“Okay, I have one more important form to fill in, and then we’ll shoot over there.” Sally picked up the form, scanned the page, and threw it back on the desk. “Sod it! It can wait.”

Sally and Jack rushed out of the building and drove to the location. Several cars were already at the scene, including SOCO and the pathologist’s vehicle. The whole car park was cordoned off with crime scene tape, and the motel owner, a man in his late fifties, stood in the reception office window, glowering at them.

“Hello, ma’am,” the PC guarding the motel room greeted her.

“All right, Tim?” Sally smiled at the PC and walked in to find the pathologist examining the body. “Hello, Simon. What have we got?”

“A murder,” he replied in a flash.

Sally groaned and raised her eyes at her partner. “Thanks for clarifying that. Anything I should know about?”

“Why don’t you stop going around the houses and come out and say it, Inspector? You mean, ‘Can this crime be linked to the others?’”

“Yes. I don’t have to remind you that we’ve already arrested a suspect and placed the man on remand for those crimes, do I? Do we know how long she’s been lying here?”

Simon shrugged. “Not long, a few hours. If the accused is behind bars, then in all probability, I think we could be looking at someone being a smartarse and copying.”

“Well, the location is certainly different from what we’ve come to expect. I’ll go and check with the manager, see what info I can get out of him. See you in a mo.”

“You do that.”

Sally and Jack left the room. “He seemed pretty hacked off,” Jack noted.

“Yeah, something was definitely bugging him. That’s why I chose to retreat. I’ve been on the end of one of his foul moods once too often in the past.”

Jack held open the door to the reception area for Sally. The manager was standing behind the desk, his arms folded, glaring at them. Sally showed her ID and introduced Jack and herself to the man. “What can you tell me about the person who booked the room?”

“Nothing much.”

“Come now, Mr…?”

“Chamberlain. Nothing. A regular kind of guy, that’s all.” He shrugged.

Sally glanced around the office. “No CCTV cameras, I suppose?”

“Nope. It’s on the agenda for 2030, I believe.”

“Okay, that’s not very helpful. Was the room booked for a couple or just the man?”

“Nope. If I’d known he was bringing a bit of tottie back for the night, I would have kicked up a fuss and demanded the couple rate.”

Sally hated dealing with obnoxious men. Her insides clenched with annoyance. “You’re referring to a woman who has lost her life, Mr. Chamberlain. That’s a very disrespectful comment.”

“Couldn’t give a toss, love. She shouldn’t have ended up in a motel room with a murderer, should she?”

Jack nudged Sally, urging her to remain calm. He spoke next. “If you stick to the facts and refrain from forming opinions about a dead person, we’d appreciate it.”

“What do you want to know?” the man snarled back.

“If you didn’t see the woman arrive, maybe one of the other guests did. We’ll need to question them,” Sally stated.

“No guests stayed here last night. We tend to be dead, excuse the pun, during the week. We do most of our trade at the weekends.”

“That’s a shame. Has the man ever used this motel before? Do you have his name? Did he give you an address?”

The man shuffled his feet and avoided eye contact.

Sally exhaled a breath. “Don’t tell me, he paid you cash in hand, no questions asked.”

He bared his rotten teeth in an embarrassed smile. “Like I said, trade is shite during the week. I have to make up the loss somehow.”

“You’re unbelievable. I’ll be sure to notify the nice folks down at HMRC about you trying to cheat the system. I don’t suppose you can possibly give us a description of the man, either?”

“No, you’re right. I can’t. We get lots of ordinary folks taking rooms. I’ve had no need to question their motives for staying here. It was the same with this guy. He offered cash, and I agreed. Report me to HMRC if you like. It ain’t gonna alter the outcome of what I can tell you, Inspector.”

“You might as well add another sign by the roadside then, telling folks that murderers are welcome just as long as they’re willing to pay in cash.”

“Smart. I might just do that,” he replied acerbically.

Jack stepped forward a few paces, but Sally tugged on his arm to restrain him. “Leave it, Jack. He’s not worth it. We’ll just make sure we cordon off the area for an extra few days. How does that grab you, Mr. Chamberlain?”

“Do what you like, the business is dead anyway. The receivers are moving in next week.”

“I’m not surprised, with the type of people skills you’re portraying. You need to find a more fitting vocation for your sucky attitude.”

“Yeah, and you need to get out there and find a killer… just saying.”

Jack intervened the warring couple again. “At least tell us what kind of car he was driving.”

The man’s eyes rolled to the side as he thought. “A dark Mondeo. That’s all I know, so don’t bother asking me for the registration number.”

“Thanks,” Jack replied.

Dissatisfied, Sally and Jack left the office.

“Well, I suppose we should be grateful he clocked the bloke’s car. Let’s see what cameras are located in the area, Jack. That car must be on at least one of them.”

“My thoughts exactly. I’ll call the station.”

“Hold on. Let’s drop back to the motel room and see if there’s an ID for the girl. You can get the next of kin info at the same time.”

Simon was leaning over the body when they entered the room. “Everything all right? Is there something else we should know about?”

“Apart from the fact that the killer is escalating, you mean?”

“It can’t be the same killer, Simon. We checked the remand centre—he’s still lying on a two-inch mattress in a cell.”

He shrugged. “Then I need to re-examine all the bodies again to see if there is any other DNA that will lead us to who the real culprit is.”

“What about the wounds? Can you tell us what the positive cause of death is?”

“A fatal wound to the heart. He exerted a lot of force, because the knife he used was of the short-bladed variety. She has bruising to the mouth where he probably held a hand over it while he carried out the attack. If that is the case, then I would say anger was his motivation.”

“Maybe she changed her mind once he enticed her into the room,” Jack offered.

“I’m more concerned if we have the right man banged up for the previous crimes at the moment. What if the DNA was wrong? Is that possible?”

“No. You know that as well as I do, Inspector,” Simon replied impatiently. “To me, despite your theory, going by the available DNA, there is no doubt that this man is guilty.”

Sally sighed. “What a mess. Then we need to rush the results through for the DNA found on her. We’re stuck until we have that.”

“I’ll do my best to rush things along due to the importance of the issue.”

“Okay. We need the woman’s ID so we can contact her relatives. Do you have it?”

Simon picked up the victim’s small handbag and removed the woman’s purse. “Let’s see… I have a credit card with the name Tracy Brand.”

“Anything with her address on?” Sally asked hopefully.

Simon pulled out a recent electricity bill with the woman’s name and address on. “Here we go. Flat two, Duchess Street, Lingwood.”

“That’s not far from here. Let’s get over there, see if anyone is at home.” Sally turned, expecting Jack to follow her. She called over her shoulder, “Two days, max, on the results, Simon, if you can.”

“I have enough welts on my back already, evidence of your slave driving,” he called after her, and she chuckled. She knew he would do all he could to get the results promptly—that set him apart from the other pathologists she’d worked with over the years.