Sam noticed that Jo had been sitting quietly, contemplating all the evidence throughout the morning briefing. After the rest of the troops were occupied, the sergeant approached Jo's desk.
"Penny for them?" Sam perched on the edge of the meticulously tidy desk, wondering how someone with such a heavy caseload could keep their workspace so ordered – not a skill she had ever mastered!
"When Zain was giving the run down, it got me to thinking. I use the same gas company as the other victims. I suddenly find myself separated from my partner, needing to change the name on my bill. We know that he stalks his victims first, checks out their routine, their houses. I'm sure it's no coincidence that all the properties had unobserved rear passageways to make his life easier. My house has that alleyway at the back, it's right in the middle of the territory he's been working in so far, we could make use of that, try and lure him into showing himself." Jo looked to Sam expectantly.
"You can't really be asking me to let you act as bait for this monster? I thought you were planning on staying with me for a while." Sam's heart leapt at the thought of Jo being put at risk of becoming a victim to this nameless, faceless evil.
"Sarge, other's go undercover as a matter of course, in situations far more dangerous and far riskier than this all the time. It may come to nothing, he might not bite but it's too good an opportunity to miss out on. If you refuse, I'll ask the DCI myself." Sam knew that Jo was not bluffing, having witnessed just such behaviour in the past.
"Only with backup, you're not to go it alone and play the hero on this one Jo. And if I feel you're judgement is at all impaired by recent events I will pull you out with no arguments, got it?" Sam felt her hackles rising, the old animosity between them replaced by a fierce protectiveness towards her new friend. "I don't want to see you end up as another case file we have to investigate ok? No unnecessary risks, you gather intelligence on him if you can while he susses you out as a potential victim. Any sign of him coming after you and we'll grab him."
"Whatever you say. As soon as we find this one, I'll make the call to the company and change my details." Jo rose from her seat and strode off to offer Zain a helping hand with the CCTV tapes, eager to escape from the sympathetic looks for a while.
"Let's hope we catch him with this one, then we won't need your master plan." Sam muttered after her, wondering how she could reasonably persuade Jo it was a bad idea, without seeming to question her competency. She stalked over to the map pinned on the incident board, scanning the region from which all six women had been abducted, hoping for a flash of inspiration to strike illuminating where he might be taking the victims and therefore eliminating the need for Jo to place herself in his line of fire.
The officers of Sunhill CID had spent their entire day searching for anything that might give them a lead on their case, Jo's theory looking increasingly more likely as the hours ticked by and evidence rolled in to support it. Suzie's desk phone rang as Sam walked back into the office, ready to ask for an update on the situation. As she ended the conversation, Suzie addressed the diligent blonde sergeant. "Sam, the latest victim's been found. She's being taken to St Hugh's now but it doesn't look too good. She's been pretty badly beaten by the sounds of it and this time he's used a weapon." Sam exchanged a look with Jo, her heart sinking at the full implications of Suzie's words.
"Jo, you're with me. Suzie, get as much CCTV footage as you can from the area she was found in, anything that might give us something on this guy, look in particular for vans belonging to Easigas. Get Zain to give you a hand with that. Phil, phone the gas company, I want to speak to the people who normally work that area, all of them, I don't care how many there are. Ask about ex-employees who worked in that area up until fairly recently too, anyone who might still have access to their computer records." Sam grabbed her coat as Jo followed, a petulant expression adorning her face.
"Sarge, we agreed; as soon as this woman was found I'd contact the gas company, get my details changed. He's going to be on a high, what better time for him to look for his next victim?" Jo had to hurry to keep up with Sam, despite having longer legs.
"And that you will, once we have been to the hospital to see the victim for ourselves. I want you to see first-hand what you're getting involved in before you make that phone-call. Because once you do, with the best will in the world, I cannot guarantee to protect you from him. You need to know what you're up against." Sam willed the tears in her eyes to back off as she thought of what their perpetrator was capable of doing to Jo.
"I'm a big girl Sarge, it's not the first time I've gone undercover." It did not escape Sam's attention that Jo had switched back to addressing her formally, a clear indication that Jo was upset by Sam's insinuation.
"I know that but why are you in such a rush to put yourself in his path? Ask yourself why you feel such a burning need to do this? What difference will an hour make? Is he really so likely to return from disposing of this victim and immediately go looking for another? In my experience, it's far more likely that he'll want to re-live those moments with this victim in his mind for a while before he starts coming down from the high. Once the adrenaline wears off, that's when he's more likely to start rooting out a new target, when he needs another hit, something to send him back up to that peak he's coming down from." Sam held Jo's eye over the roof of her car as she spoke, hoping that she could read the concern in them so that she would understand Sam's reservations.
"You're the boss, we'll play it your way but as soon as we get back from the hospital, I'll be making the call." Jo was determined not to be swayed by the pained look in Sam's eyes, fearing that she would back out and forego possibly the best chance of catching their man in action if she allowed herself to surrender to her emotions.
I don't know if Easigas is a real gas company – if it is, the use of this name in no way implies that their employees are sexual predators!