The Visitor (#3 - The Craig Modern Thriller Series) (14 page)

Beth sniffed again and nodded, shuffling out of the room in an erratic line. She’d managed to cycle down but Jack had a taxi waiting to take her home. Otherwise he’d have to book her for being ‘drunk in charge of a bicycle’. And that wouldn’t look good on her C.V.

Craig walked out to the back office, raking his dark hair. ”Well I know we’ve got to keep an open mind, Jack. But if either of those women are murderers then there’s no hope for the health service.”

“True. But you’ll be checking them both out just the same.”

Chapter Twelve

“Liam, it’s Davy. I’ve got that information for you on McAllister. You w…were totally right! But how did you even know to look? It didn’t come up on any of the first level checks.”

Liam nodded to himself. He knew it. McAllister was lying.

“Experience has to count for something lad. Print that out for me, would you? And just keep this to yourself for the minute. I want to do some more digging.”

***

3.55pm.

The briefing room had three boards set up at the front. Liam had anticipated Craig’s approach well. One of them was covered with information on Evie and her father. Liam indicated the others. “I thought we’d be looking at the McCance and Bryson cases too, boss.”

Craig nodded, hanging up the flip chart he was carrying, on a free tripod. Then he leaned against the front desk and looked at the wall clock. Three-fifty-five. Nearly time to start.

People filtered in slowly and Liam stretched his long legs out across the doorway, playfully making new entrants hop over them.

“Where are Nicky and Davy, Annette? Could you get them down please? They’ll need to be in all the briefings. Liam, do we have a probationer attached to us?”

“Aye, a wee lad called Martin, up from Fermanagh for a few weeks. He started this morning.”

“Get him here as well then. Plus, Joe Rice is coming, and possibly Karl Rimmins from Drugs.”

“Joe’s definitely coming - he’s upstairs now. But I didn’t see Karl.”

Craig handed round coffees as everyone trickled in, calling them to order at five past.

“OK. Hello everyone. Do you all know each other? And welcome Martin, glad to have you with us. We’ll have a chat at some point this week, but I’d like to move on for now.”

Martin nodded, surprised at being addressed so amiably by a D.C.I. He was a freckled lad of about twenty with a broad open face and the high colour of the healthy. He wore a brand new suit and a tie with a knot so small that it looked like a tourniquet. Craig remembered his own early attempts and smiled at him.

“Right. Liam’s going to update us on what’s been happening since yesterday.”

“Aye. Now, the M.P.E., that’s the slang for the Maternity, Paediatric and Endocrine part of St Marys’ Healthcare Trust. It’s on Elmwood Avenue, near the junction with the Lisburn Road. Where the old Dunmore Medical Centre used to be.”

Craig leaned forward and Liam paused to let him speak.

“Sorry Liam. But before we get to specifics, I need to tell you that this case has top priority. Both Dr Winter and I believe this to be, not one murder, but possibly three so far that we know of. Most likely by the same killer.”

Joe and Martin were shocked and immediately started asking questions. Craig held up a hand, quieting the room.

“Let Liam outline things first please, then we can deal with any questions. But we have to catch this one quickly, before they kill someone else. There’s possible evidence of escalation. Joe, is Karl coming?”

“Sorry sir, but he’s in Court until Friday. I’ll get what I can from him.”

“Thanks. I’m nipping up to see Andy later as well.”

Liam ran quickly through everything they knew about the first two cases, and then paused for a question from Annette.

“Did these women have anything in common outside the hospital, sir? Did they know each other, or did they all know anyone at the hospital?”

“All good questions, with no answers. We’ve a lot of the preliminary interviews covered but we’re not deep into the detail yet. Joe, Davy and Martin, could you work with Liam and Annette to get deeper background on the victims and ward staff please? Nigel, Murdock and Beth Walker in particular. Include all the issues Annette’s just asked about. Davy, can you start looking for sources of Pethidine? Liam can give you John’s list on that.”

