to deal with because it’s giving our lord and master upstairs, and his lord and master, the chief constable, panic attacks.’
‘Worse than three headless bodies?’ asked Conway.
‘Yes,’ said Georgiou. ‘Take a look.’
Conway stepped forward and looked at the figure on the screen: the shapeless smock, the hood, heard the ranting voice, and he drew in his breath sharply.
‘I don’t believe it!’ he said, awed. ‘Not Al-Qaeda claiming these!’
‘That’s what Superintendent Stokes seems worried about. And the chief constable,’ muttered Georgiou. ‘But take a closer look.’
Seward and Taggart moved their chairs to one side so that the big Scot could get a better look at the screen.
‘That’s an ankh,’ he commented, pointing to the shape that Georgiou had earlier identified to Stokes. He frowned, pointing at another. ‘And that’s a swastika. Or, almost a swastika.’
‘The original swastika symbol,’ said Taggart. ‘I did symbols for one of my modules on my OU degree. The swastika was a symbol denoting Shakti in Indian religions. Hindu or Buddhist. It was only turned into a Nazi symbol inthe 1930s.’
Conway frowned. ‘So what are we saying?’ he asked. ‘That this guy’s a Nazi?’
‘No,’ said Taggart. ‘If he was, he’d be using the modern version of the swastika, not the ancient Indian one. There are also other symbols in the background. Some are conventional religious symbols, some are pagan or pre-Christian.’ She pointed at the screen. ‘Those are ancient runes from Scandinavia. And those mixtures of lines in small groups are Ogham.’
‘Ogham?’ echoed Conway.
‘A pre-Christian form of writing,’ explained Taggart. ‘They were carved into trees or the corners of stones. The lines are symbols, with a different number of lines meaning a different word.’
‘Still this OU degree?’ asked Conway.
Taggart nodded.
Conway sighed. ‘I’m surrounded by intellectuals,’ he sighed.
‘I haven’t finished it,’ said Taggart. ‘I’m just doing a module now and then, when I can.’
‘So, any deductions on this guy?’ asked Georgiou.
‘A religious nut, but not for any particular religion,’ suggested Tennyson. ‘Listen to him rant. The only reference to religious is when he says the victims were killed because they were “ungodly”. That covers a lot of things.’
‘In fact, I’m not sure if it’s actually a
religious
nut,’ said Taggart thoughtfully. ‘There’s such a mish-mash of symbols here. It reminds me of those geeks who spend all their time in their bedrooms playing fantasy fighting games on theircomputers, and give themselves names like WarDeath.’
‘But even they sometimes come out of their bedrooms and start killing people,’ put in Georgiou thoughtfully.
‘Usually with automatic weapons,’ added Tennyson.
Conway gestured at the screen.
‘So, could he be a suspect?’ he asked.
‘If he is, hopefully we’ll find out soon enough,’ said Georgiou. ‘I’ve got GCHQ digging into it to try and trace where the website’s coming from.’
‘It could be anywhere on the planet,’ said Taggart. ‘America, Asia, Australia.’
‘If that’s the case, it means he’s not our killer,’ observed Tennyson.
‘No, but he may be connected to the killer,’ said Georgiou. ‘An accomplice. The public voice of our secret assassin.’
He pressed the pause button, and they all looked at the shape on the screen, stopped in mid-rant, arms thrown up high.
‘There are too many lunatics out there,’ sighed Conway. ‘Once upon a time they just stayed in their rooms, or walked along the street talking to themselves. Now, with the internet, they have a global audience.’ He shook his head. ‘Instant uncensored communication! All it does is make a bad world worse!’
‘Maybe, but at least you can get the racing results quicker than you used to,’ observed Tennyson.
SIXTEEN
T he briefing over, Georgiou detailed the team their immediate
‘Worse than three headless bodies?’ asked Conway.
‘Yes,’ said Georgiou. ‘Take a look.’
Conway stepped forward and looked at the figure on the screen: the shapeless smock, the hood, heard the ranting voice, and he drew in his breath sharply.
‘I don’t believe it!’ he said, awed. ‘Not Al-Qaeda claiming these!’
‘That’s what Superintendent Stokes seems worried about. And the chief constable,’ muttered Georgiou. ‘But take a closer look.’
Seward and Taggart moved their chairs to one side so that the big Scot could get a better look at the screen.
‘That’s an ankh,’ he commented, pointing to the shape that Georgiou had earlier identified to Stokes. He frowned, pointing at another. ‘And that’s a swastika. Or, almost a swastika.’
‘The original swastika symbol,’ said Taggart. ‘I did symbols for one of my modules on my OU degree. The swastika was a symbol denoting Shakti in Indian religions. Hindu or Buddhist. It was only turned into a Nazi symbol inthe 1930s.’
Conway frowned. ‘So what are we saying?’ he asked. ‘That this guy’s a Nazi?’
‘No,’ said Taggart. ‘If he was, he’d be using the modern version of the swastika, not the ancient Indian one. There are also other symbols in the background. Some are conventional religious symbols, some are pagan or pre-Christian.’ She pointed at the screen. ‘Those are ancient runes from Scandinavia. And those mixtures of lines in small groups are Ogham.’
‘Ogham?’ echoed Conway.
‘A pre-Christian form of writing,’ explained Taggart. ‘They were carved into trees or the corners of stones. The lines are symbols, with a different number of lines meaning a different word.’
‘Still this OU degree?’ asked Conway.
Taggart nodded.
Conway sighed. ‘I’m surrounded by intellectuals,’ he sighed.
‘I haven’t finished it,’ said Taggart. ‘I’m just doing a module now and then, when I can.’
‘So, any deductions on this guy?’ asked Georgiou.
‘A religious nut, but not for any particular religion,’ suggested Tennyson. ‘Listen to him rant. The only reference to religious is when he says the victims were killed because they were “ungodly”. That covers a lot of things.’
‘In fact, I’m not sure if it’s actually a
religious
nut,’ said Taggart thoughtfully. ‘There’s such a mish-mash of symbols here. It reminds me of those geeks who spend all their time in their bedrooms playing fantasy fighting games on theircomputers, and give themselves names like WarDeath.’
‘But even they sometimes come out of their bedrooms and start killing people,’ put in Georgiou thoughtfully.
‘Usually with automatic weapons,’ added Tennyson.
Conway gestured at the screen.
‘So, could he be a suspect?’ he asked.
‘If he is, hopefully we’ll find out soon enough,’ said Georgiou. ‘I’ve got GCHQ digging into it to try and trace where the website’s coming from.’
‘It could be anywhere on the planet,’ said Taggart. ‘America, Asia, Australia.’
‘If that’s the case, it means he’s not our killer,’ observed Tennyson.
‘No, but he may be connected to the killer,’ said Georgiou. ‘An accomplice. The public voice of our secret assassin.’
He pressed the pause button, and they all looked at the shape on the screen, stopped in mid-rant, arms thrown up high.
‘There are too many lunatics out there,’ sighed Conway. ‘Once upon a time they just stayed in their rooms, or walked along the street talking to themselves. Now, with the internet, they have a global audience.’ He shook his head. ‘Instant uncensored communication! All it does is make a bad world worse!’
‘Maybe, but at least you can get the racing results quicker than you used to,’ observed Tennyson.
SIXTEEN
T he briefing over, Georgiou detailed the team their immediate
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