‘Now, you will all be given a set of instructions detailing exactly what you ask, where you are going, etcetera. You will be allocated men to help with any back-up inquiries and we want these carried out in as low key a way as possible. It seems that quite a few known sex offenders have been beaten up since this spate of murders and while I myself have no time for the perverts, they are not under suspicion so are entitled to our protection. Any inquiries we make must be polite and courteous. We are sitting on a potential bomb here and I don’t want anyone . . .’ he glanced at Spencer briefly ‘especially you, buggering it up.

‘Now then, most of you are thinking that the man responsible would have to be mad to agree to take the test. I think that too. But the police psychologist thinks that his ego would make him take it. That he gets his jollies as much from fooling us as from the actual attacks.’ He stopped speaking and watched the sea of faces, letting all he said sink in. ‘So if you get a particularly suspect individual I would like you to notify me. There’s more than a few braggarts in this station alone.’ He glanced once more at Spencer. ‘So you know the type I’m looking for.’

Once more everyone laughed.

‘Now then, are there any questions?’

Spencer’s hand shot up before anyone’s. Caitlin nodded at him.

‘What I want to know is, are we getting more help? I mean, it’s going to take ages to reinterview the new suspects . . .’

Caitlin held up a hand to silence him. ‘We have more than enough man power - everyone is giving up free time from all over South East Essex. That could be social conscience but I think the double time from the Major Incident Fund is probably helping. Also the Specials come in handy at times like this for interviewing. There’ll be more than enough men, don’t worry about that.’ He turned away from Spencer and looked at the faces before him. ‘Now, any other questions?’

Before anyone could answer he turned away, saying, ‘Good. Pick up your information sheets and let’s get this show on the road.’

Kate smiled to herself. She had to hand it to him. He certainly knew how to run an incident room. He had answered straight off the most important question and now he wanted it all finished so the real work could begin. As much as he got on her nerves at times, Kate had to admire him. At least he got things moving.

Everyone was looking at their information sheets. It seemed that now they had a goal they were straining to get to work. It was always the same on these cases. Once a new line of inquiry opened up it renewed everyone’s interest and enthusiasm.