‘Many of them were travelling at that point of the evening. We’re checking their Oyster cards and looking at CCTV footage, but nearly half are unaccounted for. The whole thing is a nightmare.’
‘Poor old sock, you’re not cut out for this sort of thing, are you?’ said Bryant. His gobstopper rattled annoyingly against his false teeth. ‘For years we’ve tried to protect you from involvement in our work, and now you’ve got stuck in and made a mess of things. I’ll be happy to help you out, but you have to let me work in my own fashion. You’ve started from the wrong end. Turn the case around the other way. Forget about what the witnesses did or didn’t see, and start with the killer’s mind. Why would you wait until there was a house full of people to murder someone? To increase the number of suspects. Why would you leave the PCU’s business card at the site of the second death? Because, having met them, you’re sure they’re on the wrong track, and you want to keep it that way. Why direct attention to the Punch and Judy dolls? Because Robert Kramer believes in their power.’
‘You’re already losing me.’
‘You have to believe very strongly in something before you act upon it. Ray Pryce was surprised by Kramer’s interest in his script—Kramer was interested by the idea of the dummy exacting revenge. His fascination with the Punch legend arose because he saw a mirror image of himself in it. Strong men are always looking for analogies that explain why they’re so driven. Remember the Thatcher generation? When the bankers openly admitted that they believed greed was good, back in the 1980s? Do you know what the top-selling book was in the City of London during that time? Machiavelli’s The Prince. Those captains of industry saw in it a reflection of themselves.’
‘So you think it’s Robert Kramer?’
‘I didn’t say that. It’s one of two leads I’m pursuing, but you wouldn’t like the other one. As far as I can see, Kramer is the only one with a real motive and the ability to hide his feelings that deeply. His relationship with Gregory Baine was strained to breaking point. Baine was Kramer’s partner, and strongly disapproved of his expansion plans. The pair of them own a dodgy company that Baine has been draining money from.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘It’s not difficult. I checked their company registration and followed up reports in the financial papers. Kramer is subject to fits of anger. We know that from talking to his wife and to Ray Pryce, who saw them fighting in the theatre. Now, let’s suppose Kramer follows his role model. He revels in being pugnacious, amoral, murderously strong-willed. He determines to remove all obstacles to his ultimate victory.’
‘But what does he hope to achieve?’
‘What does anyone with that mentality hope for? Power over others. And what is the one trait that marks such men out from those whom they consider to be their inferiors? Aggressive, overreaching self-confidence. Which is why he even dares to link Baine’s death to our Unit.’
‘Well, when you put it like that …’ Land rubbed his chin, thinking it through. ‘But if he’s that smart, how do we nail him?’
‘By understanding how he did it,’ said John May, appearing in the doorway. ‘I think I have a lead.’
‘Wait, I’m not saying he did it,’ Bryant backtracked. ‘I’m merely proposing an academic theory. Now, if you’d like to hear my further thoughts on the matter—’
But Land and May had already gone.
Lucy Clementine had sea-green eyes, long legs and raven-wing hair. Her smile was so bright and perfect that if the room slowly dimmed on her it would have been the last thing to disappear, and the sight that everyone would most remember. She sat in The Ladykillers Café in a short black skirt and suit jacket, stirring honey into her lemon tea, listening to May.
‘I can’t tell you anything more than that, because the matter remains under investigation, but if you really can shed light on the case, I’d be grateful.’ John May’s weakness for pretty women manifested itself in the gentlest and most charming of ways; he found himself believing almost anything they said. If a woman told him she was cold, he would raise the heat to an unbearable degree. If she told him she believed in astrology, he would follow her horoscope for weeks. And now that Brigitte, his partially present, wholly difficult ladyfriend, had decided to extend her stay in Paris, he was more susceptible than ever.
Lucy was a government employee in a division he was not familiar with, something called the Department of Social Resources. She said she had decided to email May after reading about the case in The Daily Telegraph that morning.