Like This, for Ever

Dana thought. Now she could see exactly what had been getting Mark so wound up last year, when he’d repeatedlyinsisted Flint had known more than she was letting on. There was something about this woman that was cold.
    On the other hand, she really had to take it easy or Weaver would be on her case again.
    ‘Lacey.’ Dana made herself lean forward against the desk, closer to the other woman. ‘What you went through in Cambridge earlier this year would have been difficult for anyone to deal with.’
    Flint placed one hand on top of the other and tilted her chin upwards. Dana had to admit that for a girl who’d dragged herself up from nothing, she had incredible poise.
    ‘And coming as quickly as it did on top of the Ripper case – well, I can’t imagine what’s going on inside your head right now.’
    I’ll bet you can’t
, said the look in those eyes.
    ‘We can help, you know. We’re on your side.’
    Two perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted.
    Dana waited, gave her time. Flint didn’t look away. Dana felt her own eyes start to smart.
    ‘Interview terminated at zero one fifty hours,’ she said. ‘Thank you for your cooperation, DC Flint. We’ll be in touch.’
    Flint got to her feet and took her jacket from the back of the chair. For a second, her face softened as she looked at Anderson. ‘Goodnight, Sarge,’ she said, before turning and leaving the room. Even after the door had closed and her footsteps had faded, her presence seemed to hover in the room like the faintest trace of a perfume.
    ‘Boss, you’re not serious? Lacey?’
    Dana let out a breath. She had no idea why she’d just given Flint such a hard time.
    ‘I know you think we’re looking for a woman, and I’m happy to run with it, it makes some sense, but for the love of—’
    ‘You know her background, Neil. Abuse, foster-homes, drug addiction. She has a close and ongoing relationship with one of the most vicious killers I’ve ever come across. You heard her, she was there again today. The heroine detective, best mates with the serial killer she helped to put away. It’s a sick joke.’
    ‘Well, I grant you her visits to Durham aren’t the wisest—’
    ‘And that’s before what she went through in Cambridge. I toldMark she wasn’t ready for an operation like that, but who listens to me?’
    ‘She’s one of us.’
    ‘That woman is damaged goods. And she will never be part of a team.’
    Silence that spoke volumes.
    ‘I want a warrant to search her flat,’ said Dana.
    ‘No.’
    Dana turned and looked at Anderson for the first time since Lacey had left the room. ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘You’ve no grounds. You’ll never get one, and if by some fluke of luck you do, we’ll lose her for ever. I won’t be part of that – no disrespect, Boss.’
    ‘You’ll do what you’re bloody well told.’
    Silence again. Suddenly, it was all too much. Dana slumped forward, dropped her head into her hands. For a second or two she felt the heavy load of Anderson’s judgemental stare. Then fingers dropped lightly on to her shoulder.
    ‘Five dead kids, Boss. It’s getting to all of us.’
    That was for sure. So why was she the only one sinking?
    ‘It’s important, the fact that the body showed up in Deptford Creek,’ Richmond told the assembled team. ‘If this was our killer’s first victim – and, pending the post-mortem report, let’s assume so – he hadn’t yet established a pattern. The careful arrangement on exactly the right spot of the riverbank, the showing off, hadn’t kicked in. He was still finding his way.’
    ‘He could just have got the tides wrong,’ suggested Barrett.
    ‘Even if it was just carelessness, it’s still significant. He hasn’t made the same mistake since. He’s upped his game, established a pattern that he’s comfortable with.’
    ‘Mark Joesbury was with me at the scene tonight,’ said Dana. ‘He said it isn’t possible for a body entering the Thames to get swept up that stretch of the Creek. Mark knows the river well. His grandfather worked for the Marine Unit, his uncle still does.’
    Richmond nodded. ‘You should definitely check that out. The first victim will always point you to the killer’s location. Tyler didn’tlive anywhere near Deptford Creek, so if he was dumped there, he was probably killed very near by. That’s where you need to concentrate your search.’
    It made sense. On the other hand, Tower Bridge was some distance from Deptford Creek. Was the killer