Jenny raised an eyebrow. ‘I’d say you had that already, wouldn’t you?’
‘Point taken.’
‘Anyway,’ Jenny went on. ‘I was getting to that, to this specific crime. There are some details I find interesting, in addition to the recce and the planning of an escape route.’
‘Such as?’ Banks asked.
‘Such as the occasion. Why target a wedding? As I said before, in America, schools and workplaces are the main targets. At one time post offices seemed such a breeding ground for mass murderers that it was called “going postal”.’
‘So what does our killer have against weddings?’
‘Not even that,’ Jenny said. ‘His thinking is unlikely to be so linear. But there’s something in there. Something in why he chose a wedding. Perhaps even why he chose that particular wedding. There’s all the usual stuff in his behaviour, of course, anger against women, or a particular woman, perhaps a failed marriage in his background, but you need to examine it from all angles. Revenge and envy are often strong motives for mass murderers. They’ve often failed and are envious of those who appear to have succeeded, or they’re avenging some real or perceived slight, perhaps from years ago. Something that might seem quite insignificant to us.’
‘The wedding got quite a bit of publicity around Eastvale,’ Gervaise said. ‘Minor local celebrities and all that. Model. War hero.’
‘That’s the sort of thing I mean,’ said Jenny. ‘Anything like that could have set off some dormant desire for revenge. A war hero, for example, could have been a symbol of something he wanted to destroy, maybe because he was a coward, or he thought he should have been given hero status himself but was overlooked. Envy and revenge.’
‘Why does it have to be a symbol?’ asked Banks. ‘Why couldn’t it have been that actual wedding itself he wanted to destroy? Or a particular person who was there? The bride or groom, for example. Both were hit. One killed. Could he have been after a specific person? Isn’t a cigar sometimes just a cigar?’
‘I haven’t jumped to any conclusions yet,’ said Jenny. ‘It’s an interesting idea, and of course he could have been after one or more people in particular, people he thought had ruined his life, but I’m afraid I don’t have enough to go on to take my analysis any further than that. If it was a terrorist attack, then perhaps a large social gathering was enough of a target. You also mentioned that the groom was a war hero. There could be something in that, too. A military connection. A number of mass murderers were found to have military backgrounds. You should certainly look at the soldiers who were with him in Afghanistan.’
Banks had already thought of that and mentioned it to the counter-terrorist investigator.
‘What was the order of killing?’ Jenny went on. ‘Did that mean something to him, or was he just firing randomly into the crowd? As far as I could make out, there were more female victims than male. Was that simply because they were wearing brighter or light-coloured clothes that stood out more from his perspective up on the hill, or was it deliberate? It would be pretty easy for him to have picked out the women from a group like that.’
‘We’re not sure of the order yet,’ Banks said. ‘And the victims weren’t all women.’
Jenny consulted her file. ‘Five of them were.’
‘But there were four men, too. Anyway, we don’t know the answer to any of those questions yet,’ said Banks. ‘We’re still trying to piece it together from ballistics and witness reports. We should be able to talk to more of the guests today. Naturally, everyone was pretty much in shock last night.’
‘Of course. Be sure to let me know when you have some answers,’ Jenny said. ‘It might be important.’
‘Will do.’
She packed away her folder and glasses in the briefcase. ‘If it’s OK, I’ll head out and try to catch up on a bit of sleep now,’ she said. ‘Or I’ll be even less use to you next time than I am already.’
‘You’ve been very helpful, Dr Fuller,’ Gervaise said.
Banks got to his feet. ‘Can I give you a lift?’
‘No thanks. My car’s outside.’
And with that, she was gone.
‘Well, that was interesting,’ said Gervaise. ‘I take it you two have some history?’
‘Many years ago,’ said Banks. ‘In fact, Professor Fuller worked with me on my very first case up here, after London. A peeping Tom. She was very good at her job, even back then, and that was before The Silence of the Lambs came out.’
Gervaise hesitated, then went on. ‘Alan, I know it’s none of my business, but I know where you were yesterday, and I never got the chance to say how sorry I am. Losing a friend is a terrible thing, the memories it shakes loose, even if you’ve drifted apart. The panicky feeling that you’re losing bits of yourself.’
Banks thought she spoke as if she knew what it was like. ‘Yes,’ he said, hand on the doorknob. ‘Yes, it is. Thank you.’
‘Childhood sweetheart, was she?’
‘Something like that. Yes.’
‘Just don’t lose sight of the good memories. That’s all.’
‘I’ll try not to.’
‘How’s the invalid?’ Banks asked Winsome when Terry had let them into his house near the village of Drewick, on the eastern side of the A1. Winsome still kept her flat on the fringes of the Eastvale student area, but now that she and Terry were engaged, she was spending more time at his place. Banks had marvelled more than once at how falling in love had loosened the grip of her previous morally strict and strait-laced approach to life. That morning, she lay on the sofa, half sitting up, with a tartan blanket draped over her.
‘I’m fine. Really,’ Winsome said. ‘It’s nice to see you, Guv. Annie.’
Annie leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
Terry Gilchrist clapped his hands together. ‘Tea, everyone?’ Then he went into the kitchen to put the kettle on and leaned in the doorway while it came to a boil.
‘How’s the shoulder?’ Annie asked.
‘It’s nothing. Just a scratch.’ Winsome bit her lower lip. ‘It’s the other stuff that’s most upsetting. I still can’t take it in.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Those people were our friends.’
‘I know,’ said Annie. ‘We’re trying to sort out exactly what happened. It’s not easy. We’re hoping you and Terry will be able to help us put together a sequence of events.’
Winsome glanced at Terry, who came and perched beside her on the sofa, taking her hand between his. ‘Terry was more involved than I was,’ she said. ‘I was inside the church a good deal of the time. Everything was chaos. I didn’t know what was going on out there.’
‘But not at first,’ said Banks.
Winsome fingered the tassels on the edge of the blanket. ‘No. Not then.’
‘We’ve even brought in a hotshot profiler from Australia,’ Annie went on. ‘Seems she’s an old flame of Alan’s.’
The kettle started to whistle, and Terry went back into the kitchen.
‘Before your time,’ said Banks. ‘Both of you. Believe it or not, I was young once.’
‘And married,’ said Annie.
‘I told you. Nothing happened.’ Banks felt his cheeks burning.
‘Methinks he doth protest too much. What about you, Winsome?’
‘Oh, leave him alone,’ said Winsome, smiling. ‘Is it true?’
‘Is what true?’ Banks asked.
‘That she came all the way from Australia.’
‘Yes. She’s taking up a teaching post at York again, where she started out.’
‘And you’re not married now, Guv,’ said Winsome. ‘You’re free as a bird.’