Author's note: all usual disclaimers apply.

Warning: this contains references to intimate sexual acts.

Story 1 of 3 in thanks for your contributions to Nat's fundraising. I will release one per week. It's still not too late to donate, as we are almost at the level for a fourth story. Just saying...

With his squad gathered around the whiteboard, Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley cellotaped two photographs on it, one on each side. He pointed to the one on the left. "Tracy Parkins. Twenty-two. On Thursday, she went to the Portsmouth funfair with her boyfriend, Josh Betts. They entered the Tunnel of Love and when they emerged, Tracy was dead beside him. Post mortem shows a broken hyoid bone."

A short woman stared at the photograph. "So, she was strangled."

"Yes, Havers, it looks that way. Winston, do we have the boyfriend downstairs?"

The young constable nodded. "They brought him in about half an hour ago. Why are we involved?"

Tommy pointed to the other photo. "Lynette Lake. Twenty-one. Also found dead after a fun fair ride last Saturday week. Also strangled."

Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers raised her eyebrows. "Same ride?"

Tommy shook his head. "Not exactly. Different fun fair but also a Tunnel of Love."

"Creepy," Winston said.

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Two strangulations in a Tunnel of Love. Just goes to show that love can choke you to death."

"Feeling trapped, Winnie?" One of the other constables asked. "Williamson proving too much for you?"

"Enough," Tommy said, glaring at the officers. "Two women are dead, and you're joking about it."

"Sorry, Sir," the constable mumbled.

"I didn't mean to make light of it," Nkata said.

"Just remember that these people only have us now to speak for them. It's our duty to find the truth for their families."

He felt Barbara's eyes boring into him. He turned and gave her a quick smile. She did not react and continued to look at the photos. "You think it's more than a coincidence, Sir?"

Tommy shrugged. "Possibly. It is unusual to have two similar deaths within a week."

"Where was Lynette found?"

"Kings Lynn."

"They're miles apart," Winston said, "why go so far away?"

Barbara let out a long sigh making Winston grimace. Tommy tried not to smile as his sergeant explained the obvious. "Because they were less likely to be linked."

Winston looked at the map on his phone. "So, you think we have a Tunnel of Love serial killer running around England? There are 45 fun fairs in England."

"If it is one killer, I plan to capture him well before he completes a circuit of them," Tommy said.

"Or her," Barbara said. "Strangulation is not a man's sport alone. Could be a woman who's been hurt by love."

"Then why not kill the men?" Winston asked.

Tommy raised his finger and pointed at the board. "No, Barbara might be right. A woman may think another woman is easier to kill. Or maybe her man went off with another woman."

"Or she's a lesbian and was jilted," Winston added a bit too eagerly for Tommy's liking.

"Also, a possibility," Tommy acknowledged, "but try not to make this grubby, Nkata."

"Sorry." Winston looked down as if hiding an expression that would annoy his boss.

"How do you want to handle the interview?" Barbara asked.

"Sympathetically, I think. Portsmouth police arrested him as soon as the pathologist released his autopsy results. Betts seemed confused. I have seen the tape of his interview. They went hard, but he kept to his story. I think we might learn more by treating him as a witness."

"How did we end up with him?" Winston asked.

"Portsmouth also saw the report of Lynette's death and thought it was an unlikely coincidence. They decided to hand it to us. Right, Havers with me. Winston, use that map and find all the Tunnels of Love in England. See if any have had any unusual problems in the last year."

"How?"

"It's an art called detection. Check the police reports, and newspapers, and here's an idea, you could ring them."

Winston grimaced. "Sure."

Barbara instantly felt sorry for the young man across the interview table. His eyes darted from one to the other as if sizing up which of them would hit him. Betts was dressed in blue trousers and a greased-stained blue and neon yellow shirt, the uniform of a tradesperson. His ruddy complexion and neatly-trimmed dark red hair made him look older than twenty-two, the age listed on his file. Beside him sat his duty solicitor, a man Barbara could only describe as 'world-weary'. Dressed in a brown pinstriped suit, beige shirt and faded green tie, he looked more like a prop than an effective lawyer.

After Tommy had completed the mandatory introductions for the tape, he surprised Barbara with his first question, "so why did you kill Tracy?"

The man closed his eyes as if realising no one believed him. He opened them slowly. "I didn't kill her."

"Then who did?" Tommy's voice remained sceptical.

Betts shrugged. "I have no idea. Everyone loved Trace. She's warm and generous and… was. She was warm and generous. We were going to be married next summer. I wanted to spend our lives together. I didn't want to kill her."

Tommy raised his eyebrows. "You didn't want to kill her? So, was it an accident? A sex act gone wrong?"

The man shook his head. "No."

"You were in the Tunnel of Love," Tommy said, "dark place, just the two of you. You wouldn't be the first couple to have tried a quickie in there."

