‘OK, so I have news,’ Gary said, beaming.

‘What’s your news, Gary?’ DCI Kapoor said.

‘Well, these aren’t the only two professors who have died recently.’

‘What? No one mentioned another professor dying when we were up at the uni,’ Imogen said.

‘That’s because it didn’t happen there.’

‘Where did it happen?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

‘Bristol.’

‘How did the victim die?’ Imogen asked.

‘Violently. It wasn’t in the news because of all the batshit North Korean stuff dominating the agenda at the time. I like to read all the local stuff and so I tried to remember where I had seen something about a uni professor dying.’

‘Professor of what?’

‘Genetics.’

‘Right. That’s not a humanities subject, is it?’ Imogen said.

‘No, you are correct. It’s not. But the genetics professor at Exeter, Helen Lassiter, takes some of the humanities classes as she is mega-qualified in, like, everything.’

‘Was she one of the professors you spoke to about Norris’s murder?’ DCI Kapoor asked Adrian.

‘She’s away currently,’ Adrian said. ‘They said she would be back by the end of the week.’

DCI Kapoor turned to Gary. ‘So, tell us about this other professor, the one that was murdered in Bristol.’

‘His name was Professor Robert Coley.’

‘Coley? Like the fish?’ Adrian said.

‘That’s right and get this … he was filleted,’ Gary said.

‘What do you mean?’ Imogen said.

‘His spine was taken out.’

‘Say what now?’ Adrian said.

‘His spine was removed.’ Gary nodded with his eyebrows as far up into his hairline as they would go.

‘Removed?’ Imogen asked, unsure what that meant, even though Gary wasn’t exactly mincing his words.

‘A precision affair, too. No messing around. I spoke to the coroner briefly and she’s sending over the full report. She spoke to our own coroner and they compared notes. The long and short of it is, we think there’s a connection.’

‘Do we think the same person killed Hugh Norris?’ Imogen said.

‘Maybe, maybe not. There could be various reasons why his crime scene was so different.’

‘What do we know about Hugh Norris?’ DCI Kapoor said.

‘We know one of his students committed suicide a few months back. Owen Sager,’ Imogen said. The more she tried to connect the dots, the further apart they seemed to get.

‘Was that a genuine suicide, do you think?’ Gary asked excitedly.

‘I guess there’s only one way to find out.’ DCI Kapoor stood up gathered her papers. ‘I’ll order an exhumation and you see if you can find a way to connect all of these dots together. Someone knows something. Re-interview people and I will get on to Bristol and see what their DCI has to say about their murder. Great work, guys.’

DCI Kapoor left the room.

‘Are those photos of the spineless professor?’ Adrian held his hand out towards Gary.

Gary handed them over. Imogen peered over Adrian’s shoulder as he looked through the pictures.

‘What the hell is wrong with people?’ Imogen said; it seemed to be becoming her mantra.