by David Waine
*
Abberline stood in the hallway of the Fulham address that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre had supplied the previous night, his faithful sergeant at his side, and surveyed the meticulously tidy flat. It would have been spotless but for the thin film of dust that lay everywhere.
“The map's in here, sir,” announced Matthews, guiding his superior officer through to the bedroom. There Abberline took in the neatly made bed, the display of press cuttings and photographs of the victims on the opposite wall, the computer with its Epson printer and the large scale map of London fixed to the wall above it, away from the window where it could not be seen from outside. Five pins, each adorned with a red flag, had been stuck into it at specific locations: Durward Street, Hanbury Street, Henriques Street, Mitre Square and White’s Row, locations one, three and five being the modern day replacements for Bucks Row, Berner Street and Miller's Court. There were five more red crosses inked on the map, one of them on Marie's own street.
“That must be where he abducted them from,” explained Matthews. “See the Hanbury Street cross is the same location as the pin. Roberta Henderson was murdered in her flat.”
Abberline nodded. “And another is at King's Cross Station,” he added, “where he picked up Cathy Kelly.”
“Odd that he put Marie's pin on White’s Row, though,” observed Matthews. “He must have known that he had no chance of getting her there.”
“Don't ask me how a psychopath's mind works,” replied Abberline, shaking his head, “ask Marcus Logan. He's the one who can talk to the dead.”