married?’ I asked.
‘No,’ Harker said. ‘Got divorced recently. Why do you ask?’
‘Charley told me that during one of the flashes, she saw the killer’s hand. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but she could see a mark on his finger where one had once been. I noticed the other day Jackson has the same type of mark on his finger …’
‘So he’s divorced. So are many men living in Marsh Bay,’ Harker reminded me. ‘It’s not enough.’
‘Have the printouts from Kerry’s phone arrived yet?’ I asked Harker.
‘I don’t think so,’ he said.
‘Jackson said he faxed off for them. It’s not as if he needs the phone to get that information, so why haven’t they shown up yet?’
‘Maybe they have,’ Harker said.
‘Maybe they were never requested?’ I said. ‘And what’s with this Alice Cotton? You never mentioned her back at my flat. How long ago did she die?’
Harker took a deep breath, and then said, ‘Last year.’
‘Last year?’ I cried. ‘Natalie Dean’s death was just three weeks ago! You told me that these deaths had been spread over ten years or more.’
‘And they have been,’ Harker said. ‘Except for the Dean girl.’
‘And let me guess – it was put down as either a suicide or a death by misadventure?’
‘Yes,’ Harker said, and I could feel the embarrassment seeping from him. ‘You’ve got to understand, Henson, I was on annual leave. Jackson dealt with the case in my absence.’
‘So that’s why CID was called out to the death of Kerry Underwood,’ I gasped. ‘Someone thought it was strange that two girls had died in a matter of weeks in the same circumstances and in the same place.’ Then, staring at him, I added, ‘That’s why you called SOCO and the Search Team in. It wasn’t to do with anything I said. You thought there was something not quite right too.You didn’t believe Jackson’s theory either.’
‘Okay, smartarse,’ Harker snapped. ‘You don’t have to be so damn cocky about it. Yes, I did think it was strange, but not too strange. I mean, there are regular spots where people kill themselves. Take the Forth Bridge. How many people have jumped from there over the years? What about that town in Wales, Bridgend. A place that would normally see two or three suicides a year, had about twenty-five in two years and all of them by hanging. But did it all point to a killer? No. This sort of thing has been happening for centuries. One person kills themselves, another hears about it and they do the same – it becomes kind of contagious. It’s known as the Suicide Cluster Phenomenon. And I bet you didn’t know about that?’
‘No,’ I admitted.
‘Okay, so there were two deaths in the same place within a few weeks of each other,’ he said. ‘But it didn’t start me thinking serial killer . There could have been a number of reasons.’
‘Like what?’
‘Internet suicide cults, for starters,’ he said.
‘You didn’t really consider that, did you?’ I asked him.
‘Why not?’ he growled. ‘It seems a more logical explanation than a seventeen-year-old girl witnessing the deaths in a series of flashes inside her head.’
‘Okay, you’ve made your point,’ I said. ‘But it still doesn’t rub out what Charley told us about the killer being one of us.’
We drove in silence, until Harker turned the car into the station car park.
‘What have you brought me here for?’ I asked. ‘I’m off the team, remember?’
‘You’re back for now or until I decide to kick you off again.’
‘Thanks, you’re all heart,’ I said, though I was secretly really grateful. ‘Did you tell anyone else that I took Charley up to the railway lines?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘That stays between you and me.’
‘Okay. Thanks. So, what now?’
‘I want you to check all the police car logs for the night of Kerry’s death,’ he said. ‘I want to see which car it was that Jackson booked out. I want to see if there are any scratches on it.
‘No,’ Harker said. ‘Got divorced recently. Why do you ask?’
‘Charley told me that during one of the flashes, she saw the killer’s hand. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but she could see a mark on his finger where one had once been. I noticed the other day Jackson has the same type of mark on his finger …’
‘So he’s divorced. So are many men living in Marsh Bay,’ Harker reminded me. ‘It’s not enough.’
‘Have the printouts from Kerry’s phone arrived yet?’ I asked Harker.
‘I don’t think so,’ he said.
‘Jackson said he faxed off for them. It’s not as if he needs the phone to get that information, so why haven’t they shown up yet?’
‘Maybe they have,’ Harker said.
‘Maybe they were never requested?’ I said. ‘And what’s with this Alice Cotton? You never mentioned her back at my flat. How long ago did she die?’
Harker took a deep breath, and then said, ‘Last year.’
‘Last year?’ I cried. ‘Natalie Dean’s death was just three weeks ago! You told me that these deaths had been spread over ten years or more.’
‘And they have been,’ Harker said. ‘Except for the Dean girl.’
‘And let me guess – it was put down as either a suicide or a death by misadventure?’
‘Yes,’ Harker said, and I could feel the embarrassment seeping from him. ‘You’ve got to understand, Henson, I was on annual leave. Jackson dealt with the case in my absence.’
‘So that’s why CID was called out to the death of Kerry Underwood,’ I gasped. ‘Someone thought it was strange that two girls had died in a matter of weeks in the same circumstances and in the same place.’ Then, staring at him, I added, ‘That’s why you called SOCO and the Search Team in. It wasn’t to do with anything I said. You thought there was something not quite right too.You didn’t believe Jackson’s theory either.’
‘Okay, smartarse,’ Harker snapped. ‘You don’t have to be so damn cocky about it. Yes, I did think it was strange, but not too strange. I mean, there are regular spots where people kill themselves. Take the Forth Bridge. How many people have jumped from there over the years? What about that town in Wales, Bridgend. A place that would normally see two or three suicides a year, had about twenty-five in two years and all of them by hanging. But did it all point to a killer? No. This sort of thing has been happening for centuries. One person kills themselves, another hears about it and they do the same – it becomes kind of contagious. It’s known as the Suicide Cluster Phenomenon. And I bet you didn’t know about that?’
‘No,’ I admitted.
‘Okay, so there were two deaths in the same place within a few weeks of each other,’ he said. ‘But it didn’t start me thinking serial killer . There could have been a number of reasons.’
‘Like what?’
‘Internet suicide cults, for starters,’ he said.
‘You didn’t really consider that, did you?’ I asked him.
‘Why not?’ he growled. ‘It seems a more logical explanation than a seventeen-year-old girl witnessing the deaths in a series of flashes inside her head.’
‘Okay, you’ve made your point,’ I said. ‘But it still doesn’t rub out what Charley told us about the killer being one of us.’
We drove in silence, until Harker turned the car into the station car park.
‘What have you brought me here for?’ I asked. ‘I’m off the team, remember?’
‘You’re back for now or until I decide to kick you off again.’
‘Thanks, you’re all heart,’ I said, though I was secretly really grateful. ‘Did you tell anyone else that I took Charley up to the railway lines?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘That stays between you and me.’
‘Okay. Thanks. So, what now?’
‘I want you to check all the police car logs for the night of Kerry’s death,’ he said. ‘I want to see which car it was that Jackson booked out. I want to see if there are any scratches on it.
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