making him feel even more melancholy. Of course, he knew it was unrealistic to expect someone to suddenly announce at this meeting a key piece of information when it was their turn to speak, as in reality it would be zapped across the bush-wire just as soon as it was discovered, but that didn’t stop him wanting more.
‘He’s been a clever bastard and no mistake,’ DS Harry Wallop said. ‘He’s abducted a fit and healthy young woman, albeit whose judgements were probably impaired by too much booze, somewhere along the busiest roads coming in and out of Brighton. He’s then takes her on a forty-minute journey to Mannings Heath and rapes and murders her without leaving any trace of hair, sperm or DNA.’
‘That’s the bit I don’t bloody get,’ Henderson said . ‘He must have left something. I mean all the principles of criminal investigations such as Locard, suggest he must have left something.’
‘What’s ‘Locard’ sir?’ Seb Young asked.
‘Locard’s Exchange Principle states that when any crime takes place, the perpetrator takes something away from the scene with him and leaves some trace of himself behind, no matter how trivial or miniscule that trace might be. So where the hell is it?’
‘I can only agree with you,’ Pat Davidson, the Crime Scene Manager and boss of the SOCO team searching the area around the golf course said, ‘but the problem is not in trying to identify a suitable place to park a vehicle with easy access to the dump site, it’s trying to find the actual one where the killer stopped. There must be at least a dozen little parking places dotted all around the golf course and we found debris of some sort in every one.’
‘I know what you mean ,’ Harry Wallop said. ‘I drove round the other day when me and Carol, Sergeant Walters went to see Mike Ferris at his cottage in Mannings Heath and the site is massive, two hundred acres according to their web site and there are loads of places where people park their cars and head off into the woods for a hike, walk their dogs or get up to something more physical.’
‘ Happy memories there, Harry?’ DC Graham Roberts asked. ‘Enjoying a little bit of reminiscing, were we?’
‘ At least my memory, and everything else still works.’
Henderson s ighed. ‘Get serious lads, this is a murder investigation. What you’re saying Pat is there’s no way of knowing if a fag butt or a beer can that you pick up in any of these sites belongs to our killer or not.’
‘Not unless we get a good sighting from a witness and then we can narrow the site down.’
‘Gerry, give me a sighting for God’s sake.’
Hobbs shook his head. ‘Sorry boss but the residents in Mannings Heath are either heavy sleepers or deaf as bloody posts because nobody living close to the golf course saw or heard anything usual.’
‘I take it you’re including all those people you went back to see because you missed them the first time round, and those you thought might remember something if you left them a few days?’
‘ That’s right but it’s the same story, I’m afraid.’
‘Damn. Seb, any advance on nothing?’
‘There are no CCTV cameras close to the golf course, the nearest is at the clubhouse and overlooking the car park and there’s one at a petrol station about half a mile away, but that’s it and without an ID on the vehicle, there’s not much point looking at cameras further afield.’
‘ Ok Seb, thanks,’ Henderson said, although it sounded more like another sigh. ‘Yesterday, DC Graham and I met Sarah’s parents. They’re still trying to come to terms with the news, as you would expect, but they can’t think of anyone in their circle of friends or relatives that would have harmed her. Quite the opposite in fact as it seems she was a very popular girl.’
‘Popularity can breed resentment and jealousy,’ DC Graham said, ‘especially among young girls.’
‘True and we should all bear that in mind as we work out way
‘He’s been a clever bastard and no mistake,’ DS Harry Wallop said. ‘He’s abducted a fit and healthy young woman, albeit whose judgements were probably impaired by too much booze, somewhere along the busiest roads coming in and out of Brighton. He’s then takes her on a forty-minute journey to Mannings Heath and rapes and murders her without leaving any trace of hair, sperm or DNA.’
‘That’s the bit I don’t bloody get,’ Henderson said . ‘He must have left something. I mean all the principles of criminal investigations such as Locard, suggest he must have left something.’
‘What’s ‘Locard’ sir?’ Seb Young asked.
‘Locard’s Exchange Principle states that when any crime takes place, the perpetrator takes something away from the scene with him and leaves some trace of himself behind, no matter how trivial or miniscule that trace might be. So where the hell is it?’
‘I can only agree with you,’ Pat Davidson, the Crime Scene Manager and boss of the SOCO team searching the area around the golf course said, ‘but the problem is not in trying to identify a suitable place to park a vehicle with easy access to the dump site, it’s trying to find the actual one where the killer stopped. There must be at least a dozen little parking places dotted all around the golf course and we found debris of some sort in every one.’
‘I know what you mean ,’ Harry Wallop said. ‘I drove round the other day when me and Carol, Sergeant Walters went to see Mike Ferris at his cottage in Mannings Heath and the site is massive, two hundred acres according to their web site and there are loads of places where people park their cars and head off into the woods for a hike, walk their dogs or get up to something more physical.’
‘ Happy memories there, Harry?’ DC Graham Roberts asked. ‘Enjoying a little bit of reminiscing, were we?’
‘ At least my memory, and everything else still works.’
Henderson s ighed. ‘Get serious lads, this is a murder investigation. What you’re saying Pat is there’s no way of knowing if a fag butt or a beer can that you pick up in any of these sites belongs to our killer or not.’
‘Not unless we get a good sighting from a witness and then we can narrow the site down.’
‘Gerry, give me a sighting for God’s sake.’
Hobbs shook his head. ‘Sorry boss but the residents in Mannings Heath are either heavy sleepers or deaf as bloody posts because nobody living close to the golf course saw or heard anything usual.’
‘I take it you’re including all those people you went back to see because you missed them the first time round, and those you thought might remember something if you left them a few days?’
‘ That’s right but it’s the same story, I’m afraid.’
‘Damn. Seb, any advance on nothing?’
‘There are no CCTV cameras close to the golf course, the nearest is at the clubhouse and overlooking the car park and there’s one at a petrol station about half a mile away, but that’s it and without an ID on the vehicle, there’s not much point looking at cameras further afield.’
‘ Ok Seb, thanks,’ Henderson said, although it sounded more like another sigh. ‘Yesterday, DC Graham and I met Sarah’s parents. They’re still trying to come to terms with the news, as you would expect, but they can’t think of anyone in their circle of friends or relatives that would have harmed her. Quite the opposite in fact as it seems she was a very popular girl.’
‘Popularity can breed resentment and jealousy,’ DC Graham said, ‘especially among young girls.’
‘True and we should all bear that in mind as we work out way
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