Dr Bernard paused as Anderson shifted some papers to one side of his desk to make way for a ruled pad on which he began making notes. ‘Please, continue.’
‘There are many elements in this case that I find particularly disturbing. The victimology is one. Every serial killer is different but the thing they all usually have in common is that their victims tend to be similar. They all go after people who are short and slight. The reasons are obvious – such people are easier to attack, move around or dispose of. Small men, slight women and children. That’s why female serial killers tend to go after babies or the elderly. But even male serial killers tend to choose victims who are smaller than themselves. They don’t want to risk someone being able to get the better of them.’
Bernard sorted through the pages in front of him, searching for details from the initial autopsy reports. ‘But look here, Raymond Chadwick was a big man. Six feet two inches and more than seventeen stone. Miller was smaller – only five ten – but still fit and strong. Your unknown was somewhere in between the two. They are not typical serial killer victims.’
‘What does that tell us?’
Bernard shrugged. ‘I think it’s too early to tell. Could be you have more than one person involved in the murders.’
‘Great.’
‘There’s also the fact that two of your victims appeared to be successful businessmen. Serial killers tend to go after runaways, prostitutes or drug addicts – the kind of people who are easier to target because they live on the edge of society. The sort of people who, when they disappear, nobody even misses.’
‘Makes sense.’
‘What that says to me is that there is a specific reason why these people are being targeted, but as of yet there is no clue about what that might be.’
Bernard rotated one of the photographs from the autopsy through a full three hundred and sixty degrees before placing it back in his file.
‘I also have grave concerns about the MO.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s identical in each case.’
‘I don’t understand. Surely the fact it’s identical proves we’re looking for a serial killer.’
‘To some degree, but not as much as you’d think. If you look at crimes other than murder, criminals tend to be fairly consistent. If you burgle houses and you like to break in through the back door, you’ll probably do that every time. But burglars go out to work several times a week. Serial killers murder only once in a blue moon. There might be years in between. When they become ready to kill again, they often try to fix or change anything that failed to work properly last time around. Or they might have found a way to get much more of a thrill.
‘I know a case in which a serial killer switched from stabbing to strangling because he cut himself while carving up his last victim and got covered in blood. Another who didn’t tie up his first victim and got kicked in the balls. You can be sure he tied up every victim after that. I know other cases in which killers have switched from murdering their victim right away to torturing them to death over a period of days because the first time it was all over too soon and they wanted to have more time to enjoy themselves.
‘Using MO to link crimes can be problematic. An MO could change from one killing to the next; you don’t know what other factors might be in play. Someone who always stabs his victims five times may stab one twenty times because they somehow insulted him. Someone who always rapes his victims may have been disturbed by someone walking their dog or forgotten to pack his condoms or simply changed his mind.’
Bernard spread the autopsy photographs of each victim across the front of Anderson’s desk. ‘But in this case the modus operandi is absolutely identical. This to me speaks of someone who has already perfected their methods and techniques. Even though one of your bodies is two years old, I think you’re looking for someone with a record of crime and violence that stretches back far, far further. There are going to be other bodies and they will be even older than these.’
Anderson stopped his scribbling and looked up for a moment, his face grim. ‘I’m very grateful for all of this, but, at the same time, if you’re correct, this opens our investigation even further.’
Dr Bernard nodded in agreement. It was clear he too wished he had better news to deliver. ‘The MO is worrying for other reasons too. There are dozens of serial killers out there that nobody gets to hear about because, to be perfectly honest, they just aren’t interesting enough. If you want to be a famous serial killer, you have to stand out from the crowd. You kill more than a dozen victims, send taunting letters to the police or do bizarre things to the bodies.
‘What you have here is someone who is not only ensuring that they are counted as a serial killer but who, thanks to the mutilation of the bodies, is ensuring that as soon as the details are released to the public they’ll join the ranks of serial killer royalty.
‘Most killers would have to work their way up to something like this. They would have to practise again and again, refining what they do. As I said before, what you have here is the work of someone who has already passed that stage.’
Anderson put down his pen, then reached up and rubbed his palm against his chin. ‘I don’t know what I was expecting. To be honest, all you’re doing is making me realize that we’re up against someone who is even more steps ahead than I’d imagined they were in the first place.’
Dr Bernard shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t worry. Working a murder case is all about playing catch-up. I just didn’t realize quite how much catching up we had to do.’
‘Do you still want me to speak to your team?’
‘Yes and no. They’re pretty motivated out there and I think something like this could really take the wind out of their sails. It’s one thing looking for a killer who has committed three random murders, quite another to think that we’re part of some bigger, sicker game. I think I’d like to wait until we identify the third victim before you give them a full briefing; that way we’ll know for sure if there’s a connection between them. What I would like in the meantime, however, is just a general sense of the way the mind of a serial killer works.’
‘But nothing specific?’
‘No, that’s not necessary. I think it would be good for them to know what we’re up against. To have an idea of the kind of clues that might be cropping up – the areas they should be concentrating on.’
‘I’ll do what I can.’
‘How long are you over here for, by the way?’
‘Officially just until the end of the academic year, but this is my sixth attachment in London in the past ten years. I really love it here. It’s pretty much my second home. I’ll almost certainly be staying on.’
Anderson opened the door to his office to find DI Collins pacing up and down outside.
She had returned from interviewing Sandra Miller soon after Anderson had shut himself away in his office with the psychologist and given orders that he was not to be disturbed. She had spent the time since making phone calls and collating information. What had started out as an interesting development in the murder case had now evolved fully into a potential lead.
She barged her way into the office, pausing only briefly as the handsome face of Dr Jacques Bernard smiled over at her from the corner of the room. Flustered for a split second, she regained her composure and turned to Anderson.
‘Sir, I think I might have something here,’ she gasped, her voice breathless with excitement.
The brief report she handed over made grim reading. At least four separate complaints from under-aged girls who claimed Edward Miller had molested them had been looked into. Each of the cases had been handled by a separate team of social workers working in a different local authority. Focusing their attention on the victims, rather than on the person behind the attacks, they never realized they were dealing with a repeat offender. The police were brought in each time but there was never enough evidence for them to be able to make any charges stick.