The Doll's House

108

‘I have made the decision to release Andrew Simpson on bail, once he’s finished assisting us.’

The assembled team reacted with surprise and unease. They had heard rumours to this effect but Helen’s statement still took them aback.

‘He will be tailed of course and other charges are still pending. If he cooperates fully and helps us conclude the investigation, we may review those charges. But,’ Helen carried on, ignoring the dirty looks crossing the faces of some of the female officers, ‘unless you hear otherwise from me, Andrew Simpson is no longer our prime suspect.’

There was a brief buzz of chatter and reaction as her words sunk in. Helen found her eyes drifting to Lloyd Fortune. As her DS, he should have been by her side, spearheading the investigation with her, but he had been strangely absent of late – both physically and mentally. Like her, he also looked exhausted.

‘Andrew Simpson wasn’t fussy in the girls he targeted and both DC Sanderson and I believe that he no longer fits our offender profile.’

‘So we’re back to square one,’ DC Lucas chipped in unhelpfully.

‘Not quite,’ Helen countered quickly, alive to the effect that dead ends can have on team morale. ‘We know the killer’s type. And we know he abducts these girls with practised ease, which suggests he had access to their properties or had the girls’ confidence.’

‘Which is unlikely as they were all so different,’ DC McAndrew contributed.

‘Let’s test that theory,’ Helen continued. ‘Pippa Briers was a young professional. Roisin a single mum on benefits. Ruby Sprackling was a wild child. Isobel Lansley seems to be an introverted student who seldom left the flat. How are we getting on with her parents?’

‘They’re flying in this morning. Should be here by the afternoon,’ DC Edwards replied.

‘Good. So we’ve got four very different women, who lived miles apart, but shared a look and lived alone. How does he get to them? Let’s start with Pippa.’

‘Lived in Merry Oak, worked in Sun First Travel in the WestQuay. Liked to socialize in Bedford Place,’ Lucas shot back.

‘Find out who her doctor was. Her dentist. Friends, colleagues, book groups, start from the ground and work up. What about Roisin?’

‘Lived alone in a council flat in Brokenford. A number of boyfriends, some of whom seemed to overlap. Roisin liked the attention. Never had a job, attended a few free baby groups, went to the post office once a week to get her benefits. Spent the rest of her time window shopping, drinking and dreaming of being elsewhere.’

‘Ok, run down the boyfriends – every single one of them. Find out who worked at the Post Office, who was at those mother and baby groups. Ruby we know about, but let’s go over everything again – old school friends, Shanelle Harvey’s boyfriends, anyone who knew where she lived, how she lived… What do we know about Isobel?’

There was an awkward silence, before DC McAndrew eventually replied.

‘Very little really. Lived alone, kept herself to herself. Had fifteen followers on Twitter.’

Helen noticed a couple of the younger officers smirk. Fifteen followers was the equivalent of social death to them.

‘Student at the Oceanography Centre. Was halfway through her course when she went missing. Her parents funded her, so she didn’t have to work to support herself. From anecdotal evidence we’ve gathered so far, she went to lectures and then went straight home again.’

‘Ok, let’s focus our fire on her. She didn’t drink, club, socialize. So what professionals did she come into contact with that might link her to the other women? How is he doing it? How is he getting access to them? Isobel had traces of trichloroethylene in her hair – is that important? Does whoever’s behind this have access to this anaesthetic or derivative of it for their work? Check and double-check.’

There was a brief lull as Helen came to a close.

‘What are you waiting for?’

The team sprang into action, hurrying off to check and recheck their leads. Helen was furious at herself for wasting so much time on Price and Simpson. She hadn’t really had a choice but this would be of no comfort to Ruby. If that girl died, Helen knew she would never forgive herself. Would this last throw of the dice finally yield results or were they already too late?