"Morning, Don," Carol said as she walked into the office.
"Morning, guv," he replied, looking up from his paper. "Paula just put the coffee on. "Better get it while you can."
She smiled. "Thanks."
As she poured herself a cup, she glanced over. "How are things going on that multiple murder case? Did you dig anything up?"
Don frowned and shook his head. "I've been checking the local files and unsolved cases. Nothing of the magnitude we're talking about."
"Anything from our foreign inquiries?"
"That was Liam and Kevin's job. I haven't heard anything from them, but DI Geoffries was in his office when I got here this morning, so who knows what he's got his teeth into." He came over to top up his coffee.
"With any luck, it will be that DNA test."
"Yeah."
She noticed the slight hesitation in his voice. "What is it, Don?"
"Hmmm? Oh, nothing. Nothing about this case, I mean." She waited for more. "Uh, you and Dr. Hill…"
"Yes?" she prodded.
"It's just… it's nice to see you two close," he stammered, embarrassed.
She saved him further embarrassment by not laughing out loud. 'It must have taken him days just to get that much out,' she thought of the big man and his rare foray into anyone's personal life, let alone hers. She softly tapped his mug with hers.
"Thank you, Don."
"Uh, yeah. Listen, I should, uh…" he gestured back to his desk.
"Get back to it."
He nodded.
"Let me know if you get anything. Oh, and have Liam stop by my office once he gets in."
"Sure thing, guv," Don said, back to business.
--
"A watched pot never boils, Kev," Carol said as she stood in his doorway.
The young man looked up. "Scientifically, that's not true," he answered. "A pot on a hot stove will always boil, regardless of whether or not it's being watched."
"Remind me never to waste a perfectly good expression on you again," she sighed. "I take it you're waiting for a call on that DNA test?"
"Yep."
"Did Liam get anything yesterday?"
"Nothing that raised any alarms. Hundreds of open cases on missing persons, but nothing that gave any indication that they were connected somehow. I was able to track down a contact number for the Violent Crimes office in Berlin, but the man I was told to speak with wasn't in. So it's a waiting game." He looked at his watch. "They're an hour ahead so hopefully, I'll hear something from him sooner rather than later."
"Good," Carol said. "If and when that DNA test…" She was interrupted by the soft ring of her mobile. "Carol Jordan. Good morning, DCI Samuels." She caught Kevin's look of surprise. "What? You're kidding. That's im… hold on." Snapping her fingers to make sure Kevin was watching, she turned back into the general office, with Kevin close behind her. With a quick gesture across her throat, she silenced the entire office. Intrigued, several officers gathered around her as she stood by the fax machine. The slow whirring of the printer was the only noise. Slowly but surely the paper slid its way out of the machine.
"Yes, I'm getting it right now," Carol said. A quick scan verified what DCI Samuels had already revealed. She turned away as others crowded around to read it. A murmur rippled through the group. "Shit," Carol whispered. She ran a hand through her hair and composed herself. "And what exactly is it you'd like from me, DCI Samuels?"
"My boss has already spoken with yours, DCI Jordan," came the displeased reply. "It seems we're to work on this together."
"In what capacity? And why?"
"Why? Well because apparently you sent the wrong man to prison."
Carol bit her tongue, then continued calmly, "Let's forget for a moment the banality of that statement –that the man I arrested couldn't be falsely imprisoned and commit two murders at the same time. If that is his DNA you discovered."
"It is," he huffed, "unless you want to go against the billion-to-one odds on DNA matching. It was his DNA we found at the first murder."
Carol wondered if now was the time to drop Tony's theory on him. She was saved the choice when he spoke again. "As for our working relationship, there should be no conflict of jurisdiction. You deal with Jeff Gibbons down there and let us deal with this nut job up here."
"I thought they were one and the same?"
"Listen, I don't like this any more than you do, but what has to be done has to be done. I'll concede your point –Jeff Gibbons couldn't possibly have committed the two murders up here. But by the same token, it is his DNA. So how did it get up here to the scenes? You find that out and we can take it from there."
'Oh, thank you,' Carol nearly muttered aloud. Instead, she flatly replied, "Fine. We'll have someone talk to Gibbons today and get back to you." She didn't wait for his response before hanging up.
