Tailby stared at the files on Jenny Weston and Maggie Crew. He didn’t need to read them again. He knew them practically by heart. But he turned over the pages anyway.

In the Weston file was the report from the officer who had first responded to the call from the Rangers. The call had come from the Rangers’ TIP at Bradwell, not directly from Mark Roper, nor from Owen Fox at the Ranger centre at Partridge Cross. Maybe this was standard procedure – it was worth checking. There was a detailed witness statement from Roper himself, as well as further statements from the cycle hire centre manager, Don Marsden, and the farmworker, Victor McCauley, who seemed to have been the last people to see Jenny Weston alive. No one had come forward to say they had seen her once she had reached the moor.

The vast amount of forensic material that had been collected was confusing rather than helpful. Even Jenny’s pants and cycling shorts, found in the quarry by a SOCO who had been lowered down the rock face, had yielded no positive traces. The only item still missing was the pouch she had normally worn round her waist when cycling.

‘The injury to Bevington suggests punishment for a sexual assault,’ said Jepson. ‘But there was no such assault on Jenny Weston.’

‘There was no evidence of sexual intercourse, no body fluids or traces of DNA. But the profilers talk about a “disorganized” killer, and for that type the killing is a sexual act in itself. On the evidence, the profile was definitely that of the disorganized type, with a sudden attack, and no attempt being made to hide the body – on the contrary, it seems to have been put out on display. That might also explain the stripping of the lower half of the body. A symbolic sex act.’

‘That’s rather academic for the average vigilante to figure out, Stewart.’

Tailby sighed. ‘I know.’

‘Bevington does have a history, though. Can he be linked to Weston?’

‘It must have been Bevington who wrote his name on the ground in the stone circle. But that could have been days earlier. It means nothing.’

‘And what about Ros Daniels?’

‘Oh, she’s long gone from the area. That kind of person – she could be anywhere. Using a different name by now, probably.’

‘Do you think so?’

‘Certainly,’ said Tailby. ‘Remember, the last time she was seen anywhere in the area was six weeks before Jenny Weston was killed.’

‘Yet an unknown man was seen hanging around Weston’s house and workplace. Someone made a phone call to her, claiming to be a police officer.’