Like This, for Ever

using her as their main channel of communication? It was almost funny.
    Except, was it actually such a bad idea? Who better to get inside the head of a cold and calculating killer than several more of them with time on their hands?
    Yep, the world had gone nuts.

29
    BARNEY LOOKED ALONG the embankment, and then down to the map. They were some distance from the nearest street lamp and he had to use his torch. ‘This is it,’ he said. ‘This is where they found Noah.’
    The six children lined up along the wall and peered over to look at the beach below. Long way down. Lloyd took a step back. ‘He went down these steps?’ he said. ‘Can’t have been easy with a body over his shoulder.’
    Close to where the children were standing, a dozen concrete steps led from the embankment to the beach. All but the top two were covered in green algae. Threads of river-weed had knotted around bumps in the concrete and the metal handrail looked anything but secure.
    ‘He could have just tipped him over the wall,’ added Jorge. ‘No point making unnecessary work.’
    Barney was looking at the opposite bank. ‘The thing about this site is that it’s almost directly across the river from the headquarters of the Marine Unit,’ he said.
    ‘What’s the Marine Unit?’ asked Harvey. He and the other boys were pressing closer, all trying to see the map at once.
    ‘The river police,’ said Barney, nodding to the large brown-brick Victorian building on the north bank with its industrial-length pier. ‘Part of the Metropolitan Police but in charge of the river. People atthe time said it was really cheeky of the killer, to dump the body here, right under their noses.’
    ‘That’s where they’re based, is it?’ said Jorge, who was also looking at the building. ‘I didn’t know.’
    ‘Are you alright up there, Hatty?’ asked Barney. Hatty and Sam had climbed up on to the embankment wall. It was only about five feet high on this side, but a good fifteen-foot drop on the other.
    ‘Hatty’ll be fine,’ said Jorge. ‘Sam will probably tumble to his death though.’
    ‘Heard that,’ muttered Sam.
    ‘The police didn’t find him though, did they?’ asked Lloyd.
    ‘No, a couple on their way home from work,’ said Barney. ‘The point is, there was a lot of talk about whether the killer was taunting the police, you know, saying, “Look at me, look what I’ve left on your doorstep.”’
    ‘Maybe he just didn’t know,’ said Jorge, whose eyes were still fixed on the north bank.
    ‘One thing everyone is agreed on is that this bloke knows the river,’ said Barney. ‘If you know the river, you know where the Marine Unit are based.’
    ‘So where was the body?’ asked Sam.
    Barney shone his torch down on to the beach. ‘Hard to know for definite,’ he said. ‘There were sketches in some of the newspapers but they’d be based on guesswork. I think we have to work it out for ourselves.’
    ‘Go on then, Sherlock,’ said Jorge.
    ‘Well, he probably carried him down these steps,’ said Barney, ‘and we know he leaves them where the tide will cover them after a couple of hours. If we go down, we can probably figure it out.’
    ‘What’s the tide doing now?’ asked Lloyd, looking nervously at the black water.
    ‘It’s coming back in. In another couple of hours you won’t be able to get down there. It’ll be muddy even now. I did tell you lot to wear wellies.’
    Of the whole group, only he and Lloyd were wearing wellington boots.
    ‘Watch it,’ Barney said, realizing he was expected to lead the way down to the beach. ‘These steps will be slippy.’
    Shining the torch on the crumbling concrete steps, Barney made his way down to the beach. The first few yards of it were dry. The tide didn’t usually reach all the way back to the wall. After a few paces, though, the stones became damp, interspersed with patches of mud. Four yards away from the river’s edge, Barney stopped.
    ‘Somewhere round here,’ said Barney, looking down. ‘I can’t see any reason for him to have walked left or right. I imagine he wanted to get rid of it and get away from here as soon as possible.’
    Jorge had walked another pace further on. ‘Here, I reckon,’ he said.
    ‘How come?’ asked Harvey.
    ‘Had a good view of the river in both directions,’ said Jorge. ‘He could see if any traffic was coming. But that pier would provide a pretty good screen for what he was up to.’
    ‘Here then,’ said Barney, stepping