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.Reuben Knight seemed suitably affected too.‘We think the perpetrator used a hoist to get him up there, then slashed open his torso and let the crows and magpies do the rest.’‘Magpies?’ Reuben looked pensive, and Reilly looked at him.‘Yes, is that significant?’He nodded slowly.‘Perhaps, perhaps, but let’s not run away with ourselves just yet.First, just let me observe – digest, if you will – these first broad-stroke impressions.’The room fell silent as Reuben sat there, and Reilly resisted the urge to smile.This guy really was something.Finally Kennedy spoke up.‘We’re still working on the idea that all the killings may be connected but—’Reuben gave him a look that was beyond condescending; it was almost one of pity.‘My dear Detective, they are as inextricably connected as Tristan and Isolde, as Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky, as—’Kennedy stared back, baffled.‘Who?’The profiler gave a deep sigh, as again Reilly tried to stifle a grin.‘Never mind.Yes, Detective, the killer is definitely one and the same person.’Kennedy furrowed his brows.He wasn’t going to give up without a fight.‘How can you be so sure?’‘How can I be sure?’ Reuben looked almost insulted.He raised an eyebrow and turned again to Reilly.‘Ms Steel, tell me your brain is as sharp as your looks are exquisite.’Ignoring his flattery, she nodded slowly.‘Meticulously planned murders, no effort too great, lots of research on the victims needed, the method of dispatch excessive, grotesque even? And in all three instances he ensured the body was found quickly after the murder.’Reuben gave a little round of mock applause.‘Bravo for the lady in the very sexy McQueen skirt.’ He gave her a little wink that made her skin break out with goose bumps, and then turned back to look at the others.‘Gentlemen, we do indeed have a serial killer in our midst.’He leaned forwards, his eyes fixed on a point in the ceiling, gently stroking one hand across the other, as though conducting an imaginary orchestra in his head.Despite herself, Reilly couldn’t take her eyes off of him.He rolled the cap back onto his fountain pen, and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.‘He has struck three times, but there will be more, I’ll wager.’ He paused for a moment, making sure his audience were coming along with him.‘These are intricately planned murders, all calling out for attention.He wants us to know he’s killing these people.’‘But does he want to be caught?’ O’Brien grunted.‘Good point.’ Chris sat forward.‘These guys enjoy their games of hide-and-seek, don’t they?’Reuben gave Chris a gentle smile, the kind you give to a child when they have made a good effort to master something that’s way over their heads.‘Don’t believe everything you watch on TV, O Brooding One.’ He sighed.‘If he wants to kill more people, do you really think that he wants to be caught?’Reilly could tell that Chris was quietly seething.O Brooding One? Priceless!‘What he wants us to figure out,’ Reuben explained patiently, oblivious to the daggers look Chris was giving him, ‘is why he’s killing these people.And the clue to that will come from.?’ He left the question hanging, like an encouraging teacher trying to bring the class along with him.‘The extravagant way he’s killed them?’ Kennedy offered.Reuben turned a beaming smile on him.‘Bravo, Detective.’‘In each case, he’s kept the victims for a time before killing them,’ Reilly put in.‘Any particular reason why he’d do that?’‘Miss Steel, your reputation does indeed precede you.’ He turned his smile on all of them.‘Why indeed is our man keeping his victims for a while? What does he want from them?’‘Maybe he wants them to suffer before he kills them,’ Chris said, and to Reilly it sounded like he was gritting his teeth as he spoke.Reuben shrugged.‘It’s possible.Were there any signs of physical torture?’She shook her head.‘Psychological torture then,’ Chris said.‘Letting them understand their predicament, lording his power over them? That’s possible, Detective Delaney.’ Reuben scratched thoughtfully at his chin.‘But I think there’s more than that.’‘Such as?’‘That’s his little secret right now and what we have to try and figure out.’ He stood suddenly, picked up his notepad, carefully buttoned his jacket and straightened his scarf.‘This has been truly educational for you all, I’m sure, but I’m afraid I have to be on my way – I’ve got a hotel to check into.My dear man, will you get copies of these files sent over as soon as possible, please?’ he said, addressing Inspector O’Brien as if he were the hired help rather than the most senior person in the room.Reuben turned and headed for the door, then paused with one hand on the handle.‘Be warned, it won’t be long until he strikes again.I think he’s working quickly, working his way down a list of some sort.The only way to get ahead of him is to figure out the link between the victims.’ He opened the door, smiled brightly at the three of them.‘And that, my dears, is what we are paid to do.’Reuben flounced out of the room, the scent of his aftershave lingering heavily behind him.Tom Ford, Reilly noted distractedly.She turned back to look at the detectives and O’Brien, expecting them all to be affronted by Knight’s behaviour.But, much to her surprise, they burst out laughing.‘I take it all back,’ Kennedy chuckled.‘Working with this peacock should be a right barrel of laughs.’Chapter 20Alan Fitzpatrick was not a man who usually felt fear
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