“If it’s disused, how did someone find the body?”

He shrugged. “Lucky break, I guess.”

“Do we know how long it’s been there? What kind of condition is the body in, decomposing or what?”

“I don’t know, boss. All I know is that a body has been reported and that the pathologist is on his way over there now, as we should be.”

“All right, Jack. Keep your toupee in place. What’s biting you this morning?”

He mumbled something as he turned away from her. Sally shuffled the rest of the paperwork together and set it aside then stood up and slipped on her jacket. The incident room was buzzing when she joined the rest of the team. “Okay, guys, you keep digging into the other two murders while Jack and I go visit the crime scene. Let’s hope the DNA is the same and we’re not dealing with either another killer or a copycat on our patch. Joanna, have you chased up the second DNA results this morning yet?”

“Not yet, boss. I’ll get on it straight away. I know it’s Monday morning, but it’s been almost a week now. I’ll remind them of the promise they made.”

“You do that. How do they expect us to catch a killer if they can’t furnish us with the DNA results? Okay, climbing off my soapbox for now. Are you ready, Jack?”

“Yep.” He walked out of the incident room without waiting for Sally.

Sally stopped by Joanna’s desk. “What’s eating him this morning? Do you know?”

“Nope. He’s barely said two words since he arrived, and that was to bite Jordan’s head off about something minor.”

“That’s not like him. Trouble at home, maybe?”

Joanna shrugged. “Probably. I’m sure he’ll tell us when he feels ready to open up.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Looks like I’m in for a fun-filled morning.”

Joanna nodded and reached for the phone. “You and me both!”

Jack was leaning against Sally’s car when she walked out of the station, his face turned upwards as if seeking out the springtime sunrays.

“We haven’t got time for you to top up your tan, Jack. Leave that until your holiday, eh?”

“What bloody holiday? We’ve had to cancel it.” He kicked out at the gravel.

“Shit! Why? No wait; fill me in on the way.”

They both climbed in the car, and Sally drove off, heading for the crime scene. The area had become more familiar to her every time they drove out that way. “So?”

“To be honest with you, I’m just too damned angry right now to discuss it, boss.”

“That bad! Surely nothing can be so bad that it forces you into cancelling your summer holiday, mate. Is Donna all right? You guys haven’t been arguing, have you?”

Jack remained silent, and Sally noticed his hands wringing together in his lap. She’d never seen her partner look so wound up. Something major was afoot, but she thought he would fill her in when the time was right. Nothing ever got Jack down. Years in the forces meant he had a chilled-out nature that was ideal for his role as a DS. So to see him in such turmoil concerned Sally greatly. “Okay, I’m taking the hint and butting out. I’ll just say one thing, Jack. I’m here if you need to chat. You know I can keep a confidence, right?”

“I know, boss. When the time is right, I’ll let you in on the secret. I just need to sort things out up here first.” He jabbed a finger at his temple.

“I understand. I hope you get things sorted soon.”

He turned to look out the window at the passing countryside. “I doubt that.”

Sally cringed, feeling helpless that she couldn’t help her partner through his difficult time. However, on a purely selfish note, she hoped his problems didn’t come with any lingering lapses in concentration where his work ability was concerned.

They arrived at the crime scene to find Simon and his team getting suited and booted beside his vehicle.

“Just got here?” Sally called out.

“Been here a few minutes, Inspector. If you have intentions of coming inside to view the body, you’ll need to get togged up first. Tony, sort out another couple of sets for the detectives, will you?”

“What do we know about the victim? Anything yet?” Sally slipped one leg into the paper suit Tony provided for her.

“Not a lot right now. Similar MO in that she had traces of semen found on her leg, and she was naked.”

“Damn, even more essential to chase up that DNA sample from the lab.”

Simon frowned. “Have you still not got that? Want me to make a phone call later for you?”

Sally let out a long breath. “If you could, that would be marvellous.”

With everyone dressed in white suits, gloves, and blue paper slippers, the team entered the building. Doubtful about falling debris from the crumbling walls and what was left of the floor above, Sally paused at the entrance. “Shouldn’t we wear hard hats instead of flimsy paper?”

“I took a quick look and came to the conclusion that the roof and floor above appeared to be sound enough, for now at least.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” she said, her tone full of sarcasm.

“There’s our victim.” Simon pointed off to the side, just feet ahead of them.

“Do you think she was murdered elsewhere and then dumped here?” Sally asked.

“Maybe.” Simon replied with a shrug.

The group approached the corpse.

Sally felt the need to cover the girl’s body, as she always did when she stumbled across a naked female victim. “Shit! Another young girl. Can you get us an ID to start us off?”

Simon nodded and removed the woman’s small handbag from the pile of clothes. He flipped open the front flap and extracted her purse. “Let’s see. Alexina Graham. A miss, according to her bank card.”

Sally motioned for Jack, who still seemed a little distracted, to note down the woman’s details. He took out his notebook and jotted down the information from the ID.

“I have to say, he’s a very obliging murderer,” Sally observed.

Simon frowned at her. “That’s a very crass thing to say, Inspector.”

“I didn’t mean it to be. It’s just an observation. How many murderers have you come across who leave a DNA sample at the crime scene and their victim’s IDs lying around?”

“Good point. It’s as though he’s crying out to be caught.”

“Precisely. Which is why it’s imperative we get that DNA result pronto. Sorry to keep harping on about it, but it’s a fact. That’s three young women who have been murdered now. If we’d had the result back earlier, maybe—just maybe—we could have prevented this one,” Sally said, pointing at the victim.

Her harsh words seemed to strike a chord, because Simon sighed and nodded. “I’m not disagreeing with you, Inspector. Perhaps we should make a public appeal to all the criminals out there to take a week off so our forensic departments can catch up. My team does the best it can, really.”

“No need to be sarcastic, Simon.”

“Believe me, if I hit you with sarcasm, you’d definitely know about it. The damn budget has got us all down, Inspector. There’s no point ‘harping on about it,’ as you said. To keep working is the best we can do. Now, shall we get on with our work?”

Sally stepped closer to the body. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Well, the first and most obvious thing I’ve noticed is that the victim was strangled, and again, we have traces of semen on her thighs, just like the other victims. That means we can categorically say that we now have a serial killer on our hands.”

Sally sighed heavily. “I kind of suspected that after the first two murders. Why the break?”

“Sorry? I’m not with you, Inspector.”

“Almost six days between the second murder and this one, and yet the first two happened within twenty-four hours of each other. So why the break?”

“Maybe this one was killed around the same time, too,” Jack offered. “We’re off the beaten track here, so that’s possible.”

“Good point.” She turned to the pathologist. “Simon?”

“Well, I can assure you this victim was killed within the last twenty-four, more likely twelve hours, judging by the rigor that’s set in.”