Dead Like You

But the evidence at this moment was too circumstantial to warrant arresting the man. A smart brief like Ken Acott would rip them to shreds. They needed a lot more, and at this stage they did not have it.

‘Right,’ Grace said. ‘I want to review all the facts that we have so far. Fact one: our Analysts have established that back in 1997 all five of the Shoe Man’s known victims, as well as the sixth possible victim, Rachael Ryan, who disappeared never to be found, were known to have bought a new and expensive pair of designer shoes from shops in Brighton within seven days of being attacked.’

There were several nods of confirmation.

‘Fact two: three of our four victims and potential victims, in the past sixteen days – including Mrs Dee Burchmore – have done the same. The exception is Mandy Thorpe. I’m including her for the present moment in our enquiries, although I personally suspect that her attacker was not the Shoe Man. But I won’t go there right now.’

He looked at Julius Proudfoot. The forensic psychologist gave him a faintly hostile glare back.

‘Fact three: the location of yesterday’s attack fits exactly the prediction made by our forensic psychologist. Julius, perhaps you’d like to come in at this juncture.’

Proudfoot puffed his chest out importantly. ‘Yes, well, the thing is, you see, I think there’s a lot more than we realize. We have a lot of imponderables, but we know a few important things about the Shoe Man. For a start, he’s a very damaged man. I suspect that now he’s very angry because he’s been rebuffed. If, as I believe, we’re dealing with someone damaged by his mother, he could be feeling hurt in a sort of mummy’s rejected me way. A child would react by sulking, but an adult in quite a different way. It’s my guess he’s now in a very dangerous and violent frame of mind. He didn’t get his way yesterday, but he’s damned well going to soon.’

‘With the same victim?’ Michael Foreman asked.

‘No, I think he’ll move on to another one. He may return to this victim, Dee Burchmore, at some future point, but not immediately. I think he’ll go for a softer target.’

‘Do we know how Mrs Burchmore is?’ Bella Moy asked.

Claire Westmore, the Sexual Offences Liaison Officer, replied, ‘She’s very traumatized, as you might expect. There’s also an issue on how the offender got into her car – a Volkswagen Touareg with all the latest security bells and whistles. The spare keys are apparently missing.’

‘In my experience, women are always losing keys,’ Norman Potting said.

‘Oh, and never men?’ retorted Bella Moy.

‘The Burchmores kept them in a drawer in their house,’ Claire Westmore went on, ignoring both of them. ‘Which raises the question whether the offender might have entered the house and stolen them at some point. They are both extremely distressed about this possibility.’

‘Penetrating the victim’s home!’ Proudfoot a

‘We know he’s got breaking and entering skills,’ Bella Moy said. ‘His attack on Roxy Pearce and his previous attack in the private house in 1997 show that.’

‘Darren Spicer’s speciality,’ Gle

‘There’s something else which might be significant,’ Proudfoot said. ‘In 1997 all five of the Shoe Man’s attacks occurred late at night. This new spate, apart from New Year’s Eve, have taken place mid-afternoon or early evening. This indicates to me the possibility that he might have married, which would explain why he stopped offending. Something is now wrong in the marriage, which is why he has started again.’

DS Bella Moy raised her hand. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand your reasoning – about why he would be attacking earlier just because he’s married.’

‘Because he needs to be home at night to avoid arousing suspicion,’ Proudfoot replied.

‘Or be back in time for evening lock-in at St Patrick’s night shelter?’ Bella responded.

‘Possibly so, indeed,’ Proudfoot conceded. ‘Yes, that too.’

‘So how would he have got away with it on New Year’s Eve if he was married?’ Michael Foreman asked. ‘Has anyone checked the meter in this man Kerridge’s taxi? Would that not show what he was doing at the time of the Metropole attack on Nicola Taylor?’

‘I’ve spoken to the owner of the taxi he drives and requested the full log since 31 December,’ Potting answered. ‘At this stage we just don’t have enough evidence to justify impounding the taxi and having the meter analysed.’

‘What do we need, in your view, Norman?’ Roy Grace asked.

‘The shoes of the victims, boss. Or forensic evidence linking Kerridge with them. We don’t have it, not yet. Not without rearresting him. He gives the impression of being a harmless nutter who likes shoes. The brief tells me he has mental health issues. He’s on the autism spectrum.’

‘Does that give him some kind of exemption from prosecution for rape?’ Gle

‘It makes the interrogation process a lot harder,’ Grace said. ‘We’d have to have him assessed, go through all that procedure. DS Potting’s right. We don’t have enough on him.’ He sipped some coffee. ‘Were you able to ascertain, Norman, if Kerridge has carried any of the victims in his taxi, as passengers?’

‘I showed him all their photos,’ he said. ‘He claims not to recognize any of them.’

Grace turned to DC Nicholl. ‘How soon will you have the enhancement of the CCTV images from the Neville pub?’

‘Later today, I hope, sir.’

Proudfoot went on. ‘I’ve been doing some more geographic profiling, which I think we’re going to find helpful.’

He turned and pointed at a large map of the central area of the city attached to the whiteboard on the wall behind him. Five red circles were drawn on it.

‘I talked you through the offender matrix of the Shoe Man back in 1997 and the current attacks. After his botched attack, the Shoe Man’s first reported rape in 1997 was at the Grand Hotel. His first reported attack this year was at the Metropole Hotel – which is almost next door. His second reported attack in 1997 was in a house in Hove Park Road and his second reported attack this year was in a house in The Droveway, one street north. His third attack then was under the pier – then known as the Palace Pier. His third attack now was on the ghost train of this same pier. His fourth attack then was in the Churchill Square car park. Now we have yesterday’s attack, in the car park behind the Grand Hotel. A few hundred yards south.’

He paused to let the significance sink in. ‘The fifth attack, if Detective Superintendent Grace is correct, occurred in Eastern Terrace, just off Paston Place and St James’s Street.’ He turned back to the map and pointed at the fifth circle. ‘In the absence of anything better to go on, I’m going to predict that the Shoe Man’s next attack will take place in a location close to this. He’s wounded by his last failure. He’s angry. He’s likely to default to his comfort zone.’ Proudfoot pointed to the street above and the street below St James’s. ‘Eastern Road and Marine Parade. Now, Marine Parade has only buildings on one side – it has the promenade on the other. Eastern Road is the one that is most similar to St James’s. There’s a warren of streets ru

‘Eastern Road is a long road,’ DC Foreman said.

‘If I had a crystal ball, I’d give you a house number,’ Proudfoot said, with a smug grin. ‘But if I was ru

‘Do you think he has selected his next victim already?’ Grace asked.

‘I may have something interesting on that,’ the Analyst, Ellen Zoratti, cut in. ‘Something I’d like you to see.’