When she turned, all eyes were on her.
"How much of that did you get?" she sighed.
"Enough to know this is severely screwed up," Don marveled.
"So it really is Jeff Gibbons' DNA?" Paula asked.
"So it seems."
"There goes Dr. Hill's reputation," Kevin said.
--
"I'm telling you Carol, it's not him," Tony stated emphatically.
Kevin scratched a spot behind his ear. "So you're saying DNA is wrong."
"No, not at all. But what I'm saying is, Jeff Gibbons didn't leave it there himself."
Carol looked at Paula.
"I called over like you asked," she informed her boss. "Dr. Hill's right. Jeff Gibbons hasn't left the walls of Bradfield Prison since he was put there three years ago."
Frustrated, Don looked around the room. "Then somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on. If it's his DNA, but he didn't leave it there himself… I'm afraid I'm having a hard time keeping up."
Tony leaned on the back of a chair. "Does Gibbons have visitors? Does he have a girlfriend? Is he allowed conjugal visits?"
As was regularly becoming the case, Carol quickly deciphered his line of thinking. She was none too thrilled about the hypothesis.
"Are you saying, as a result of a conjugal visit, Gibbons' girlfriend…" she waited, hoping someone would pick up her speculation. When none did, she joylessly continued, "… came into the possession of Gibbons'… DNA?"
The room lit up as light bulbs went on over everyone's head.
Don was the first to speak. "So you're saying, they did the deed, and she, what? Kept the condom?"
"And imagine, that's the best case scenario," Kevin remarked.
A collective groan of disgust went throughout the room, except for Tony who shook his head in amazement.
"You, who see the worst of humanity every day of your lives, repulsed by something that is ultimately the most natural act between two human beings."
"We all have our issues," Carol replied, a grimace still on her face.
"Besides," Don defended, "I've got no problem with the act. It's what she did after it that's got me. That's anything but natural."
Carol held up a hand. "Okay, let's say we go with this, regardless of our personal reaction. However we may feel, it is a plausible explanation. The bottom line is, if Gibbons' is in jail, and his DNA is at the scene, logic says it had to get there somehow. So, let's look at this angle for a bit. If it is a girlfriend, does that fit in with the murders? Could she have committed them and if so, why?"
"Although somewhat difficult, it wouldn't be impossible for a woman to smother another woman, particularly if the killer is in a position of leverage."
"Like on top of the victim," Paula said.
"Exactly. Though the dismemberment throws me off," Tony admitted. "Female serial killers are a rare breed. And violent female serial killers are almost an aberration. Most are very quick. A gun or a knife. Perhaps suffocation. But dismemberment?" Tony shook his head. "It takes time. And a lot of strength. Cutting through limbs is a man's job, in every sense."
"And then we have to ask, why?" Carol said. "Why kill these two women and why leave Gibbons' DNA at the scene? If they were a killing couple, wouldn't we see some sort of escalation in the murders?"
"Absolutely," Tony agreed.
She rubbed her temple. "And she couldn't possibly think it would have any bearing on his current sentence."
"And even if it did, he'd just be nicked for these murders," Kevin added.
"Makes no sense," Paula said.
Don emitted a humourless laugh. "There's our case in a nutshell."
"What about these other murders?" Tony asked.
"Still waiting on the Germans to get back to me," Kevin answered, "but other than that, we're coming up empty."
Carol sighed. "Well, keep at it. In the meantime, see if Gibbons has had any visitors since he's been locked up. See if you can track them down, make sure everyone's accounted for. If he's got a girlfriend, bring her in."
Kevin nodded. "And what'll you be doing, guv?"
She looked over to Tony. "The doctor and I are going to jail."
--
The small drab room inside was just as bleak as the outside, Tony thought glumly. If the flat green paint was meant to be a calming influence, it was doing its job, he supposed; it certainly wasn't adding any life to the place. A single plastic table was bolted down in the center of the room, and its matching chairs carefully short-chained to its legs. It wouldn't do to give anyone any ideas. The only joy Tony could glean from the place was from Carol's presence. He must have been staring because she shot him a look.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing." He shook his head and tried to explain. "I don't do well in these kinds of buildings, with all the life sucked out of them. Every young delinquent should be made to spend a weekend here. I can't imagine a more effective incentive to not get sent here."
