‘But the way The Teacher worked was to punish people like Junker. If Daphne was being abused and Amy Richmond, as a nurse, found out, he would have been a prime target for a victim,’ Demi said.

‘But she only killed women.’

‘You know as well as I do that there are seven other murders linked to Amy Richmond that won’t be tried because of lack of evidence, but I saw the files. She’d killed before.’

‘The Yorkshire cases?’ asked Kelly.

‘More than that.’

‘There usually are with killers like her. It’s been a long time. I can’t imagine being in the same room as her.’

‘You need a strategy before you go in, because once you’re face to face, the last thing you need is Amy taking control.’

‘Any tips?’ asked Kelly.

‘Decide on your questioning and stick to it. Don’t get distracted. Take the high ground.’

‘There is no high ground with The Teacher.’

‘Can you send somebody else?’

‘It wouldn’t work. She wants to see me. That’s what she’s wanted all along.’

‘Sexual fantasy?’

‘I never doubted that, but she knows it’s not a possibility in reality.’

‘Fantasy can be a powerful world in which to live.’

‘Exactly. I’ve never lived there and so I don’t know what to expect. She’ll have an agenda and she’ll have known all along that it would come to this. There’s this sense of inevitability about it all.’

‘You can’t avoid it.’

‘Like The Bear Hunt, I’ve got to go through it.’

‘When will you go?’

‘HQ have signed it off so I guess this afternoon or maybe tomorrow now, looking at the time. I’ll only be gone for the afternoon. I can catch an afternoon train to Reading and be back by one o’clock in the morning. I’m only allowed two hours anyway and I can’t see me wanting to be in there for that long. It’s important to do it face to face, though.’

‘I agree. You can only get a true understanding of what is real and what is fantasy by going head to head. The security is very good. You’ll be absolutely fine.’

‘It’s not my physical health that worries me.’

‘Mind manipulation?’

‘Exactly.’

They paid their bill and walked back to Eden House.

‘What’s your instinct? Do you think this is the start of five killings, all replicating one of the elements?’ Kelly asked. Her team all agreed that this was the most plausible explanation for the symbolism they had so far unearthed. Finding the water symbol next to Carry Tomlin this morning was a game-changer.

‘That’s what it appears to be, but sometimes things don’t always go to plan. I think it’s safe to say, though, that it is the plan, and everything points to it being executed quickly.’

‘Why now? Mary dumped Kirk Junker years ago.’