Davy Walsh was the squad’s handsome twenty-five-year-old analyst. He was brilliant with technology and shy with people, an impression added to by his dark Emo fashion and mild stammer on ‘s’ and ‘w’. When he’d joined the squad the year before he would hardly speak to Craig. But his confidence had grown now, enough to present at meetings and banter Liam ruthlessly. It had also gained him his first steady girlfriend, Maggie Clarke, a talented journalist. Unfortunately, she worked for The Belfast Chronicle, the local tabloid rag.

Davy worked at the speed of light for a salary half of what he was worth, and Craig hoped that he would never leave them. But the public sector never paid analysts enough to hold them long.

Davy started speaking confidently. “The retail pharmacies and G.P.s aren’t a problem. I can contact the professional and retail bodies easily. But the s...street drugs could be an issue.”

“Yes. It’ll be nearly impossible to access the supply. But try D.C.I. White on that, Davy. He’ll know the local dealers, if anyone does.”

“Aye, ask D.C.I. White, hey.”

Liam imitated Andy White’s Dungiven accent with astounding accuracy. Never missing out his tendency to say ‘hey’ after every other word. Craig laughed and then stared him down, in case he was working up to one of his bantering sessions. Fun as they were they were too busy for one right now. Liam stared back at him, feigning hurt.

“OK, thanks Davy. On the victims. We need to know everything about them and whether they knew each other? Did they have anything in common? Look at their causes of death and what information that gives us about our killer? We’ll get more from John on that soon, but we can start building a picture now.

Why were they killed? Unknown as yet. But Evie is our best chance to get leads, so let’s look at her closely first. Evie is Tommy Hill’s daughter, so we need to look at his enemies as well as any that she might have had personally. In particular, look at the families of the men he killed in the 1980s. And Joe - ask Karl what enemies Tommy might have made from his drugs racket.”

Joe nodded sleepily, eyeing the plate of biscuits sitting beside Craig on the desk. Craig caught the look and handed the plate around, not skipping a beat.

“When were these women killed? We know the answer to that. And so far the killings have been six to eight weeks apart. We also know where they were killed. In the Maternity Unit at the M.P.E., in side-rooms near the Unit’s front door. How were they killed? Liam has covered the use of drugs and Caesareans, but
why
was that method used? It’s very unusual. And in Evie’s case Dr Winter doesn’t think that was her final cause of death. We don’t know what was yet. The answers to all these questions should tell us who killed them.” He turned back to Liam. “Carry on please.”

Nicky was sitting beside Liam and Craig watched as she busied herself, minuting the meeting in her own quirky shorthand. Her crossed leg was swinging rhythmically, moving her sequined high heels back and forth in a flashing arc at the edge of his vision. They were matched by sequins on her swan patterned jumper and black leggings. It was a conservative outfit by Nicky’s standards. Craig smiled to himself. She always brightened up the squad.

She worked quickly and quietly, somehow managing not to recoil in horror at the things she heard. As Liam’s deep voice outlined the trauma that Evie had suffered, the only sign of Nicky’s emotions was in her change of speed as she wrote. Slower at sad information, faster when they broke off to banter and chat.

Craig wondered how she coped with everything she heard. She was a secretary, not a police officer. But she gave nothing away. Only glancing up occasionally during the fifteen minutes it took Liam to cover Monday night’s events. And summarise Tommy Hill’s history, known habits and associates.

“Since he came out of the Maze in ’98, Tommy says he’s been the model citizen. Helping at the youth-club. Gardening, golfing...”

“And grass.” Joe’s sing-song voice broke through Liam’s bass and Craig nodded him on.

“Tell us what you know, Joe.”

“Well, as you all know, Tommy’s well known to the Drugs Squad. They have him under surveillance on and off. And they figure that his community work is a front for dealing.”

“Dealing what?”

“Pretty much everything below Heroin, sir. But I’m sure he’d know where to get his hands on that as well.”