"It could use a bit of colour," Carol admitted.
Before they could say any more, a large figure stepped in the doorframe. As he entered the room, the shuffling feet of a prisoner followed behind. The officer stepped aside and not-so-gently pushed the handcuffed man into one of the chairs.
"Dr. Hill, DCI Jordan, prisoner #6521478," the officer introduced, then took his post against the wall.
"You can call me 'Jeff'," the prisoner said with a smile. His short black hair partially framed a hard, angular face. The file said he was thirty-two, but he looked closer to forty-two. He craned around to look at his cuffed hands. "I'd offer you a handshake, but…" Neither Tony nor Carol bothered to respond. He looked at Tony with a menacing black gaze. "Scared?"
Tony didn't blink. Instead, he sat back in his chair and adopted an open, casual pose. "Why would I be scared? I'm not your type, Jeff."
Gibbons' gaze slid over to Carol.
"And I'm not brunette," she said.
His laugh was genuine and he shrugged. "No?" His eyes traveled over her. "That's a shame." He leaned back and attempted to mirror Tony's pose. "So to what do I owe this pleasure?" He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, as if divining the answer. "Oh, wait. I know, I know. It's something about…" his eyes opened, "my DNA found at a crime scene."
Carol didn't balk. "You're well-informed, Mr. Gibbons."
"My lawyer's trying to figure out how I could be in two places at once."
"So are we," Tony said.
Gibbons shrugged. "Magic, I guess."
"Not an accomplice?" Carol asked.
"An accomplice? And here I thought you'd try to pin those two murders on me."
"Well, it's as you said, Jeff, you can't be in two places at once. But your DNA can," Tony replied.
The killer scowled. "How's that?" Leaning forward, his eyes revealed an honest attempt to find the answer. When the pieces clicked into place, he began laughing. He rested his forehead on the table and laughed. When he was finished, he propped his chin on the flat surface. "Oh, that's a good one. You think I what? Wanked into a bottle and sent it off to my mysterious accomplice so he could plant it at the scene? Is that it? And the reasoning is what again?"
"Pad your murder total? Make yourself look more heinous than you are," Carol offered.
He chuckled unsmilingly. "Do you know who I am, DCI Jordan? I will go down as one of England's greatest serial killers."
"Well, one of the most prolific, perhaps," Tony corrected. "Besides, someone's hot on your heels now."
"Only one more to catch up," Carol noted.
"And I wish him the best of luck. But let me assure you, when I did those murders, it was me and me alone." He flashed another self-important smile. "There'll be no hangers-on when my story gets written."
"Is that all it was about, Jeff?" Tony asked. "Glory? Fame? It had nothing to do with your hatred of women? The need to overcompensate for whatever inadequacies you had?"
The chair scraped back against the floor as Gibbons stood up. The officer against the wall looked on, alert and ready. Ignoring him as well as Tony's comment, Gibbons predicted, "You'll never catch him, you know."
Carol gave him a hard gaze of her own. "We caught you, didn't we?"
Gibbons conceded the point with a shrug. "True. But he's not me. Not quite."
There was something in Gibbons' phrasing that caught Tony off-guard, but any attempt to question him further was thwarted when Gibbons stood up. Turning to the officer, he announced, "It's almost lunch, and it's shepherd's pie today. My favourite."
--
Carol's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Well, that was a productive visit," she said facetiously.
Tony shook his head. "On the contrary, it was very productive. He knows who it is, Carol. He didn't come right out and say it, but it was in the way he said things. And his parting remark. 'But he's not me. Not quite'."
"What does it mean?"
He held out his hands. "I don't know. But whatever it means, it's important."
Carol's mobile rang, and she glanced down to pick it up. "Carol Jordan." The voice on the other end identified himself and gave his purpose for calling. "Right," she said. "We're on our way right now." Shutting off the phone, she looked over at Tony. 'That was Kevin. They've pulled Jeff Gibbons' ex-girlfriend in."
--