certainly, details of the real killer’s MO could have found their way to a Culture Secretary well connected within the police, allowing him to employ someone to reproduce the scene. The other scenario, that Anderton would order two random murders in advance, just to cover his tracks, seemed equally far-fetched. Either way, the politician had withheld information he must have known would be vital to their investigation.
They sat in silence for a moment before Barclay pointed at the nearest news stand. ‘Have you seen the papers, ma’am?’
Hawkins nodded.
Unfortunately, in a rare display of solidarity, almost every front page on the shelves carried the same headline:
THE ADVENT KILLER.
The name itself was no surprise: one of the Met’s media team had suggested the same connection after Tess Underwood’s demise, although nobody had taken it too seriously at the time. Upon seeing the headlines first thing that morning, however, Hawkins had hauled the constable in question straight into her office, suspecting himof being the source of their leak. His whimpering response had just about convinced her he was innocent, but her attention was now firmly on him.
But the nickname’s appearance meant only one thing. With his third murder, the killer had earned sufficient notoriety to merit the consideration of even implausible scenarios, not to mention appellation in the press.
In modern dialect, the word ‘advent’ meant the arrival of something; in this case, a prolific serial killer. Of greater concern was the religious definition. Christianity classified Advent as, ‘The period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.’
Technically, because Christmas Day this year fell on a Sunday, Advent had actually started a week before the first death. Which raised some worrying questions.
Was there another body, as yet undiscovered? And
still
how did 1 a.m. tie in, when research said it was not significant to Advent? And if the killer had some twisted theological philosophy, were they dealing with a God complex? Or was the Advent thing just media hype?
True to form, most of the papers were pushing the religious angle; a tactic that had only increased their hunger for fresh information.
As a result, Thursday’s papers contained almost full details of the first two murders, along with certain elements of the latest death, all of which could mean only one thing: a Met officer or one of their associates had passed yet more classified information to the media.
In truth, she was more disappointed than shocked. For many people, the spoils of covert self-service faroutweighed any damage that might in the process be done to their conscience, but this time it really grated. This was a massive case, and Hawkins had made damn sure that her team, and anyone else over whom she held sway, understood the dangerous reaction insider information could provoke in the public. But her influence didn’t extend to SOCOs or photographers: people she accepted were underpaid for their constant exposure to the ugliest sides of human nature. Even so, they still had no right to prostitute themselves – typically for a few hundred quid only – to satisfy the equally expedient motives of the tabloid sleaze-merchants.
Internal investigation might identify the culprits, the process for which Hawkins had already set in motion, but it couldn’t reverse damage already sustained. And, despite her lack of surprise, she’d been hoping the story would take longer to appear than it had.
They weren’t exactly close to a breakthrough.
So far, investigation into Hunter’s hypothesis about serial killers’ proclivities for increasing gore had provided a few isolated examples, but there was almost no documented research on this psychology. And even though Hawkins had several officers unearthing every word written on the subject, deep down she doubted it would provide a decisive insight.
The
They sat in silence for a moment before Barclay pointed at the nearest news stand. ‘Have you seen the papers, ma’am?’
Hawkins nodded.
Unfortunately, in a rare display of solidarity, almost every front page on the shelves carried the same headline:
THE ADVENT KILLER.
The name itself was no surprise: one of the Met’s media team had suggested the same connection after Tess Underwood’s demise, although nobody had taken it too seriously at the time. Upon seeing the headlines first thing that morning, however, Hawkins had hauled the constable in question straight into her office, suspecting himof being the source of their leak. His whimpering response had just about convinced her he was innocent, but her attention was now firmly on him.
But the nickname’s appearance meant only one thing. With his third murder, the killer had earned sufficient notoriety to merit the consideration of even implausible scenarios, not to mention appellation in the press.
In modern dialect, the word ‘advent’ meant the arrival of something; in this case, a prolific serial killer. Of greater concern was the religious definition. Christianity classified Advent as, ‘The period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.’
Technically, because Christmas Day this year fell on a Sunday, Advent had actually started a week before the first death. Which raised some worrying questions.
Was there another body, as yet undiscovered? And
still
how did 1 a.m. tie in, when research said it was not significant to Advent? And if the killer had some twisted theological philosophy, were they dealing with a God complex? Or was the Advent thing just media hype?
True to form, most of the papers were pushing the religious angle; a tactic that had only increased their hunger for fresh information.
As a result, Thursday’s papers contained almost full details of the first two murders, along with certain elements of the latest death, all of which could mean only one thing: a Met officer or one of their associates had passed yet more classified information to the media.
In truth, she was more disappointed than shocked. For many people, the spoils of covert self-service faroutweighed any damage that might in the process be done to their conscience, but this time it really grated. This was a massive case, and Hawkins had made damn sure that her team, and anyone else over whom she held sway, understood the dangerous reaction insider information could provoke in the public. But her influence didn’t extend to SOCOs or photographers: people she accepted were underpaid for their constant exposure to the ugliest sides of human nature. Even so, they still had no right to prostitute themselves – typically for a few hundred quid only – to satisfy the equally expedient motives of the tabloid sleaze-merchants.
Internal investigation might identify the culprits, the process for which Hawkins had already set in motion, but it couldn’t reverse damage already sustained. And, despite her lack of surprise, she’d been hoping the story would take longer to appear than it had.
They weren’t exactly close to a breakthrough.
So far, investigation into Hunter’s hypothesis about serial killers’ proclivities for increasing gore had provided a few isolated examples, but there was almost no documented research on this psychology. And even though Hawkins had several officers unearthing every word written on the subject, deep down she doubted it would provide a decisive insight.
The
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