It came quickly. A wave of nausea, a pain under her right armpit, then pins and needles in her hand. Henley’s scalp prickled with sweat.
Inhale for three. Exhale for three.
She tried the breathing techniques her therapist had taught her, but her lungs were not co-operating. She hadn’t anticipated the panic would grip her like this. It had only been five days since the first body appeared.
‘Everything OK?’ Linh asked. Henley didn’t respond. ‘No. You’re not OK.’
Henley took a deep breath and tried to get rid of the nausea that was sweeping through her.
‘Come on. Let’s go outside.’
They walked up the stairs and Linh pushed open the fire exit door that led to what she mockingly called the roof garden. The thunderstorm had been brief. The air was still muggy.
Linh pulled out a tissue from her pocket and wiped the seat of one of the chairs.
‘Thanks,’ said Henley as she sat down and opened the bottle of water.
‘Feeling a bit better?’ Linh pulled out a vaporiser from her other pocket. She took a deep drag and exhaled a large cloud of raspberry-flavoured mist.
Henley leaned forward and put her hand under her chin. They were on the first floor, so the view was limited to the court car park next door.
‘I can’t believe that happened,’ Henley said. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve had—’ she stopped. She didn’t want to qualify what had just happened to her in Linh’s office by giving it a name. ‘It’s fine.’
‘But it’s not the first.’
Henley didn’t confirm the truth. Instead she said, ‘It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ve had a lot on and haven’t been eating properly, that’s all. I can’t survive on cups of tea and fast food.’
‘Coffee and cigarettes for me. Well, it used to be. God, I miss cigarettes,’ Linh said. ‘I know that it hasn’t been easy for you. You were off for so long.’
‘I wasn’t off, Linh, I was still working cases. I just wasn’t out here.’
‘Yeah, but it’s a bit different working a paper case than an actual blood-and-guts case, isn’t it? Anyone can—’
‘What have you got for me?’ Henley cut her off.
‘God, you can be a moody cow sometimes.’ Linh took another drag of her vaporiser before opening the folder that had been balancing on her lap.
‘I’m still waiting for the toxicology results for Churchyard. But the toxicology results for both Kennedy and Darego show the presence of Propofol, a general anaesthetic, and Atracurium besilate.’
‘Atracu… What is that?’ Henley asked. She sat up. That feeling in her chest, like a trapped bird in a cage, had subsided and the pins and needles in her right hand were now gone.
‘Atracurium besilate,’ Linh said slowly as though she were teaching spelling to a 5-year-old. Henley did not take offence. ‘It’s a muscle relaxant that they use during surgery. It works by blocking the pathways in the central nervous system and causes paralysis. Depending on the dosage, the effects could last for a minimum of four minutes or as long as an hour. I’ve forwarded the autopsy report for both of them to your secured email, but the injection site was here.’ Linh turned her head and tapped below her left ear. ‘Straight in the jugular vein. From the amounts that were found in their blood, I would guess that paralysis would have lasted thirty to forty minutes.’
‘Would it knock them out or only cause paralysis?’
‘Just paralysis. This isn’t like giving someone a roofie, which is really a sedative and takes about twenty minutes to kick in. This will get to work within three to five minutes of hitting your bloodstream and once it does paralysis is induced; blood pressure lowers and blood flow to the muscles decreases, but you’re still conscious.’
‘Olivier didn’t work like that.’
‘Not from what I remember. He cut their jugular and then cut them up. Your new guy appears to be injecting them with the AB before he cuts them up.’
‘What do you mean before he cuts them up? Is that how they all died?’
‘With the exception of Churchyard, your victims don’t have stab wounds. They either bled out once the femoral artery was cut or once they were decapitated. If you ask me this new one is a bit of a sadist. Darego had more Atracurium besilate in her system than Kennedy. I’m not telling you how to do your job, but I would say that—’
‘Our killer kept Zoe alive for longer.’
Henley walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down to the street. It was nearly rush hour. A police motorbike silently weaved between a queue of cars, its blue lights flashing. It suddenly dawned on her. The copycat was playing by his own rules, new rules. Not Olivier’s.
‘If blood flow is reduced, then they’re not going to die straight away,’ she said. ‘He wants them to see him cutting off their limbs. He wants them to watch. He wanted Zoe to suffer.’
Henley picked at the prawn crackers as the credits rolled. Emma was asleep on her lap, yellow blanket clutched tightly in her small fist. She should have put Emma to bed but she needed to hold on to her, like a lifeboat.
‘Bottle’s empty.’ Rob eased himself up from the sofa. ‘I’ll grab another.’
Henley groaned as her mobile began to ring from the other side of the room. Rob handed it to her. It was Anthony.
‘Anj, sorry to call you at home. But you know that I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important.’
‘I know. What is it?’
Anthony sighed. He sounded tired. ‘We’ve identified Churchyard.’
‘You have?’
‘Yeah. We had to use dental records which is why it’s taken so long.’
‘Who is he?’
‘His name is Sean Thomas Delaney. Date of birth, 16 May 1978. He was reported missing by his mum on Monday. I’ll email over what we’ve got to you. I have to run. There’s been another stabbing; down in Kennington this time. Another kid.’
‘How old?’
‘Thirteen,’ Anthony said with reluctant acceptance.
Henley opened the report. There was a photo attached. She didn’t notice that Rob had come back into the room.
‘Who’s that?’ Rob asked.
‘That is Sean Delaney.’
‘Hmm. Good-looking man.’ Rob refilled Henley’s wine glass. ‘I take it that he’s something to do with work.’
‘Yes. It’s work.’
‘Come on. Leave it. Let me take Ems up to bed. We’re supposed to be having a boring Friday night in, remember?’
‘You’re right.’ Henley put the phone down and watched Rob gently pick their daughter up. She reached for her glass of wine and tried to focus on the TV, but she couldn’t follow what was happening. Something niggled away at her. The thought that Sean Delaney looked familiar. That she had met him before.