‘I’m trying to digest my own breakfast,’ Tom groaned. He’d taken the precaution of rubbing Vicks under his nose before entering the lab. There was no way anybody would be mistaking him for a hard-as-nails copper who wasn’t fazed by the smell of rotten, putrid corpses freshly dug out of the ground and cut open.

She shrugged. ‘I can’t sugar-coat this for you, my love. Anyhow, between the insects and the damp, it’s impossible to put definite dates on the deaths more specific than the approximate year for some of them. I can tell you for certain that Una Dolan was killed less than twelve months ago. So, you were right. He kept her for a while. That must be his M.O.’

‘Most likely,’ Tom said. ‘Go on.’

‘We’ve extracted DNA samples and made dental X-rays, so you can use those to ID them. I’d estimate that we’re going back about five or six years to the first victim. There’s still some residual flesh and membranes; none of the bodies are entirely skeletal yet. We can confirm they’re all women and make an educated guess that they were all young enough. Under forty, in any case. That’s a guess, mind. And I’m pretty sure they’re all of Caucasion race. I gave that lass on your team that bit this morning to help with the missing persons match-ups. Again, I’m confirming as I go. If you put a rush on the DNA and get names, some of this will become redundant.’

‘Five years for five victims,’ Tom remarked, through gritted teeth. ‘So, what – Fiona Holland is number six in year six?’

‘That’s how it appears, but you don’t sound convinced.’ Moya liberated her peroxide perm from its tight knot, massaging the point on her head where a clip had held the curls fast.

‘Linda McCarn is coming in to help,’ the inspector answered. ‘But I suspect she’ll say it’s unusual for a serial killer to be so structured and controlled. They usually escalate their acting out, if they’re not caught.’

Linda was the State’s leading criminal psychologist. The inspector had worked with her on numerous occasions and had always respected the woman, even if he found her eccentric personality a little excessive. But bringing her in on cases wasn’t without its difficulties. She and Emmet McDonagh had once been engaged in an affair that had ended terribly. For a long number of years now, they’d been treating each other with open contempt and were more than happy to drag unwilling bystanders into battles of ‘whose side are you on?’

Tom had previously taken an embarrassingly stereotypical approach, siding with his fellow man. Last year, though, he had discovered the tragic truth behind their break-up and knew Linda hadn’t had it easy.