‘Come on, we don’t want to miss this,’ he said.

‘This is weird.’

‘What?’

‘Well, I never noticed before how much our three victims look alike. I mean, it’s not like anyone would be able to mistake one for the other, they’re very different, but they are very much all of the same type. Dark hair, intense eyes. Strange, really.’

‘Not necessarily. Killers often have a particular type of victim they’re looking for. It’s quite common for men who go after prostitutes to kill all blondes or all brunettes. A lot of the gay male killers will go after men who look very similar to one another because that is what they find attractive. Even if it’s not sexual, as in the case of one man killing another, there may still be a distinct type. An ideal victim.’

‘Sounds like you’ve been reading up on this.’

Woods allowed a smile to creep along the corner of his mouth. ‘Just keeping it real. Come on.’

Collins and Woods joined Anderson and the rest of the team, who formed a semicircle around the large computer monitor where Rajid was sitting.

Anderson folded his arms as he waited for the chatroom conversation to begin. His face was taut with concentration and it was clear that the strain was starting to get to him, as it was the rest of them. Collins caught his eye as he looked around the office.

‘I have no idea how this is going to go,’ he said. ‘It may be a complete waste of time. The only thing we know for sure is that whoever is behind shygirl351, they’re not what they appear to be. And I for one am anxious to find out exactly who they are.’

Rajid hit a few buttons and a large window appeared on the screen in front of him. ‘Here we go,’ he said. The group shuffled forward, waiting for the first words to appear.

‘Is that an email programme?’ asked Collins.

‘Nah,’ replied Rajid. ‘It’s a chatroom site, pretty big with teenagers. Why?’

‘No reason. Just looks familiar.’

‘You don’t let Sophie go online, do you?’ asked Woods.

‘She’s a teenager with an iPod Touch. I couldn’t stop her even if I wanted to.’

A hushed silence fell over the room as the screen name of the undercover officer from CEOP appeared.

dangermouse37: hi

shygirl351: hey, nice to see you here again

dangermouse37: well I really enjoyed chatting to you yesterday

dangermouse37: I know you’re young, but you seem really mature

dangermouse37: much more so than most girls of your age

shygirl351: thx

shygirl351: flattery will get you everywhere!

dangermouse37: where might that be?

shygirl351: lol

shygirl351: depends on where you want to be

dangermouse37: I quite like the idea of being wherever you are

shygirl351: whoa, slow down there stud

shygirl351: this won’t be any fun if you try to rush things

shygirl351: lol

shygirl351: I’m guessing you must be new to this

dangermouse37: kinda. Sorry, didn’t mean to upset you

shygirl351: not upset. No harm done

shygirl351: so are you a friend of Patty?

dangermouse37: Who is she?

shygirl351: Not she, a he, silly. Patty’s my nickname for him. You probably know him as Patrick

A cold chill passed through the members of the team gathered around the screen. ‘Oh shit,’ breathed Anderson. There was an uncomfortable delay before the next words appeared.

dangermouse37: sorry, who are you talking about

shygirl351: oh come on, don’t play games. I’m not in the mood

shygirl351: you guys are all one big happy family aren’t you

shygirl351: CEOP and MIT, all working in perfect harmony

‘Oh fuck,’ gasped Collins.

‘How the hell does he know about CEOP?’ said Anderson.

‘O’Neill must have said something,’ Collins replied. ‘This is bad.’

dangermouse37: Where is Patrick now?

shygirl351: That’s more like it. Now you’re asking the right question.

dangermouse37: please, tell us where he is

shygirl351: He’s right here with me. I’m looking at him right now

dangermouse37: Is he all right

shygirl351: Depends on what you mean. He looks fine to me

dangermouse37: Can we speak to him.

shygirl351: Of course, I’m only looking at him from the neck up.

dangermouse37: You need to stop this right now

shygirl351: Stop now? But it’s so much fun

shygirl351: I’m just getting warmed up

dangermouse37: If you stop now, it might make a difference

shygirl351: You must be kidding

shygirl351: The only way you could believe that crap

shygirl351: is if you have no idea how many there have been

A wave of despair washed over the members of the team.

dangermouse37: Let us help you

shygirl351: I think I’m doing just fine on my own. Have to go now.

shygirl351: Things to do

shygirl351: People to kill

shygirl351: Bye

There could no longer be any doubt. Whoever was online masquerading as shygirl351 was also the killer of Chadwick, Miller, Gilbert and, it seemed, several others. It was also time to accept that Detective Sergeant Patrick O’Neill was almost certainly dead too.

In many ways it was a huge step forward for the investigation: at long last they had a definite suspect. But at the same time the development was a huge step backwards. It was clear that the killer was incredibly sophisticated and unafraid of being caught. They had long known they were dealing with someone extremely dangerous. Now that was looking like the understatement of the century.

Watching the online conversation had taken the wind out of everyone’s sails and the officers that made their way from the side office back into the main incident room did so with their heads bowed low.

Anderson followed them back, then called for their attention. ‘Okay, people, we need to focus. I know this is a hell of a lot to take in. This is the worst-possible scenario, but we still need to do our jobs – for O’Neill’s sake, and for the sake of any other victims that there might be out there. We need to find this bastard. I need you all to be on the case here.’

Anderson announced that there would be a briefing in thirty minutes’ time, after he’d had a chance to speak to DI Carter over at CEOP and plan a strategy. Collins and Woods headed back to their desks to wait.

Collins’s mind was filled with images of the earlier victims. Had the same fate awaited O’Neill? Were his excavated remains rotting in the back of some car waiting to be discovered? There but for the grace of God, she thought again.

But there were other thoughts in her mind too. She couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she had seen the chatroom page somewhere before and that it was important. She struggled to place it but came up blank time and time again. But then it came to her. She knew exactly where she had seen that pattern of windows before. She had seen them briefly that very morning, in the split second it took Dr Jacques Bernard to close the screen of his laptop computer.

‘Shit,’ she gasped.

‘What is it?’ asked Woods. ‘What have you got?’

Collins opened her mouth to speak but caught herself just in time. It sounded ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. But then again …

‘It’s funny, isn’t it, Tony?’ she said slowly. ‘All those things Dr Bernard was saying about the guy we’re looking for, about how he’d be fascinated by the workings of the police and would try to get a job that had close links to them, about how he’d be intelligent and methodical, good with computers.’

‘Yeah, what about it?’

‘Well, that could all apply to him, couldn’t it?’

‘Right, him and every other member of the civilian support staff, apart from the good with computers bit,’ said Woods with a grin. But Collins did not return the smile. ‘Are you serious?’