Morgan leaned closer. ‘I have some news; do you want it now or at the station?’
‘You’re not keeping me in suspense, spill,’ Ben said.
She looked around, then leaned towards them both, lowering her voice. ‘Ava Rigg’ – she pointed towards the Riggs’ house – ‘was very good friends with Tim until he got involved in some online game he wouldn’t tell her about. His grades dropped, along with his punctuality. He became friends with someone called Isaiah, but he wouldn’t share any other information about him.’
Ben nodded. ‘That’s a great lead. We need to fast track his laptop, iPad, phone.’
‘Yes, we do.’
‘Bloody hell, I thought it was Sally this was about, but now it’s back to Tim again. I wish I could make sense of it. Let’s check our records for anyone with the name Isaiah. If he got involved in some seedy online game, God knows who he was talking to.’
Wendy spoke. ‘And what he brought into his life. Isn’t Isaiah a biblical name? I’ve heard of Isaac but never really heard of anyone called Isaiah.’
‘I think you’re right, Wendy, let’s get back to the station.’
‘Not me, I need to get these hands delivered to the mortuary before they defrost all over the back of the van.’
Wendy climbed into the driver’s seat, gave them a wave and drove off.
‘That was perfect timing, Brookes, come on let’s go back to the office and you can make me a coffee whilst we start to try and piece this jigsaw together.’ He grinned at her outraged face. ‘I’m kidding, I’ll make you one.’
Amy and Cain were in the office when they arrived back, Cain perfectly at home sitting behind the desk. Gone was his fluorescent yellow body armour and he looked happy sitting there in a black polo shirt and combat trousers.
‘The workers return, we missed you, didn’t we, Amy?’ Cain smiled happily at them.
Amy rolled her eyes. ‘Not really, how did you get on?’
Ben smiled at her. ‘We hit the jackpot, or at least Morgan did.’
Amy leaned forward. ‘You did? What did you find, the killer hanging around with a bag full of evidence? Please say you found him, so we don’t have to work double shifts for the next month.’
‘Not exactly, but we’re getting close I can feel it.’
Amy turned to Cain. ‘This means hethinkswe’re getting close but in reality, we still don’t have a clue what’s going on.’
Morgan couldn’t help it and she began to laugh. ‘No, we’re getting somewhere, we really are.’
She picked up the whiteboard marker. Underneath Tim’s name she wrote a list.
Secret Online game? What is this, speak to classmates, teachers see if they have heard anything around the school.
Isaiah – who is he/she? Is he the guy that came home with Tim on the day of the murders?
The hand of God – passing judgement, you have been judged by God and this is your punishment?
Motive – ??
Who was the intended target? David, Tim or Sally?
Amy asked, ‘Whoa, what’s this hand of God stuff, Morgan? Did you find a Bible or what at the scene, and what about David, are we ruling him out as bringing this horrific fate to the family?’
‘Not a Bible, but there was that crucifix Sally was wearing. What if it wasn’t Sally’s but the killer left it, like a calling card? Then we’re on the right track thinking this is all linked to a religious killer. Where is it now?’
Ben looked at her. ‘Wendy will have sent it off for forensics; maybe there’s a nice fingerprint or DNA sample on it. Did you manage to speak to any of David’s colleagues, Amy?’
‘Yeah, he was a nice bloke, bit of a loner, he wasn’t having any affairs that anyone knows of. Worked hard, was good to his students, they seemed to like him; he was a decent guy by the sounds of it. Morgan, seriously, what’s the hand of God? It’s kind of freaking me out, I hate churches at the best of times.’
Morgan thought about Des, then pushed the thought away.
