Bancho pushed back his chair and went off in search of Sam’s drink, his curiosity sparked. What the hell could someone from the Met want with him? More bloody work, he guessed. His life was getting worse by the day and tonight’s football result wasn’t likely to improve matters. Standing at the till he observed DI Sam Jones. She was coat-hanger thin–probably one of those who lived on her nerves and the black coffee she’d asked for. Her blonde hair was cut into a short and manageable style; it suited her deep green eyes and high cheekbones. Her clothes were serviceable: raincoat, navy trouser suit, white T-shirt and plain chunky heels; she wore them all well because she carried no fat. Bancho subconsciously ran a hand over his waistline and vaguely wondered what people thought when they met him for the first time.

‘I hear you have Cupid on your patch.’

Bancho stopped shovelling the cold macaroni into his mouth. ‘Jesus Christ. You don’t beat about the bush. How do you know about the hearts?’ he asked, keeping his voice as low as possible. No one knew about this. Well, hardly anyone. This killer who had been dumped on him wasn’t just a straightforward sort of maniac–this one liked to cut the hearts out of the poor bastards he murdered and then take them away home with him. As things stood, they’d stopped any leaks before they started and the media had no idea what was going on–they knew about the killings and that was enough to keep them quiet for now; but if they found out about the hearts they’d have a fucking field day. Bancho sighed at the very thought. Cupid was the name they’d come up with in the office; they always needed something to make hideous stuff like this less…evil.

Sam stared back at him. ‘I know more about this Cupid than anyone should. I know he takes the hearts and I know who he is.’

‘How?’ was the only unimaginative comment Bancho could come up with.

‘For twenty years I’ve waited for him to surface. I’ve scoured the papers in every region of Britain and then when I could do it online I trawled the Commonwealth countries and America. It was only natural that when HOLMES, then HOLMES 2, came into operation, I’d look at any request made that contained the words “missing hearts”.’