The information the team had amassed by now was extraordinary. They’d been tasked with uncovering every detail about each of the four women’s lives, as well as building up profiles of every doctor and surgeon in Mildenheath. They’d built up a database of Polish people of interest and started to look at links between the lives of the women, including their medical histories, social lives and any local pub or businesses they frequented.
Mildenheath being a town of barely 35,000 people, there were, of course, a fair few crossovers. What really stood out, though, was a piece of information uncovered by DC Debbie Weston, who’d spent the last couple of days phoning every hairdresser in the town, amongst other things. Mildenheath had a fair few hairdressers’ shops, but that was nothing compared to the number of mobile hairdressers listed in the Yellow Pages. It hadn’t taken her long before she’d got a hit.
‘I spoke to Terri Kinsella, the owner of Terri’s, a shop on Eastfield Road,’ Debbie said. ‘I didn’t believe it at first, but apparently all four women went there to get their hair cut.’
‘Blimey,’ Culverhouse replied, finally having found something to jolt his mind away from thinking of the letter he’d received from Helen. He had been expecting something of the kind, but it still rankled. He knew, though, that he had bigger fish to fry. As much as he desperately wanted to see Emily again, he’d waited years already and a few more days or weeks wouldn’t hurt. He felt guilty for putting the job first again, but reconciled that with the assertion that he was trying to save someone’s life.
‘When did they all last have an appointment?’ he asked, getting his mind back on the task in hand.
‘That’s the weird thing. Marla Collingwood used to go about once every three weeks. She was quite fussy about her hair, apparently. But then Emma Roche and Keira Quinn only went every now and again. Lindsay Stott was a bit more regular with her appointments, but even she hadn’t been in for a while. It’s a very popular shop, though. It’s huge, and their prices are really good.’
‘Great, I’ll remember that next time I need a short back and sides,’ Culverhouse said. ‘So this whole idea of the silent confidant might not be so strange after all.’
‘Exactly. And get this. I asked the owner if the women went to see a particular hairdresser. They all went to see the same person.’
The officers in the incident room were deadly silent, waiting for Debbie to provide them with the name of their new prime suspect.
‘Fucking spit it out, will you?’ Culverhouse barked.
‘It was Queenie Kinsella. Her mother.’
‘F... What?’ the DCI replied.
‘I know. She’s eighty-three, apparently, but people specifically request her to do it because she’s so good. People see her like a mother figure.’
‘Well, she is. She’s Terri’s mother, for a start,’ Frank Vine proffered helpfully.
Culverhouse stood with his hands on his hips. ‘Are we all missing the fucking point here? The woman’s eighty-three! How do you think she managed to kill four fit young women? Not to mention putting on a man’s voice in the phone box that night. I mean, I’m sure she’s a brilliant hairdresser but she’s not a fucking shapeshifter.’
‘Yeah, it is a bit weird, I know, but it’s the only lead we’ve got. You have to admit, with everything else being totally unconnected, it’s odd that they all went to the same hairdresser, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, Debbie, it’s odd,’ Culverhouse said. ‘But so are BDSM, sadomasochism and morris dancing. Just because it’s odd doesn’t make it suspicious. Apart from morris dancing, that is.’
‘I can get down there and speak to her if you like, guv,’ Wendy asked. ‘I can’t go for an hour or two, but I don’t think they’d be open yet anyway, would they?’
‘I’ve got her home address,’ Debbie said. ‘I didn’t think it would be a good idea to be sending police round to the shop. Apparently she only works mornings, so she’ll be home by one-thirty.’
‘Okay, I’ll pop over at some point this afternoon,’ Wendy replied.
‘Want me to go, guv?’ Luke Baxter said, jumping in. ‘I can probably pop over and meet her after she finishes at the shop. Get on top of things as quickly as possible. No time to lose and all that,’ he added, looking pointedly at Wendy.
‘I’m quite capable of doing it myself, thanks, Luke.’
‘Actually,’ Culverhouse said, diffusing the growing atmosphere, ‘why don’t you both go along? It might do you good to work together for once instead of constantly trying to wind each other up.’
Wendy looked at Luke and tightened her jaw. This wasn’t going to be her idea of fun.