“Piece of cake.”
If anyone could get anything from the laptop, then it was Imogen. It was a skill she excelled at, and it had made her invaluable to the team. Calladine disappeared into his office and sat down at his desk. He needed to think. He needed to sift the information they had so far. But he particularly needed to know the meaning behind that name—Vida.
He logged onto the system and did an internet search.
Apparently Vida was a female name and more common in the USA.
Now why didn’t that surprise him? And where did it lead him? A nutter so obsessed with a woman called Vida that he’d taken to murdering other women and tagging them with her name. But why?
Why call them all by her name, and what had happened to the original Vida? He sifted through the file and took out a photograph of Madison Benneti. She’d been young, slim, with long fair hair and, of course, American. Was he seeking out women who looked like Vida?
“Sir! I’ve just had a call from Julian. He’s got a name for the second one—Vida 3.”
“How come?”
“Her DNA was on record,” Ruth told him. “She was arrested in a drugs bust two years ago at a student house in Manchester.”
“Who is she?”
“Serena Hall—and guess what?”
Calladine’s mouth pulled into a grim smile. “Don’t tell me—she was a student in Manchester, and American.”
“Got it in one. From New York actually—somewhere called Queens.”
“So now we’ve got a little more than just Alice’s theories to work with.” He picked up the phone. “I want to speak to Joanna Johnson.
This is Inspector Calladine from Leesworth Police.”
He gestured for Ruth to sit while he waited to be put through.
“You’re still looking peaky. Not coming down with something, are you?”
“No, just tired.”
“Mrs Johnson, It’s looking highly likely that someone is targeting students from the USA. I could do with you going through that list and letting me have the information today. I’d also like you to check if you had a student called Serena Hall, and if so, would you email me a photo of her as soon as you can? You might want to have a few words with the other American students and warn them to be careful. Particularly about social networking sites, and taking up with men they don’t know.”
“So this is real—something more than just Alice Bolshaw’s ramblings?”
“It is. If anything, we should all be grateful to that young woman. She’s done us a great favour by noticing what was going on.”
“I’ll get onto it straight away. I’ll commandeer some more staff to help.” She paused. “This is awful. Alice has been badgering me for weeks, and I’ve taken no notice. I’ll get back to you quickly.
Don’t worry, Inspector.”
“Seems to have shaken her up a bit. So what have we got, Ruth?”
“A serial murderer—and on our patch too by the look of things.
The body in the pile-up was one thing, but leaving the second one at the Leesworth undertakers was too much of a coincidence.”
“I think you’re right. He’s local but he’s hunting in student land.”
“I think that’s because he’s after a particular type. He wants young women from the USA who look a certain way—young women he calls Vida. And we know, because of the numbers, that there are bound to be more. But what’s he done with the rest of them, sir? Where are they being kept? Serena Hall’s been dead a while, so where’s she been? And we have to ask ourselves what’s prompted him to get rid of her now?’
“It has to be something major—something that’s forced him to change his usual method of operation.”
He rubbed his eyes. He was tired; too much to think about. His mind wouldn’t let go, so he could get no rest. It’d been a pig of a week, starting with his mother’s funeral. And now this little lot.
“You look as bad as I feel, Tom. You need a break.”
“I’ve got a lot of things rumbling around in my head. Sometimes I think I’m my own worst enemy. I really could do with being able to relax more, but the questions and theories are relentless.”
“Perhaps you need a night out—a few beers. Why don’t you ask the lads or even better, speak to Monika?”
“I’m a bloody fool, Ruth. I should never have messed things up with her. Do you think it’s too late?”
“Well, I don’t think the little fling you had with the blonde has helped. But if you’re feeling brave then why not try? Swallow your pride; mend a few fences.”
“But I was such an ass. What was I doing? That woman wasn’t much older than Zoe. What do you think—honestly?”
“I think you should try. Give it your best shot. She can only tell you to piss off. Why not do it now?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes, I really think you do. It might make you feel better to know you’ve tried, if nothing else.”
“I’ll ring her tonight.”
“I don’t think this is something you should do over the phone either, and what’s wrong with now?”
“Too much to do, that’s what.” An email appeared in his inbox.
“This is from Mrs Johnson.”
He sent the attached photo straight to the printer. “Get the team together next door, Ruth. Let’s look at what we’ve got.” He pushed the printout over to Ruth. “Remind you of anyone?”
“Is that Serena? Because if it is, then she’s scarily like Madison.”
Ruth shuddered and took the photo from him. “I’ll pin it on the board and tell the guys.”
“Julian says he’ll have something on the latest body within twenty-four hours, sir,” Rocco told Calladine as he walked into the main office. “He says she was in soil for a while, so he’s doing an analysis. He’ll try to pinpoint where she was buried if he can.”
Good idea—if the science could be that precise.
“Right, folks.” The inspector took up his position in front of the incident board. “It looks highly likely that we’re dealing with a serial killer. The victims so far are young women who bear a striking resemblance to each other, and are from the USA. We have two victims: Madison Benneti and Serena Hall. Madison Benneti’s friend, Alice Bolshaw, drew up a list of other American students who have disappeared from the university leaving no forwarding address and giving no explanations. Serena Hall is on that list. So I’m having their addresses and phone numbers dug out as we speak, and once I get them they’ll all need checking out. I want to know the whereabouts of every person on that list. Is that clear?”
“Do we know if there have been any enquiries from the police in the States?” Imogen asked.
“No. The university isn’t aware of any.”
“Why do you reckon that is, sir? Surely if a youngster goes missing in a foreign country, there’s all sorts of investigations.”
“I think it’s down to how he chooses them. With any luck, Madison’s laptop will prove helpful. Alice told Ruth that our man found Madison on a social networking site and then started a relationship with her. I think he goes not only for a physical type, but also for women who are alone—with no nosey family in the background.”
“I’ve cracked the login password already, sir.” Imogen spoke up.
“So with a bit of luck I’ll get into her inbox quite soon.”
“Then with a little more luck we’ll have something.” Calladine paused and shook his head. “The bastard doesn’t make it clean. He keeps the girls somewhere and tortures them over time. He removes some of their teeth and stitches the mouth shut, and with Madison there was evidence of persistent rape. In fact the girl was in the early stages of pregnancy and someone had attempted an abortion.”