He nodded, still not trusting speech. She handed him the newspaper and settled down in her chair while he read it. The headline was straightforward. Three murders – Are they linked? The text went on to point out that within the past two months, three university psychology lecturers had been found dead in suspicious circumstances. In each case, the police had been reluctant to divulge details of the deaths, except to say that each was being treated as murder. The writer went on to speculate as to whether this might be the work of a serial killer, although he had been unable to find a police source who would confirm the theory.

‘I imagine that there will be other stories in the press,’ Dr Wertheimer said as he finished. ‘I doubt they will be so restrained. So, is this what brings you to our records here?’

Tony nodded. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t more candid with you, but we have been trying to keep this out of the public arena.’

‘I can imagine. No police officer is comfortable working in the glare of the TV lights. So, what is it you hope to accomplish here?’

‘We need to narrow down our field of suspects. Dull, boring police work involving cross-referencing various lists. It’s tedious and time-consuming for the officers involved, but it could produce a result that will save lives. My analysis of the crimes leads me to think that it’s likely someone in our killer’s immediate family was the victim of psychological torture. I was told that you hold the archives relating to children who were either euthanased or experimented on by Nazi doctors. I’m hoping that somewhere in your archives there is a list of survivors.’

Dr Wertheimer raised her eyebrows. ‘This was a long time ago, Dr Hill.’

‘I know. But I believe our killer is probably in his mid-twenties. It’s possible that his father may have been a survivor. Or he may have been brought up by a grandparent who suffered at the hands of the people who operated institutions such as this.’

She nodded acquiescence. ‘It seems far-fetched to me, but I can see that you would want to clutch at any straw when you are trying to bring such a killer to justice. Well, we have no master list such as you speak of.’

Tony couldn’t help showing his disappointment on his face. ‘So I’m wasting your time as well as my own?’