Early indications were the deceased was the victim of an assault and robbery. His body had been found this morning down Kaikorai Valley in some trees by the bowling alley car park, his wallet nearby, minus cash and credit cards. He was, according to the wallet, Cameron Ellison – although yet to be formally identified – a young man, early twenties, and although he was another student, at the polytechnic rather than university, his death didn’t seem to bear any relation to the Bateman case. A huge relief to all concerned. The last thing we needed in that investigation was another body and the associated government and media attention and demands as to what we were doing. As it was, with yet another student dying, I was sure there would be a number of parents out there having second thoughts about sending their beloved children down this way for their continued education.

The new case did leave the department rather stretched. One murder in Dunedin was rare, let alone two at the same time, let alone the whole circus fiasco, hence the reduced head count at the morning briefing.

For those of us in attendance, verbal reports confirmed what we suspected. The activist angle was a dead end. Rabid though one or two of them were, the overwhelming claim was that human life was sacrosanct, and they were devastated that animals had died as a result of the vigilante actions. In fact, they were more upset by the animal deaths, particularly Cassie’s, than the people’s. Cassie’s upset me more too, but my perspective was a little different. What I did find hard to stomach was the activists’ assertions that Cassie need not have been destroyed and the police – i.e. me – had overreacted. What the bloody hell would they know?

To my relief, the focus swiftly moved on from me to the more interesting presence of a flash, out-of-town profiler. His views made for fascinating listening, and a thumbs-up to Maggie because he said pretty much what she had, only with a little more detail as to how Mr Psychopath became Mr Psychopath: that he had a complete distain and disrespect for authority figures, most likely stemming from his relationship with his father, who probably beat, raped or psychologically abused him. Surprise, they always did.

I was quite happy sitting in the back row when a certain voice boomed out, ‘Detective Constable Shephard, what have you got to add to Dr Kitchin’s assessment?’

All the heads in the room swung around to face me and I was momentarily flummoxed. I was sure the DI wasn’t asking because he valued my opinion.