Barbara struggled to keep a straight face, wondering if Tommy had himself tried "a quickie" at a funfair.

"No," Betts said slowly, "we were just holding hands."

Tommy hit the table. Barbara, Betts and his dour solicitor all jumped. "You went into a Tunnel of Love and just held hands? I don't believe you."

"I… we… it was the third time we'd been through. We…" Betts voice trailed off.

"We what?" Tommy demanded.

"Alright, we'd already… not a quickie, but… I'd satisfied her."

Barbara raised her eyebrows. She had never been in a Tunnel of Love and felt a pang of regret. "Not the other way round?"

Betts' face shone like a traffic stop light. "Err, not there. She had… you know done me in the House of Horrors."

Bloody hell. Young people and their sex drives."In the House of Horrors? How many trips had that taken?" She was more curious than thinking it relevant.

Betts looked down. "Only one. I… having her go down like that, it kinda excited me."

Barbra remained intrigued. She had been through some Houses of Horror in her time, and could not imagine anything remotely sexy about them. "Despite the scary monsters leaping out?"

Tommy glared at her, but Betts answered. "It helped. You know... do it somewhere you shouldn't, and you might die any minute."

"I'm sure," Tommy said, exchanging a look with Barbara that for once she struggled to decipher. "And you returned the favour?"

"Not exactly. Trace liked…" Betts raised his hand and wiggled his middle finger and thumb.

Barbara tried not to look at Tommy for fear she would laugh. His face barely moved, but she saw the shock.

"I see," Tommy said. "So why go around the third time?"

Betts shrugged. "I paid for three. We'd done it before. In there. Trace sort of warmed up slowly. Then you come out in the light and have to keep a straight face and then you go again. It's fun, but I thought we'd need three. But I guess the House of Horrors made us both hornier this time."

Tommy didn't look convinced. "So, why not kiss and cuddle afterwards?"

Betts shrugged. "You don't always, do you. Sometimes you just… bask in it."

"Hmm," Tommy said, his face darkening markedly.

Barbara smiled. So do you? She would like to think he wasn't a 'basker'.

Tommy adjusted the file in front of him. "If you were holding hands, didn't you notice anything? Her hand moving?"

Betts shook his head. "Nah, nothing. She didn't pull her hand away or anything."

Tommy leant forward. "I struggle to believe that. Convince me."

Betts sighed. "I swear. I didn't feel anything until we were about to come out. I spoke to Trace, but she didn't answer. Then we came into the light, and I saw her…" He shuddered. "She was sorta blue, and her head was on one side... and her eyes. I'll never forget her eyes. Bright red, like they was bleeding. I thought it was a joke, then I let go of her hand and it fell away and I knew. I just knew.

"Okay," Tommy said more gently. "Did you see or hear anything in the ride?"

Betts shook his head vehemently. "Nah, nothing. I was basking. You know how it is. I was miles away."

Just you and your penis. Barbara grunted then leant forward. "Did Tracy say anything unusual had happened to her recently?"

"Like what?"

"Being followed, strangers approaching her, weird texts or phone calls?"

"Nah, nothing."

Tommy shut the file. "And you didn't see anything or anyone unusual when you were queuing up, or on the ride?"

Betts frowned. "Well, there was a bloke behind us, he was by himself. The attendant sent him away and told him to find a lover first. They had a long queue so I guess they wanted bums on seats."

"But you had three rides?"

"Yeah, you can buy one, two, or three tickets. They're different colours, then you just stay on."

Tommy and Barbara silently agreed. Betts wasn't the killer. "Alright, Mr Betts," Tommy said, "you can go, but please let us know if for any reason you are planning to leave Portsmouth."

"I have to go to Winchester for work. I…"

"Anywhere outside your normal routine."

"Sure," Betts said sounding anything but.

"Sir," Winston said with enthusiasm as Tommy and Barbara returned to the squad room. "There was an incident in St Ives. A woman claimed to have been attacked in the Tunnel of Love ride but the local police couldn't find any evidence. They thought she imagined it."

"Imagined being attacked?"

"She said she was grabbed on the neck, but she was riding alone in her swan, and…"

Barbara made a noise that could be mistaken for a laugh or a grunt. "Her swan?"

"Yeah," Winston said, "haven't you been on one? They have little swan-shaped seats that travel on the water…"

Barbara raised her hand. "Enough. Why didn't the police believe her?"

"They thought she was attention seeking."

"When was this?" Tommy asked.

"About three months ago."

Tommy marked the month on the map pinned beside their whiteboard. "He certainly gets about. He failed and he learned from it. Now we have to get ahead of him."

"How?" Barbara asked.

"Let's start with a visit to the latest crime scene. We'll leave here first thing in the morning. Tonight, focus on finding if there are any more victims out there."