Scholz examined the file. He winced a couple of times at some of the images. ‘My God … there are some sick fucks out there.’

‘And the Internet brings them together. That said, our killer may keep a very low profile indeed. He may regard himself as unique. But I reckon he has visited at least one of these sites.’

‘But?’ Scholz read the caution in Fabel’s expression.

‘But … Andrei Chikatilo, the Ukrainian cannibal in the eighties, Fritz Haarman in Hanover in the twenties, Joachim Kroll in Duisburg in the seventies, Ed Gein in the United States in the forties … all these cannibal killers existed before the advent of the Internet. There is always the possibility that he has ripened his fantasies in isolation. But I hope not. Everybody feels safe on the Internet. They think they’re anonymous when in fact they’re far from it.’ Fabel turned to Tansu Bakrac. ‘I’ve already explained to Herr Scholz, my feeling is that this killer may have had practice runs in the past. He tells me you have a theory about that.’

‘More than a theory. There are a couple of cases that I think are linked.’

‘Or maybe not …’ Scholz said doubtfully. ‘There’s nothing other than a Karneval connection to link them.’

‘What cases?’ asked Fabel.

‘A girl called Annemarie Küppers was found murdered in two thousand and three. She had been beaten to death. Whoever did it had been in an inhuman fury and had pulped her head.’

‘But she wasn’t strangled,’ interjected Scholz. ‘And there was no flesh removed. In fact, her underwear hadn’t been removed or interfered with either.’

‘You said there was a Karneval connection,’ said Fabel. ‘Was she killed on Women’s Karneval Night?’

‘No …’ said Tansu. ‘The day after. I’ll get you a copy of the file. Both files, in fact.’

‘What was the other one?’

‘This attack did happen on Women’s Karneval Night. In nineteen ninety-nine. A young medical student called Vera Reinartz was beaten, raped and partially strangled – wait for it – with a man’s necktie.’

‘She survived?’

‘Yes. And the really creepy thing is that her attacker was a clown. I mean someone dressed up as a Karneval clown.’

Fabel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘It’s tempting to see a connection. But you say this girl was raped. Our Killer doesn’t have sexual contact. Was semen recovered?’

‘Yes. But the clincher for me isn’t just that the attempted strangulation was done with a man’s necktie … there were also bite marks all over her body.’

‘Okay, then,’ said Fabel, ‘I take it you’ve reinterviewed the victim?’

‘Sorry,’ said Tansu. ‘Another dead end, so far. Vera Reinartz dropped out of her medical studies at Cologne University. In fact she dropped out of sight too – about a year after the attack.’