Maggie didn’t get much sleep after she and Kate returned home, and when she saw Kate the next morning, the black circles under her eyes weren’t hidden by the make-up. Andy had a few days off work so didn’t need the car, and Maggie was grateful as she felt more comfortable driving Kate to and from work, especially when she now had potential colleagues to look into with regard to the case. Maggie didn’t want to think the worst of people she worked with, but if it was someone involved with the case, the implications would be astronomical.
Kate had been quiet on the way to Markston. Maggie would ask Nathan or DI Rutherford to speak with DI Calleja and keep an extra eye on her. It would be so easy to assume that Kate was handling the situation, but her mood and behaviour towards Maggie, as if they were strangers, told a different story. A revelation that Kate may work with a killer would no doubt be making her feel more vulnerable. Her job should be somewhere she felt safe and secure.
The first thing Maggie did when she got into the office was speak to Nathan and relay the conversation from the night before.
‘I’m not sure what to say. That’s serious shit if it’s one of our own.’ He ran his hands through his hair. Maggie could see the strain on his face.
‘I know. But it also makes sense. In fact, I’m not sure why we didn’t look at this angle before.’ Truth was, Maggie was so wrapped up in her emotions and worrying about her friend, she’d failed to pick up on the simplest clues and that was messing with her head right now. ‘The only problem is, we’d need to get the details from the firm Kate was registered with in London. How forthcoming do you think they’re going to be?’
‘Leave that to me. In the meantime, could you cross-reference new agency staff that started around the same time that Kate did? If we think he followed her from London, he will have started around the same time or shortly after. We could give two months leeway either side of her start date at the DAHU. Remove the women off the list and see what we’re left with. Are you OK? I’d have thought you would have picked that up before any of us.’
‘Of course, I should have and I will from now on.’ She looked away, embarrassed that her superior saw her failings so quickly. ‘I’ll see if Bethany can get the ball rolling on that. Are we including other agencies? Ones we work closely with, as I don’t think we should limit ourselves to police staff. My gut tells me that whoever we’re looking for may know Kate in a professional capacity, but not so close that they’d get caught. Given the DAHU is a multi-agency team, it might be worth checking out Social Care, Probation, the drug and alcohol services …’ Maggie paused while an idea festered in her head.
‘What is it? Your brows have gone all funny.’ Nathan swirled his finger around her face.
‘I don’t know yet. I was just wondering about the nature of the victims’ injuries. I know Dr Blake said that the killer wouldn’t necessarily have or even need medical knowledge to undertake what they did to the bodies, but …’
‘Spit it out, will you!’ Nathan’s patience was growing thin, but Maggie didn’t want to put an idea in his head that could be completely unfounded.
‘I’m just recalling a few weeks ago when we found Tracy Holloway and I called Dr Blake’s office. It took ages and she finally answered the call herself because she said she had a lot of inexperienced agency staff working in the forensics team.’
‘Well we’ll have to include them too as they worked closely with the DAHU when those domestic abusers were being murdered.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I’ve got to go now. I’ll have DI Rutherford speak to DI Calleja and also reach out to one of my London contacts to help with the agency info down south.’
Maggie nodded and was just about to leave Nathan’s office when he called out to her. ‘Don’t overstep the mark with anyone, OK? I know exactly what you can be like when you get an idea in your head, but right now, we still need everyone onside. We have to tread really carefully and keep this on a need-to-know basis. Dr Blake is still pissed off about what happened with Charlie.’
She was about to protest, but that would just prove her boss right, so instead she gave him a thumbs up and trudged back to her desk. She quickly wrote out all the departments that were linked to the DAHU and had agency staff on a regular basis. She tore off the paper, and walked over to Bethany’s desk.
‘This could prove to be a major task, so if you need to use the analyst or want to pass it on, let me know but it’s crucial we get as much detail as possible while trying to keep things under the radar. Do you think you can do it?’
Bethany read the paperwork and nodded. ‘Yeah, I can do this, but it could take a day or two to get it all together. It’d help if I had something more to narrow things down … Wait, I can contact HR for some things. Leave it with me.’ Bethany turned to her keyboard and made a start.
Maggie squeezed her shoulder. ‘You’re a star. I may be pushing it but is there any chance you can get it back to me by tomorrow?’
‘You’re joking, right? You do realize there could be hundreds of people given that Kate’s been here well over a year. I was being more than generous with two days and now I think about it, it could be even longer.’
Maggie held her hands up in defeat. ‘I was only asking. We need that information, but I get that it’s a mammoth task, so as soon as possible will be great.’ She didn’t want to think about what could happen until then or she may lose her shit. Maggie smiled. She felt her confidence returning. She’d need that now more than ever if they were going to catch the killer before he chose his next living doll.