The inspector rang through his orders to the central command unit, explaining the team would need a ladder and why it was necessary. He sat down at the table and grabbed one of the open laptops. It came to life with the briefest touch and he typed ‘Glendalough’ into Google maps, bringing up the satellite image.

He stared at the topography on the screen, then signalled to Willie, who was smoking a cigarette outside the back door.

‘Where are we going?’ his driver asked.

‘Linda, he’s no longer thinking rationally, is he? You don’t kidnap a police detective. And he must have realised who she was as soon as he knocked her out and checked her ID.’

‘I would say he hasn’t been thinking rationally for a long time, but yes, he’s spiralling. This is totally out of control for him.’

‘That’s what I thought. We’re assuming he won’t do anything to put himself at risk of capture. But if he’s lost it, protecting himself is no longer his sole focus. He needs to follow through with what he usually does, his routine of killing and burying. As you say, he’s fixated on that area. We can’t find another house belonging to Lane. This is where he kept the more recent women. Laura’s not here, which means he’s decided to kill her already. If he can’t get to his usual burial site, he’ll try to bring her as near as possible, despite the danger.’

‘Is Laura already dead?’ Ray choked.

‘I don’t know,’ Tom said, shaking his head, a shiver running down his back. ‘But if she’s not, she will be soon. We need to find her, quickly.’

‘Where do we start?’

The inspector planted his hands on the table and closed his eyes. He was about to make a decision that could pay off or end in complete disaster. But he had no choice. They had to search somewhere.

‘There are several lakes in the national park,’ he said. ‘Willie, I need your expertise. Tell me what I’m looking at here.’

Willie leaned over his shoulder, pointing at sections of the screen.

‘That’s the Glendalough valley at the far end,’ he said. ‘But approaching from the Dublin side, you have that small lake at Tinnehinch and then Lough Dan near Crone.’

‘Lough Dan is the largest one and it’s nearest to Glendalough,’ Tom remarked.

‘That’s right.’

‘Then that’s where we’re going. Laura said it herself – how peaceful it was by the lake. He could have chosen anywhere in Glendalough, but he chose near the water. He’ll have been waiting for dark and it’s nearly pitch black outside now. We need to get a move on.’

CHAPTER 37