in turn.
David’s showed relief and some puzzlement, while Anne’s held alarm; she felt the familiar knot in her stomach. Sam’s face was inscrutable as usual.
Meakin noticed how often Sam looked over at Anne; his concern for her, obvious.
Anne needed to voice her unease, regardless of how it might worry David.
“Do you think it has anything to do with the person who has been stalking Jenny?” she asked.
Her words vibrated through the thoughtful atmosphere.
The men all looked at her at once, as they’d all been thinking the same thing.
With respect, Meakin answered her question.
“I didn’t want to voice such an opinion until things had calmed down. However, the thought had crossed my mind. It’s always bothered me the way Jenny described what has been happening to her. Whoever is doing this to her – and yes I do believe there is someone – is behaving in a predatory manner. It’s much more menacing than the usual stalker. There have been cases where the people being stalked have received threats. This has usually happened when their obsession becomes even more unobtainable...getting married, for example. The stalker becomes even more frustrated and lashes out.”
“You know a lot about this kind of case, Inspector – you should have been a psychiatrist,” Anne stated.
His words made sense. Though she knew about obsessive behaviour, she had never researched into particulars – like stalking.
“No, I’ll leave that to the experts. I’ve been thrown in at the deep end, really. About eighteen months ago, there was a spate of this kind of crime – though they all came with a twist, the victim was murdered. No one was ever caught – or even suspected. Then they stopped for a while. Unfortunately, about eight months ago they started again. They all have this predatory feel to them, but none have lasted as long as Jenny’s. Looking over witness statements, they’d each reported a feeling of being watched but could never be sure – they didn’t even know whether male or female. You see the pattern?”
Meakin stopped while the others stared in horror of his words.
Again it was Anne who voiced the question they were burning to ask.
“How many victims have there been?”
“The first bout showed us three, the more recent crimes have added to the total, though of course not everyone tells us if they are being stalked, many may not even be aware of it; there have been other murders of course. We don’t know if they had been stalked or if they are in any way connected.”
“They were all killed...the ones that had been stalked, I mean?” she ventured, knowing the answer.
“All of them, but we haven’t found a link...that’s why we don’t even know if they are connected – just a hunch.
“We know the victims had varying jobs, looked different and, from what we can tell, had never met each other. One thing we can say though, and it’s why we suspect it’s the same person committing the crimes, all victims were killed in the same way – stabbed, probably with the same weapon. Forensics substantiate this.
“Before I had the message about your daughters,” Meakin looked at David, “I was looking through the computer files for any pattern of this kind of crime before I came here. I haven’t seen the results yet, but I’d like to bet there has been a spree of these crimes over a long period of time. Whoever is guilty of them, my instincts tell me they are well practised, both in committing these atrocities and covering their tracks. It would be difficult to tell what triggered these crimes.”
The other three stared with dismay at Meakin as he laid all these terrible facts before them.
It was Sam this time who asked, “Why are you telling us all this?” his voice was quiet and serious.
Meakin answered equally in the same way, “Because I believe that Jenny is in grave danger. There is another reason, but as yet I am not prepared to say. I have to be sure of other things before I
David’s showed relief and some puzzlement, while Anne’s held alarm; she felt the familiar knot in her stomach. Sam’s face was inscrutable as usual.
Meakin noticed how often Sam looked over at Anne; his concern for her, obvious.
Anne needed to voice her unease, regardless of how it might worry David.
“Do you think it has anything to do with the person who has been stalking Jenny?” she asked.
Her words vibrated through the thoughtful atmosphere.
The men all looked at her at once, as they’d all been thinking the same thing.
With respect, Meakin answered her question.
“I didn’t want to voice such an opinion until things had calmed down. However, the thought had crossed my mind. It’s always bothered me the way Jenny described what has been happening to her. Whoever is doing this to her – and yes I do believe there is someone – is behaving in a predatory manner. It’s much more menacing than the usual stalker. There have been cases where the people being stalked have received threats. This has usually happened when their obsession becomes even more unobtainable...getting married, for example. The stalker becomes even more frustrated and lashes out.”
“You know a lot about this kind of case, Inspector – you should have been a psychiatrist,” Anne stated.
His words made sense. Though she knew about obsessive behaviour, she had never researched into particulars – like stalking.
“No, I’ll leave that to the experts. I’ve been thrown in at the deep end, really. About eighteen months ago, there was a spate of this kind of crime – though they all came with a twist, the victim was murdered. No one was ever caught – or even suspected. Then they stopped for a while. Unfortunately, about eight months ago they started again. They all have this predatory feel to them, but none have lasted as long as Jenny’s. Looking over witness statements, they’d each reported a feeling of being watched but could never be sure – they didn’t even know whether male or female. You see the pattern?”
Meakin stopped while the others stared in horror of his words.
Again it was Anne who voiced the question they were burning to ask.
“How many victims have there been?”
“The first bout showed us three, the more recent crimes have added to the total, though of course not everyone tells us if they are being stalked, many may not even be aware of it; there have been other murders of course. We don’t know if they had been stalked or if they are in any way connected.”
“They were all killed...the ones that had been stalked, I mean?” she ventured, knowing the answer.
“All of them, but we haven’t found a link...that’s why we don’t even know if they are connected – just a hunch.
“We know the victims had varying jobs, looked different and, from what we can tell, had never met each other. One thing we can say though, and it’s why we suspect it’s the same person committing the crimes, all victims were killed in the same way – stabbed, probably with the same weapon. Forensics substantiate this.
“Before I had the message about your daughters,” Meakin looked at David, “I was looking through the computer files for any pattern of this kind of crime before I came here. I haven’t seen the results yet, but I’d like to bet there has been a spree of these crimes over a long period of time. Whoever is guilty of them, my instincts tell me they are well practised, both in committing these atrocities and covering their tracks. It would be difficult to tell what triggered these crimes.”
The other three stared with dismay at Meakin as he laid all these terrible facts before them.
It was Sam this time who asked, “Why are you telling us all this?” his voice was quiet and serious.
Meakin answered equally in the same way, “Because I believe that Jenny is in grave danger. There is another reason, but as yet I am not prepared to say. I have to be sure of other things before I
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