‘Tell me again,’ Kate said, staring at the notes Laura had been scribbling on the board, hoping it would make more sense second time around.

Laura, nodded, replacing the lid on the marker pen, so she could use it as a pointer. ‘It’s all connected, ma’am, rather, they’re all connected. Vardan and Jackson both work at St Bartholomew’s, and both had access to the sports hall.’

‘But how? The caretaker Mr Linus had the only key to the hall.’

‘That’s why they changed the padlock. Or maybe they somehow managed to make a copy of Linus’s keys. Probably wouldn’t have been too difficult. Anyway, we also have this exchange of messages between Vardan and Jackson, discussing their urges and whatever else, so we know they have a relationship of some sort. Right?’

Kate nodded for Laura to continue.

‘We know that Phillips also had access to the sports hall, because he’s got the contract to knock it down and build the pool this summer. He was at the school on Thursday, but we only have his word that he didn’t go inside. We also have Vardan and Phillips graduating from Southampton University in the same year. Okay, we don’t have anything concrete to suggest they were friendly back there, but we’ll explore those avenues when the offices are open again in the morning.’

Kate pulled an apologetic face. ‘It still feels pretty thin.’

‘Not so, ma’am,’ Laura continued. ‘We have the photograph that shows Nowakowski knew Phillips and they’d been in touch recently because Nowakowski had asked for a job and money. How do we know Phillips didn’t agree to provide the money Nowakowski wanted in exchange for—’

‘And that’s where the theory falls over, Laura. We don’t know what any of them could have promised Nowakowski and Maria, and whether the intention was always to kill them. Plus, how does any of this tie back to Daisy?’

‘Phillips lures Nowakowski with the offer of a payment to do whatever. Jackson does something similar to entice Maria, offering her ten grand for some kind of kinky bondage fantasy he wants to play out. And that leaves Vardan and Daisy. Jackson’s emails suggest Vardan knew Daisy had developed some kind of school-girl crush on him, so maybe he brought her into whatever was planned. It’s like that Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train. The story concerns two strangers who meet on a train: a young tennis player and a charming psychopath. The psychopath suggests that because they each want to get rid of someone, they should exchange murders, and that way neither will get caught. It allows them both to have strong alibis in place when the acts are committed.

‘Jackson knew the Abbotts Way address was vacant, and chose that as the first murder scene, and he carries that one out, killing Nowakowski for Phillips. Vardan is then unaccounted for, for three hours on Thursday because he’s busy dismembering Maria for Jackson. And that leaves Phillips taking care of Daisy.’

‘You’re making a lot of assumptions, Laura. We don’t have any evidence suggesting Jackson wanted Maria dead, or that Phillips wanted Nowakowski gone. And why the hell did Vardan want Daisy killed?’

‘Could be blackmail, ma’am?’ Patel offered, having been observing the exchange.

Kate raised her eyebrows at him.

Patel sat forward. ‘Let’s say Jackson previously hired Maria to participate in a sordid fantasy, but she threatens to expose his little secret if he doesn’t pay her the money she needs to get free of her pimp. He initially pays, but then fearing she will blackmail him again, he ties up the loose end, or maybe she came back and demanded more. Similarly, maybe Nowakowski had some dirt on Phillips from their previously

working together. Maybe Nowakowski – in his desperation to make enough money for the deposit for the flat he wanted to get with his sister – blackmails Phillips. And finally, we know what Vardan has been accused of before. Maybe he tried something on with Daisy and she threatened to blow the whistle on him. Three strong motives for murder, if you ask me.’

Laura was nodding enthusiastically. ‘Let’s get Vardan and Phillips into custody, but let slip to each of them that the others are talking and the first to spill could get a lesser sentence than the others. Then we’ll see how loyal they remain to each other.’

Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘If you’re right, if the whole purpose of this pact was to keep it a big secret, why throw an enormous spotlight on their activities by sending me the hearts?’

Laura opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as no answer would come.

‘Maybe it was guilt?’ Patel suggested. ‘We know that Jackson and Vardan went through with their murders, but there’s been no sign of Daisy’s heart or a bloodbath with her DNA, so maybe Phillips bottled his end of the bargain. So in order to ensure he follows through, one of the others sends the hearts to get us sniffing around: put the frighteners on Phillips, so he knows his only way forward is to follow through and off Daisy.’

Kate shook her head. ‘I don’t buy that: it’s too risky for Vardan or Jackson to do that. Isn’t it?’

‘Whatever the reason,’ Patel continued, ‘it’s worth exploring. You’re the one who doesn’t believe in circumstance, ma’am.’

Kate glanced back at the photo of Chloe on her desk. ‘If Daisy is still alive, where the hell is he keeping her?’

‘He’s a surveyor and property developer,’ Laura suddenly shouted. ‘His company must have a string of developments yet to complete. I’d bet money he’s stashing her in one of those.’

Kate pointed at the computer. ‘Find me that address.’

---

Humberidge looked exhausted as he stumbled into the incident room, his cheeks flushed, and the bags enormous beneath his eyes. ‘Vardan wasn’t at home, ma’am,’ he sighed.

Kate looked at the large clock hanging above the door. ‘It’s just gone eight, where is he?’

‘With your authorisation, I’ll ask the phone company to run a trace.’

Kate nodded and Humberidge reached for the nearest desk phone.

