James had no intention of telling him that Daniel claimed he had been waiting outside the school to speak to Annie. The fewer people who knew about that the better.

He was about to wrap up the interview when Keegan’s expression changed.

‘Hold on a minute,’ he said. ‘Something has just occurred to me. What if the git was waiting for Lorna? She was in the school and would have left there soon after me.’

‘There’s no reason to believe he was, unless you know something we don’t,’ James said. ‘Did Lorna have reason to even know the man?’

He thought about it while shaking his head. ‘I’m certain that she didn’t. But it could be that she got on his bad side. Maybe she’d seen him before outside the school and warned him to stay away and he didn’t like it.’

‘It’s hardly a motive for murder,’ James said.

‘That man has an evil streak running through him, and to my mind he’s capable of anything. You need to look into it and find out if he’s had any issues recently with Charlie Jenkins. If it was me leading this fucking investigation I would—’

‘Stop there, Giles,’ James interrupted him, his voice stern. ‘You are not in charge, and I don’t appreciate you telling me how to do my job. We’ll be following up every lead, you can be sure of that. In the meantime, I’ll expect you not to get involved. And that means staying away from Daniel Curtis.’

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

The two detectives came away from Giles Keegan’s house feeling more than a little disappointed.

The ex-police officer had shed some light on Lorna Manning’s private life, but he hadn’t helped them move any closer to solving the murders.

James had no reason to doubt what Giles had told them and he couldn’t help but pity the guy. His hopes of a more fulfilling future with Lorna had been dashed and the full impact of it was hitting him hard.

‘It’s a shame she didn’t confide in him,’ DS Stevens said in the patrol car. ‘Something had obviously been troubling the poor woman for a long time. I would love to know what it was. It could be key to this.’

‘In my mind I keep coming back to the Christmas cards,’ James said. ‘If the perp is planning on killing twelve people then what links them? Were they involved in something together at some point in the past? Something nefarious, perhaps, and it’s backfired on them all? Maybe there’s no connection and they’ve been picked at random?’

‘And why is the killer being so brazen about it?’ Stevens said. ‘It’s as though he wants to draw attention to his actions and cause a shit storm.’

James’s unease was growing by the minute, causing his temples to throb and ache. He was frustrated by the lack of progress and shocked at the pace at which things were moving. Two murders on two consecutive nights. Did it mean the killer would strike again tonight and another body would be discovered in the morning?