I grabbed my head in my hands and pushed it from side to side. ‘Argh, I feel like we’re going in one big circle. So – well, yes, you do have to ask that question. But then, what if they are related? We’ve looked at the other deaths in terms of a progression, each being more directly physical than the previous one, the murderer getting bolder each time.’ My hands made a chopping motion, marking off each death. ‘By the time we got to Rose-Marie it was very up close and personal, which fits that pattern. And we predicted that if there was another, the next one could be even worse, an escalation of violence. So what if the other murders were random victims, who fitted the killer’s experimental needs as a practice run in killing the ultimate target, Rose-Marie? What if she was the focal point?’

‘The apprenticeship, building up the skills to deal with this young woman here in Dunedin?’ I saw the shudder pass through Paul’s body.

‘Precisely.’

‘Well, that’s one special kind of sicko.’

It didn’t bear thinking about that there could be such a calculated, reptilian person out there. ‘We need to look at what kind of mind could set up such an elaborate and gruesome decoy in order to hide the murder of a harmless young woman. I mean, they basically set up the circus to be their fall guy.’

‘What if the young woman wasn’t that harmless?’ Paul said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘What if someone had a lot to lose because of her? She was putting on the guise of being the chaste young woman, but what if she had been having another relationship and was the other woman? Civilisations have fallen because of the other woman.’

‘True,’ I said. ‘You’d have thought she’d have told or given some hint to her flatmates or girlfriends. No one’s given any indication of even a rumour of such a possibility. A young woman in love, how could she have contained it all?’ Paul’s mouth curled into a smile and I regretted my poor choice of words. ‘But then, if you come from a good Christian family and belong to a church, the last thing you’d want revealed is that you were shagging your boyfriend, let alone someone else’s husband. They tend to frown upon such things, although, I think they’ve stopped the practice of stoning now.’

‘Well here, at least. So the husband has enough of his young toy and needs to get rid of the evidence? Murdering the mistress, let alone four other people to hide it is a pretty extreme way of dealing with your extra-curricular problem. Most people would break it off, or pay them off, or send them all-expenses-paid overseas.’

‘Why, is that how you afforded that time in Europe, Paul?’