Laura returned from the printer, presenting a page to Kate. ‘Here’s a list of TUTD developments I managed to find on their website. They have a residential housing project of a hundred new homes out near Winchester, which isn’t due for completion until 2019. It doesn’t say how far along they are with building the estate. Then there’s a redevelopment of an old factory works down by the docks. It’s going to be developed into a new luxury hotel.’

‘Because that’s what Southampton needs: another hotel,’ Kate said, rolling her eyes.

‘The hotel is due to open in 2019 as well.’

‘Could he really be holding her at one of those addresses? If the developments are ongoing, he’d be running a huge risk that someone would find her. Where does he live?’

‘Owns an apartment down by Ocean Village, ma’am,’ Patel confirmed. ‘Hardly surprising: fits in with the polished image he tries to present.’

‘Please, ma’am, let’s bring them in. We have Jackson already, but he’ll be released in the morning unless the supe will authorise extending his custody by a further twelve hours. With all three here, I’m sure one of them will crack.’

‘My money’s on Phillips being the first to blab,’ Patel agreed.

Kate looked at her two most-trusted allies and finally relented. ‘Fine. Have the phone company pinpoint Phillips’ phone and go and get them.’ She looked over to Humberidge as he hung up the phone. ‘Take Quinlan and the two of you get Vardan. Laura and Patel, have uniform check out the two developments while you bring in Phillips. We’ll give them just enough rope, and then see which hangs himself first.’

The four of them bustled out of the room, the echo of their excited chatter drifting down the corridor, until silence descended on the incident room once more.

Standing, Kate made her way to the board and silently reread Laura’s notes, still trying to shake the voice of doubt that continued to niggle at the back of her mind. Reaching for the reports Ben had produced following his post-mortem analysis of Maria’s foot and the two hearts, she began to read, hoping the final piece of the puzzle would present itself.

According to the report, the foot was severed at the joint where the tibia met the plantar calcaneonavicular ligament, but described the cut as succinct and efficient. Ben’s notes also confirmed that the cut was completed in one go with a powerful electric circular saw. Yet the vena cava, pulmonary arteries, and pulmonary trunk of both hearts were cut using some kind of shearing instrument. She still couldn’t believe that Phillips would have sent the hearts. On neither occasion she’d met him had he demonstrated any kind of emotion or guilt, nor had he attempted to confess his actions.

A knock on the incident room startled her. Turning, she saw DI Steve Hardy, wearing his usual white lab coat, leaning in. ‘Ah, Kate, I was hoping one of you would still be here. I’ve just been processing the belongings of Petr Nowakowski that you collected from Mountbatten House. We’re currently testing fibres from his clothing, but I thought this might interest you.’ He thrust out a small plastic wallet, carrying it over to the desk. ‘Found it folded and hidden inside the framed photograph of the young woman—’

‘His sister, Ana,’ Kate confirmed. ‘What is it?’

Hardy rested the wallet on the desk. ‘Looks to be a printed copy of a chat room conversation between Nowakowski and someone with the username Guardian Angel. I guess he must have wanted to keep it as confirmation of what was discussed.’

Kate stared down at the page, reading the exchange between the two parties. Her eyes widened with every word. ‘He was trying to sell a kidney? Is there any more? Can we see what website this chat occurred in? Or who this Guardian Angel person is?’

‘Afraid that’s all there is. Looks like the conversation occurred two weeks ago, about a week before he died.’

Kate’s mind raced. Could one of Vardan, Phillips or Jackson have been trying to buy a kidney from Nowakowski? It didn’t fit with Laura and Patel’s blackmail motive. Did it? She couldn’t see the angle.

‘There’s nothing else? Just this page?’ Kate urged.

‘Unless you managed to find a computer and printer at his address that you forgot to drop off, I’m afraid that’s all I have.’

‘He didn’t own a computer… where else could he have printed this off?’

Hardy considered the question. ‘A library? Internet café? An office he worked at? Maybe a friend’s device? Could be any number of places.’

Kate reread the messages. ‘He was offered ten grand in exchange for his kidney.’

Hardy nodded. ‘Quite a lucrative market, the unofficial transplant of organs. Most people can survive with just one kidney, and these predators will pay good money for one if you can find them. Doesn’t tend to be a big thing in the UK, mind you. It’s a much bigger issue in the developing world, but I thought it might give your investigation some steer.’

‘Is there any way to find out where this page was printed? If we could trace the original printer and computer you’d be able to find the website and possibly this Guardian Angel, right?’

‘In theory, but being able to narrow down exactly where this was printed could take a lot of hours and even more luck.’

Kate looked at him pleadingly.

‘All right, all right,’ he sighed. ‘Leave it with me and I’ll see what I can do. You look exhausted, Kate. Don’t you ever go home to rest?’

‘No,’ she smiled back, as he left the room.

Kate was about to lift the phone and call Laura, when it suddenly rang. ‘DI Kate Matthews,’ she said, answering it.

‘Ma’am,’ Freeborn said urgently. ‘I was just called by the mobile phone company. Daisy Emerson’s phone was just switched on. They have its location.’

Kate grabbed a pen and paper. ‘Talk to me.’

Freeborn relayed the coordinates. ‘I’m at my brother’s in Portsmouth at the moment. You want me to meet you there?’

But Kate was already grabbing her car keys and coat, racing out of the door.