“That could be important, Joe. Drugs were part of the murder, although we’re not sure that they’re the cause of death. We’re still waiting for Dr Winter on that. But if Tommy has access to hard drugs, follow it up with Karl, please.”

Annette leaned back in her chair and stared at Craig. “But why would he kill his own daughter, sir? Or the other women? And aren’t drug murders normally a woman’s game?”

“You’re right Annette. What motive would Tommy have to kill them? On first look he’s got no motive to kill Evie, but we need to trace any connections there might be between Tommy and the first two women. Female serial killers are still rare, despite the Jessica Adams case.”

Craig was referring to a case that they’d encountered the year before, where a young women had killed three people and then herself.

“Studies show women tend to murder men they’re emotionally close to.” He glanced over at Liam. “Usually their husbands.” The men gave a dry laugh and Annette and Nicky nodded in agreement, looking pointedly at Liam. “I don’t know how Danni didn’t do it years ago.”

Craig laughed and continued. “It’s also usually for material gain. But you’re right Annette; women’s preferred methods of killing are poisoning or drugs. They also often kill in healthcare settings.”

“Hence the Angel of Mercy label from the press, s...sir. Or they’ve got Munchausen’s by proxy.”

Craig nodded at Davy, agreeing. “Does everyone know what that means?” Martin stared blankly at him. “OK, briefly it means someone who seeks attention, and gets it by injuring someone else and then saving them. Typically it’s a carer.”

“Like the Beverly Allitt case.”

“Exactly. OK, moving on and keeping an open mind. If our killer
is
a woman, then Beth Walker has to be our top suspect. But it’s still much more likely to be a man. And this one looks like an organised offender; a Double-O. I was going to come to this later but we might as well cover it now.”

Craig nodded his thanks to Liam, and then turned over the cover of the flip chart he’d brought. The first sheet was covered in bullet points headed ‘Serial Killers’.

“I’ll run through a few general points and cover the typical Double-O profile. Then let’s see what fits our killer.”

Martin sat forward eagerly and Annette noticed his face reddening as his tie tightened, threatening to cut of his oxygen supply. She reached over and tapped him on the shoulder, signalling it was OK to take it off. He smiled gratefully at her as his colour returned to normal. Davy watched the interchange with a quick flash of jealousy - he was the baby around here. Craig was still talking, completely missing the exchange.

“I’m not getting into ‘Criminal Minds’ depth on method or signatures today, just the general points. Other than to say you all know the modus operandi is the killer’s particular way of doing things. They’re the things they see as necessary to committing and getting away with the crime.

And the signature is an act that usually has nothing to do with getting away with the crime, but is important to the killer in some personal way. Such as religious symbolism, leaving tarot cards etc. There’s often a psychological basis for the signature, something in their past that they feel compelled to show. M.O.s can change but signatures rarely do. They can evolve, but basically signatures are consistent and true to the killer. They’re the killer’s compulsion.”

Martin’s eyes widened in excitement - a serial killer on his first day! None of his class would believe it. Liam caught the look and shook his head. The things that thrilled kids nowadays...

“OK, we know that every murder is committed because somebody wants something, even if it’s just the buzz. A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people over more than thirty days, with a ‘cooling off’ period between each. The motivation is based on psychological or sexual gratification, or both.

Most serial killers are in their twenties to forties and, sorry guys, but almost all are male. That’s why Jessica Adams was so unusual. The murders are often connected to some significant event in the killer’s past. So whoever killed Evie may have something personal going on, that may link to a past event in his life.”

Nicky stopped to listen, fascinated. Craig might have said that it wasn’t ‘Criminal Minds’ but it seemed pretty close to her. He leaned against the desk and continued.

“Most kill close to home or work. They stick to familiar places - it’s their comfort zone. Killers who use a ruse to trap their victims typically possess good social skills and are known as organised. Whereas those who use a blitz-style attack are less comfortable with conversation - they’re disorganised killers. As I’ve said, I think we’re dealing with an organised offender here.