“Yeah, it’s as though this guy just swoops in, sets his sights on the girl behind the bar, and swoops out again without anyone ever seeing him.”
Sally pondered her partner’s suggestion for a minute or two. “Maybe we’re missing something really important here. What’s the possibility of the murderer using some form of disguise?”
“Perhaps. But that doesn’t alter the fact that no one remembers either of the first two victims talking to anyone in particular, whether wearing a disguise or not.”
“You have a point there. Let’s hope some good news lies ahead of us then.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
After questioning the staff at the Royal Oak, they had the same outcome as they had at the first two pubs. No one had noticed anything out of the ordinary the previous evening. Driving back to the station, Sally said, “So, if there were no strangers at the pub last night, does that imply that we’re possibly looking for a regular, a local in the area?”
“It would certainly suggest that to me. All three crimes are located within a ten-mile radius, give or take a few miles, of each other. Someone knows the area well enough to take these girls to places off the beaten track. Would you do that if you were a stranger in the area?”
“No, I wouldn’t. If that’s the case, then why hasn’t anyone recognised who the girls were talking to at three separate pubs? Is it possible that we’re dealing with some kind of stalker? Maybe the guy didn’t go into the pubs at all.”
“Then we’re up shit creek if that’s the case, with no CCTV footage to trawl through.”
“Indeed. Right, we’re going to the lab and not leaving there until we get those bloody results. It’s the only positive lead we have, and someone is screwing with us by deliberately sitting on the results.”
“You think?” Jack asked, looking shocked.
She chuckled. “No, I didn’t mean it. Although it does feel like that at times. I was just venting. You’re my partner. It’s in the rules for you to listen when I vent, right?”
“Yeah. I must say, you seem to vent rather a lot.”
“Cheeky sod! I’ll pay you back for that uncalled-for remark.”
They arrived at the lab, and after Sally’s conversation with the lab technician handling the sample became heated, his superior finally intervened. “What’s going on here, Inspector? Can’t you see the amount of stress my people are under? Look around you. No one is sipping copious amounts of coffee, wasting valuable time.”
Are you insinuating that’s what coppers do? Sally smiled sweetly at the man, who was in his late fifties. “I can see that, Doctor. We’re also under a huge amount of stress at our end. The quicker we get those results and act upon them, the quicker we’ll get a murderer off the streets. He’s now killed three women to our knowledge. That doesn’t sit well in my conscience. Not sure if it would in yours, either.”
“You’re right—it doesn’t. You have my word that the results will be with you by the end of the day, five o’clock at the latest. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a vast backlog of samples to work our way through.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Sally and Jack left the lab. Sally kicked out at a waste bin in the car park. “Damn. That didn’t exactly go according to plan, did it?”
“What now?” Jack asked, looking as pissed off as she felt.
“Lunch, I guess, and plenty of it. I’ll treat us to fish and chips. How’s that sound to you?”
“Like you want me to fall asleep at my desk this afternoon.”
“Maybe a little excessive then, given the time of day. Okay, we’ll settle for a pasty from the baker’s. How’s that?”
“Better.”
They stopped off at the baker’s closest to the station, where Sally, feeling in one of her more generous moods, bought all the team lunches consisting of a pasty and a can of pop.
Once they’d eaten, Sally called the team around the whiteboard, and they spent the next hour recapping what little information they’d dug up, adding into the mix Alexina’s former choice of career. “We need to check to see if the other two girls ever went down that route, too, discreetly, of course.”
“How do you suggest we do that? We don’t have many family members available to question.” Jack frowned.
Sally knew he had a point—all the victims had few family members. “Let’s use our research capabilities on that one, Jack, okay? See if either woman has been arrested in the past for prostitution or, for that matter, reported anyone stalking them.”
He shrugged. “I’ll get onto it now.”
Sally smiled tautly at her partner. “Anyone else have any suggestions as to what we should be delving into next?”
The team all looked at her blankly. She’d never worked such a frustrating case in all her years on the force. Having vital evidence to hand but being unable to access or use it had never really fallen into her lap before. That underlying fact was torturing her the most. She left the team to go over everything they had dealt with during the last week and walked into her office to tackle paperwork relating to the cases she’d successfully brought to a conclusion in the past month. Lost in her work late into the afternoon, Sally jumped when the phone on her desk rang.
“DI Parker.”
“Inspector, this is the technician at the lab. I have the results ready for you.”
Sally’s heart began to gallop. “That’s excellent news. Can you fax it through to me?”
“Of course. Do you have the number? I’m sorry for the delay. Too many cases piled in at the same time.”
She gave him the fax number then said, “Not to worry. We have it now. I’m looking forward to seeing the results.”
“Sending it through now. Goodbye, Inspector.”
Sally pushed back her chair and rushed over to the fax machine. A lifetime passed before the sheet of paper appeared from the slot in the machine. She snatched it up and read the name aloud. “Les Dorling.”
She rushed into the incident room, waving the sheet of paper in her hand. “We’ve got it. I want everyone on this ASAP. Get me anything and everything you can find on a Les Dorling. According to this, the reason we were able to match a name to the DNA found on the victims is because he’s a convicted rapist. I want to know when he came out of prison, where he lives, what car he drives. If he’s got a job, I want to know where he works. And I want all that by the end of our shift.”
“Are we going to pick him up tonight?” Jack asked.
Sally nodded. “That’s the plan, partner. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. Just asking. I thought it would be better to grab him tonight rather than risk him going out on the prowl again, on the lookout for his next victim.”
“That’s what I thought, too. Get me his address first, and we’ll shoot off and pick him up, Jack, while the rest of the team try to find any other info that links him to our case.”
Twenty minutes later, Sally and Jack arrived at the suspect’s address. He was staying at a small bed and breakfast in a less-salubrious part of Norwich. Sally asked the rough-looking woman behind the reception desk if Dorling was in.
“He is. Who wants to know?” she responded tartly.
Sally flashed her warrant card. “DI Sally Parker and DS Jack Blackman. What room is he in?”
“You can’t just barge in here and pester my guests.”
“We’re hardly barging in, and unless your guests have something to hide, we’re entitled to talk to anyone we care to speak to. Now, what room is he in?”
“Number ten,” the woman responded with a scowl.
“Thanks. Don’t bother trying to warn him we’re on our way, either. We have this place surrounded.” Sally had gone up against dubious guesthouse owners in the past. The woman looked beyond Sally at the street through the glazed door, no doubt trying to see if more officers were outside the B&B.
“I don’t want no trouble. What’s he done?”