces marked out, with large concrete pillars minimising access to some of the spaces. She spotted a small Fiat in one corner and a second SUV further back. ‘There are three vehicles in the car park, but nobody is working upstairs. That’s odd.’

‘Maybe their owners are in town for the night and parked here for free? There’s a night manager wandering around somewhere, you could check with him.’

Kate couldn’t see any sign of the night manager from where they were, but made a note to follow up on it. ‘Can you tell me anything else?’

Ben stepped away, and she watched him rifling through a case on the ground behind the vehicle. He produced a transparent evidence pouch and held it up to the light. ‘I found this on the mat by the victim’s head.’

She took the pouch and examined it. Inside was a thick black bag, with what appeared to be a blood spatter. ‘You think the killer left this?’

‘Not only did our killer leave it here, but he also used it to suffocate the victim to death. Bruising around the neck is consistent with something tight being pulled and held in place. It’s not my place to say, but there’s a very good chance that the victim was dispatched by the same man who killed Helen Jackson on Tuesday night.’

Kate stepped back, and the blood drained from her face. Her head span.

Two murders in the space of a week.

Tied to the same killer.

On the anniversary of Amy’s murder. Could it be…?