‘Nonsense. If it’s that or be killed by some lunatic in this bloody flat, then I know which I’d choose. At least we’ll have tried to escape. Come on, Meggy, out of the way. We might as well go for it,’ Elspeth said.

‘We only get one chance at this,’ Xavier said. ‘If he walks in while you’re dangling from the ceiling, you’d better be prepared to fight.’

‘You look after Meggy,’ Elspeth said. ‘I can take care of myself.’

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘You shouldn’t have given him the name of your hotel. That was too risky. One of the most basic rules of police work is that you never make it personal,’ Baarda told her.

Connie raised a hand at The Balmoral’s barman and motioned towards her empty glass.

‘Not personal? I’m not sure how that works. I suppose you can classify some crimes as not personal. Corporate banking frauds, illegal benefits claims, car ringing. But murder? Kidnapping? There’s nothing more personal than that, and if we don’t approach it the same way as the perpetrator does, then how do we understand his mindset?’

‘That wasn’t an invitation to play psychologist with me. There has to be a bottom line, and it should be not making an already dangerous situation more perilous. Now, the Major Investigation Team is not only stretched to its limits looking for Meggy, Elspeth and Xavier, but we also need a detail watching you and this hotel around the clock.’

‘He needed me to prove that I was willing to cross a line for him. Empathy isn’t as straightforward as being able to understand how someone feels. It’s communicated subtly. Dressing like him, sharing with him, trusting him. We can’t find him, Baarda. I don’t think that’s because he’s clever. I think it relates to the extent of his risk-taking. He’s not working on a level with other offenders. His agenda’s completely unique. It has elements of omnipotence and out-of-body delusions.’

Baarda drained his drink. ‘Yet here we are, sitting in your hotel bar, waiting for him to call. How is that any different from where we were before? We’re not even chasing our tails. Now, we’re just sitting around staring at our tails. Only if you misread the situation, at any moment a man could run in with a knife and decide to finish the person he saw on the television who’s helping the police identify him.’

‘He doesn’t want me,’ Connie said.

‘You’re much surer of your position than is warranted, given that we still know nothing about this killer.’