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Chapter 5

‘You must be doing something right. I’ve just received my first complaint about you.’

Lambert was sitting in Tillman’s office, the blinds pulled down. ‘Let me guess, Dr Patel?’

Tillman nodded. ‘Was it worth it?’

‘Unless he’s an Oscar level actor, then we can rule out Eustace Sackville. Directly, at least.’

Tillman, who was leaning back on his swivel chair, raised his eyebrows.

‘But I do think there was something he wasn’t telling me.’

Tillman’s chair groaned as he pulled himself upright. ‘You think he arranged it somehow?’

‘No, but I’m not ruling anything out yet. Why are we working on this, sir? Even if it’s not a routine murder it’s not really our department.’

‘I told you, lots of interested parties on this one. You were requested. It seems your work on the Souljacker business has made you something of a celebrity. It needs to be contained though. I don’t want it leaking to the press.’

‘Really? Have you informed the uniforms guarding his room?’

‘Yes, and the friends you’ve been making at the hospital.’

‘Sackville’s a journalist.’

‘No press,’ interrupted Tillman.

‘Whatever you say. What is my team on this?’

‘You’ll be the SIO and head our team. We’ll use outside help where necessary. You’ll be needing this.’ Tillman handed him a policy book.

Lambert smirked. Tillman was not renowned for following the rules. When they’d been part of The Group, the majority of the investigations had been so secretive that there was little or no record of them.

‘You can laugh, but there is a lot of attention on this so do it right.’

Lambert left the room, still confused as to the importance given to the case. His team were assembled in the office, studying their laptops and case notes. Kennedy approached. ‘How did it go with Mr Sackville?’

He relayed the conversation, noticing how intently Kennedy listened, her wide green eyes rarely diverting from his. ‘Shall I get everyone together?’ she asked.

Lambert nodded.

It was strange to head up a team after so long. Lambert stood in front of the six-strong team and called for silence. The team stared back at him, their faces a mixture of apathy and curiosity. He told them about his meeting with Sackville.

‘What do we have in the way of family members?’ he asked the room in general.

‘It’s a weird one, sir,’ said Kennedy. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone in the way of immediate family. Both sets of parents have long since passed away. Both Mr and Mrs Sackville are only children. They married twenty-five years ago but are childless.’

Lambert paused. ‘That might be relevant. Close friends, colleagues?’

‘I’ve arranged a meeting with the editor of Sackville’s paper for this morning,’ said Kennedy.

‘Good. Let’s find out what he was working on. Get to know his colleagues. What about our victim?’

A young DC, the newest member of the team, Steve Devlin got to his feet. ‘Mrs Sackville worked as a librarian,’ he said. ‘Dulwich Library. I’m planning to head over there after this, sir.’

‘Give that to Kennedy,’ said Lambert, noting the look of disappointment on Devlin’s face. ‘Sackville gave me the name “Prue McKenzie” when we talked. Kennedy, find out who she is. Get her thoughts on what happened. If Sackville’s recollection is correct then we seem to have a killer who’s not scared to take his time. Why did he make Eustace watch?’ asked Lambert, thinking aloud.

‘It’s not that uncommon,’ said Kennedy. ‘Could be a power thing. Gets off on having his handiwork observed.’

‘Let’s check on The System for any similar cases where someone was forced to witness another’s murder.’

‘Why the wrists?’ asked Devlin.

‘Good point. The cause of death was two vertical incisions, one to each wrist. The autopsy may give us more. It was a long, slow death. Sackville seemed to think that was the killer’s intention. Again, that might be significant.’

‘It’s reminiscent of suicide obviously,’ said Kennedy.

‘Yes,’ agreed Lambert. ‘But the most important thing for now is to find out as much detail about Mr and Mrs Sackville. It’s imperative we have some idea of motive.’

‘What are you thinking, sir?’ asked Kennedy.

‘From what Eustace Sackville told me, we are looking at someone professional. A killer who gained entry into the flat undetected, who had the patience and confidence to stay at the scene as Moira died. This was planned in advanced and Moira wasn’t a random target.’