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There’s a moment you say ‘No’ You mean it as well No Then a , then thelike that moment

Until the next, when you’re on your way

Until the next, when you’re there

Until the next, when they hear so and then they see you and then they realise you’re there Then it’s all the moments after

Twenty-four

SERRAILLER NEEDED TO think slowly and deeply, with a notebook and pen, and he thought best if he was out of the office It was too early for the pub and the Cypriot deli would be packed He got a large takeaway coffee and drove out to the Hill The sun was out and he sat on the lee side with his back to the Wern Stone It was sheltered and alh he turned up the collar of his waxed jacket

He could never have said that he enjoyed working on a murder – who could? He had a vivid picture in the front of hisin her own bedrooe in death, as she may well have been made to face it in her lastbehind her In death, the most unique, private, intimate moment of everyone’s existence, others stood behind her and looked into the saes behind hers – the uniforms who had been called to her body, the forensics, the pathologist He hier his deterh the word ‘enjoy’ had no place, Si – the thinking through, the search for parallels, ether of every detail which radually into his round, his past, his state of mind, his usual daily life, his work, his fa violence? This was no killing in a rush of anger, or in self-defence; this was a careful,of a particular kind, for a particular reason

Hehe had observed at the crialow, then of the new close, thenit – es, ditches, grass verges He reen felt tips, circling, underlining

He sipped his coffee, thinking differently now, not about the place but about people, real people, killers he had known through his police career As he re many out almost imone wrong, fae against cops – careless, s, unpremeditated, done by stupid people who had left their crime scenes cluttered with evidence, or handed theht within h he had a very good otten because they were open-and-shut cases and, so far as

It was the others he went over in detail now The sun arm on his face, there was no one on the Hill, he could dive down into the past and recover faces, conversations, physical details, and link them to the present, as well as to what he had learned in his profiler’s training, a course which had been intense and absorbing, and which he had updated a couple of times in the last few years

‘Think yourself into his mind You are him Be him now Think like him, fear what he fears, boast to yourself like he does, plan it all out in the sa back years Forget everything else This occupies your every waking thought and your dreaot up A black Labrador bounded round the corner, snuffling at Serrailler’s jacket, the owner in pursuit A fire engine went along the peri The peace and quiet on the Hill had been good while it lasted

Fifteen minutes later he was back in the station, had moved the press conference back to four o’clock and called the tearaphs of the dead woalow, and of the whole Close, and a list of residents, with a red tick beside those who had been interviewed

‘Take a good look at this’ Serrailler pointed to the photograph of Elinor Sanders, facing her own dead i-table mirror ‘Look hard Because this is what shouldround the clock if we have to It should be in front of you when you’re asking questions, handing out leaflets, doing door to door,out how many paces between here and therewhatever routine bit of the job This is Elinor Sanders This is a lady as starting a new life, in a new sheltered housing coht to have felt totally safe and secure, a lady as sleeping peacefully in her own bed, after having hbour who lives opposite And who died like this She akened by an intruder, dragged out of her bed, pushed down into the chair in front of her led with a piece of electrical flex As she was forced to watch I murdered That would rank as a war crime So what does it rank as here and now in an ordinary peacetiive you an idea about the sort of person who did this Cunning Stealthy – walked between the houses and broke into Mrs Sanders’s bungalow in theheard or seen – so far as we know up to noay He’s planned this He planned awas taken Her purse, with over fifty pounds in it, was in her handbag; there was a small jewellery case on the chest which was untouched – nothing of huge value but quite enough toby an opportunist thief Forensics found no prints at all, so, unsurprisingly, he wore gloves He no doubt carried the flex hich she was strangled – she isn’t very likely to have had that lying about or stored in a cupboard Motive? We don’t know but it wasn’t sexual in the usual sense – the path found no evidence She had just moved hundreds of miles, from Newcastle, to be closer to her twin so she didn’t know anyone locally – other than the neighbour she met yesterday Her death isn’t likely to be related to so quarrel No, this bears all the hallhtmare – the mad but clever, ruthless killer, who murders for sick reasons of his own Is this the first ti HOLMES and details are out there with every other force This sort of murder is rarely a one-off But every killer starts somewhere so this could easily be a first Which iuy who did it is happy at thisto get He’s going over and over the night in his le detail – they never do He gloats over theraphs Like that one up there Chances are he has an identical picture and etting erous killer and we have to get hiet him But it is the sort of case that is likely to be solved in the course of so, routine, repetitive police work’

‘Unless he makes awith someone careless and stupid here He will anticipate every last little thing People like hiainst the We need that luck But I think we’ve got tiain in a hurry He has weeks to enjoy feasting on thisrestless and planning his next That planning takes time as well He won’t be in a hurry That’s where we have a head start’

‘How long are we talking, guv?’

‘No idea – but I’iven Righthouse to house within this area’

He drew a red marker pen round Duchess of Cornwall Close and then a second ring within a two-ht be necessary for soo up there but not at the moment The key to this murder is likely to be not "who?" as in Elinor Sanders but "who" as in an elderly lady I think the only reason she was killed was her age And witnesses – if there were any it was one of the neighbours and we’re going to talk to theain, and I don’t need to remind you how carefully that has to be handled’

‘What about random people out on the road – whatever route he took in his car, he’s going to be noticed, isn’t he? At two or three in thenuht and we’ve no idea what sort of vehicle we’re looking for But I’ll ask for the usual info at the press conf He isn’t going to be driving anything that would draw attention to himself of course – no home-sprayed fuchsia-pink Mini Cooper, it’ll be a carefully rey without any "I’ve been to the Safari Park" stickers or other paraphernalia He wants to blend in, look anonymous I repeat, he’s clever and careful and his attention to detail will be second to none Don’t underestio – and take another close look at that photo as you leave Elinor Sanders She’s e’re doing this job We owe her’

Twenty-five

THE ST MICHAEL’S Singers were rehearsing Bach’s St John Passion for Easter and Cat had colare fro, to a sharp nudge fro soprano

‘Stressed?’ Mel McAllister asked as they nudged their way through the throng to the bar of the Cross Keys later