‘What?’ shouted Emily Parkinson.
‘Joseph Rowlands worked at Daisy House for eleven years.’
‘Is that our link?’ Ridpath marched over to the picture and tapped it. ‘We need to find out more about this man. I’m becoming increasingly convinced that finding the hands in a backpack at Daisy House was no coincidence. Dave, you stay on Rowlands. Discover what happened to him after he was released from prison.’
‘Will do.’
‘And, Chrissy, find out about all the people who worked at Daisy House, there’s a link there, I feel it in my water.’
‘What do you want me to do?’ asked Oliver.
‘You help Dave, he’s not as quick on his feet as he used to be.’
The older detective smiled. ‘I’m built for comfort not speed these days. But I can still beat you in a race to the pub, Ridpath.’
The door to the incident room opened and Inspector Holloway barged in. ‘Connor and Ridpath, see me in my office, now. I want a full update from both of you.’
The door remained open as Holloway walked away down the corridor.
They all stared at each other.
‘His Master’s Voice,’ said Dave.
‘We have a nightmare amount of work and only a short time to get it done,’ said Ridpath. ‘Work quickly, but even better, work smartly. I guess he wants us to see him now, Dave.’
‘After you, Ridpath.’
Slowly, they both followed the chief inspector down the long corridor to his office.
‘This feels like going to the headmaster when I was at school, worrying I was going to get the cane.’
‘They don’t use corporal punishment in schools any more, Dave.’
‘More’s the pity.’
The chief inspector was waiting for them. ‘Sit down, you two.’ He pointed to the two seats in front of his desk. When Dave Connor and Ridpath had made themselves uncomfortable, he continued speaking. ‘Bring me up to date. The acting chief constable is up my arse looking for a result and he wants it quickly.’
Ridpath was tempted to check under the table to see if the acting chief constable was there, but felt it wouldn’t have gone well with Holloway. Instead he glanced across at Dave Connor. Even though Ridpath was, to all intents and purposes, now running the investigation, he knew enough about GMP politics to understand that Dave had to take the lead on this. After all, it was his manor and his boss.
The detective understood immediately. ‘We discovered the identity of one of the victims—’
‘One of the hands?’
‘Yes, sir, one of the victims,’ Connor repeated, making sure his boss understood they were talking about people here. ‘His name is… was,’ Connor corrected himself, ‘Joseph Rowlands, and he was reported missing in 2018. We’re actively looking at his record and checking out his last known address, relatives, friends and acquaintances.’
‘Record?’
‘He was a convicted sex offender, sir, served sixteen months of a two-year sentence in Walton.’
‘Shit, just what I need, a bloody paedo…’
Dave Connor ignored him. ‘We also have a lead on the backpack the hands were found in. We should be able to get more by this afternoon.’
‘Nothing on the other two hands?’
‘One is a male and the other a female, but both had been embalmed, so the DNA may have been compromised. Hannah Palmer and the lab are trying their best to obtain usable DNA.’
‘What about fingerprints? You’ve got bloody hands, haven’t you?’
‘There wasn’t any blood on the hands, sir.’
‘Don’t take the piss, Dave. Any matches on IDENT 1?’
‘They’re still trying to get good samples, sir, so no matches on the fingerprint database so far.’
‘Push them to work harder, Dave.’
‘They are doing their best, sir.’
A grunt greeted this statement. Holloway thought for a moment. ‘Is his lot helping?’
It was as if Ridpath wasn’t there.
‘Most definitely, sir. DI Ridpath and his team have been indispensable.’
Another grunt.
‘Listen, Dave, I want this wrapped up quickly and off our books. I see you’ve logged it as three different cases?’
‘Three different victims, sir, plus there may be more.’
‘More?’
‘We may not have found the others, sir. They may be kept in a different place. Plus we haven’t found the bodies yet. We don’t know what happened to them.’
‘Don’t tell me there could be more, Dave, it’s not what I want to hear.’
‘It’s a possibility… sir.’ Ridpath spoke for the first time.
Holloway eyed him with disdain, before turning back to Connor. ‘Keep your investigation to what you’ve already found, Dave, don’t go hunting for more. Understand?’
‘Understood, sir, but—’
‘No buts, Dave, just clear these three… victims as quickly as you can, preferably before Monday. We have the divisional meetings next week and I want these off my books. I want to report a win to the acting chief constable and if it’s not possible, I want to move this investigation over to the Cold Case Unit. The hands are at least ten years old, correct?’
‘That’s probably not true, sir, Joseph Rowlands didn’t vanish until 2018.’
Holloway stared at Ridpath. ‘Right, over three years old. Good enough for me.’
He opened up a file on his desk covered in numbers. ‘Well, I won’t hold you back from your work.’
Both Ridpath and Connor understood they had been dismissed. They stood up and walked towards the door.
‘Make sure you clear it by Monday, Dave,’ Holloway said without looking up from his file.