The Principle of Evil: A Fast-Paced Serial Killer Thriller

She pushed herself off the table and walked over to him. ‘The killer may have done this before, and his MO might have changed. If he made any errors, our man may strike again and correct what went wrong the first time. She may not be the only victim. She may be part of something bigger.’

‘It’s a novice, not a pro,’ Crest said, and looked away from her with contempt. ‘If the man from the CCTV footage is the killer, he might as well have had a neon sign over his head.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re just not seeing it.’

This stirred a few murmurs from the rest of the team. Those who had worked with Claire previously had seen colleagues like Elias challenge her before, and knew he was skating on thin ice.

They knew it wasn’t so much the content of what he was saying. It was a reasonable assumption that Grant’s murder was a one-off and she’d died by the hands of a first-timer, but it was more the way in which he was behaving and speaking to Claire that niggled.

She leaned back against the table opposite Elias’s desk and her eyes bore into his. ‘Perhaps you can tell me who I should be looking for, Sergeant, since you seem to have a wealth of experience that rivals my own?’

Elias leaned back in his chair, wanting to distance himself from her as much as possible. ‘Daryl Thomas might be a good place to start.’

‘Yes, I’ve heard you had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.’

‘He’s got priors for assault. We know he’s smashed up his girls before… What’s to stop him making that final leap?’

‘Daryl’s a nasty piece of work, Crest, I’ll give you that, but he’s not a murderer.’

Elias took in her face for a moment before he spoke again. This time he lowered his voice and tapped his pen on the desk in front of him, as if driving the point home.

‘He’s stupid. He’s stupid and careless enough to rouse suspicion, and it’d be presumptuous of us not to question him, even if it is to merely cross him off our list.’

‘The killer’s not stupid. He managed to kill Nola Grant with one expert cut of his knife,’ Stefan said, coming to Claire’s aid.

The last sentence hung heavy in the air. A few nodded their heads in agreement with Stefan. Claire saw the eyes around the room watching her carefully and when her gaze fell back to Elias, she saw the twitch in his mouth. It was a silent “fuck you” and it made her blood boil.

‘Can I speak with you privately?’ Elias said.

She met his stare and gave a sharp nod. ‘When we’re done here and I’ve seen DI Fletcher. Now,’ she said, looking to Matthews. ‘I want a Family Liaison Officer assigned to Rachel Larson. See if they can find out any more information that might shed light on the last few days before Nola disappeared.

‘I want the CCTV footage processed ASAP. Statements on HOLMES, any inconsistencies I want flagged and followed up.’

The Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES), developed in the 1980s, held all the information gathered for the investigation, consisting of evidence, such as statements, to intelligence. It made it far less likely that the investigation could succumb to human error and made sure any coincidences or inconsistencies were flagged up.

Claire had a real fixation about it and made sure it was always referred to and scrutinised for a possible hole, link or lead in any case.

She looked at Elias, who sat staring at his desk, avoiding her gaze. ‘Crest, I want you to gather intelligence on Grant’s and Larson’s mobile phone records for the last few weeks, and get a location where Grant’s phone was when the voicemail was left on Larson’s phone.’

‘Whatever you say,’ he said in a flat voice without looking up at her.

She glared at him, but took a deep breath, pushing her anger down inside her, right to the pit of her stomach.

CHAPTER 13 (#ulink_d9dfd61d-8670-5ca6-b398-a9a3e2332bbb)

Stefan followed Claire into her office, but no sooner had he shut the door after him than it was open again. Stefan frowned as Elias came in, looking frustrated.

‘I thought I told you I’d see you later,’ Claire snapped. She sat back in her chair, arms folded. ‘And next time, I’d prefer you knock on my door before you barge in.’

‘I need to speak with you, it’s important,’ he said, ignoring her words and body language.

‘It can wait.’

‘No, it can’t.’

The tone of his voice surprised her. She eyed him curiously. ‘Fletcher, would you mind waiting outside a minute?’

Stefan said nothing, but cast Elias a warning glare as he left.

In the incident room, Stefan went straight over to Matthews, who stood over DC Morgan Roberts as she fast-forwarded through some CCTV footage. She was about to hit Play when Matthews stopped her as Stefan approached.

‘You got a minute?’

Matthews didn’t look surprised. He nodded. ‘Sure.’

They wandered towards the water cooler on the far side of the room, out of anyone’s earshot.

‘You’re gonna have to rein in Crest, and fast. If there’s any more shit with Claire, something’s going to blow up… most likely Crest.’

Matthews grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get him on the mobile records, keep him busy. Then if he fucks up, it’s my arse the Guv’s gonna be grilling.’

‘It’s not your arse Claire’s after.’

‘Look, I understand. Don’t worry.’

Stefan nodded and gave a half-smile as Matthews poured himself water from the cooler. He gripped the plastic cup and stared at the glass partition wall, one side of Claire’s office that didn’t have closed blinds. ‘She looks pissed.’