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.Boston had been reluctant to supply them with his address details, after all.But still, Clayton wasn’t convinced.Something about the professor bugged him.With a heavy sigh, he opened Boston’s file and skimmed over its contents.The man had been employed at the university for more than two decades and although there were a couple of brief mentions of possible unsavory behaviour toward some of the female students, nothing had been proved and the complaints appeared to have been shelved.Flipping over another page, Clayton came upon the professor’s medical records.Scanning the paragraphs, his gaze caught on a phrase.His breath came faster and his pulse thudded in his ears.He reached over and picked up the phone and punched in the number for the morgue.Minutes later, he pushed back his chair and yelled for Ellie, urgency roughening his voice.She appeared in the doorway of the tea room and frowned.“What is it?”“It’s not him.”She shook her head.“What do you mean, it’s not him?”“It’s not Boston.”“How can you be so sure?” she protested.“He had access to our girls.He’s someone they would trust and the carvings—”“It’s not him.”“But—”“He has alopecia areata.”She looked at him blankly.“So?”“It’s an autoimmune disease where the white blood cells attack the cells that contain hair follicles.No one really knows what causes it, but one of the side effects is hair shedding.Regularly.I phoned Samantha.There was no hair found on either of the bodies.He couldn’t have done what he did to them and not have left some of his hair behind.”“But what if he’d washed them—?” Her protest was weaker.“They were covered in blood and other detritus, remember?” He pursed his lips.“He didn’t wash them.”Ellie’s shoulders slumped.Clayton knew how she felt.He put an arm around her and gave her a comforting squeeze.“I know.”“I was so sure…”“He was a good fit in a lot of respects, despite the fact everything we had was circumstantial.We’ll send his DNA sample to the lab anyway, just to be sure, but I think we have to accept he’s not our man.” Grim determination surged through him.“We have to keep looking.”* * *The sun had barely poked its head above the horizon to announce the beginning of another day when Clayton picked up the phone and dialed his twin’s number.He could have called Tom or even Declan for advice.After all, both of them had years of experience in law enforcement, but there was nothing like shooting the breeze with his twin.So much more got said without either of them saying anything.It had always been that way.Catching a glimpse of gold and orange and pink through the window near his desk, Clayton took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the dawn as it filtered slowly across the sky.Riley answered the phone, interrupting his reverie.“Clay, do you have any idea what time it is?”“Mate, how’s it going? I’m glad to know I’m not the only one up at this ungodly hour.”“Who said I was up?” Riley grumbled.Clayton chuckled.Unable to sleep and with too many unanswered questions whirling around inside his head, he’d decided to go into work early.The squad room would be at its quietest and he’d spend some time figuring out what the hell he was missing.He’d stared at the files for more than an hour and had little to show for it other than his continued certainty they were looking at the wrong man.“I assume this early morning wake-up call means you’ve gotten over your little spat about Denise?” Riley said over a yawn.Clayton grimaced, recalling their last conversation.It felt like a lifetime ago.Despite the love and affection he had for his brother, it irritated him no end that his twin was forever trying to force eligible women on him.As if he couldn’t find one on his own.As if he was even interested.“As a matter of fact, I haven’t, but I have better things to do than argue with you over whether I should be racing some strange and unsuspecting woman down the aisle, especially when that advice comes from one who also happens to be footloose and fancy free.When you decide to saddle yourself with a wife, then I might have cause to listen to you when you offer advice on women.”Riley laughed.“Okay, okay.I hear you.No more matchmaking.Why are you calling, anyway?”Clayton’s thoughts turned somber.“I’m in the middle of a scary one, mate.”Immediately, sensing his change of mood, Riley’s voice became businesslike.Clayton could almost picture him pulling his six-two frame into an upright position and tugging a notepad and pen off his bedside table.“What’s going on?”With a heavy sigh, he gave his brother a summary of the events that had kept him sleepless for the best part of a month, including the fact the killer amputated his victims while they were still breathing.“We’re hitting a brick wall, mate.No hard evidence to tie to anyone.The only DNA we’ve managed to find hasn’t matched anyone in our database or the suspects we’ve interviewed.No hair, no blood, no semen.The only thing we have are some wood shavings and a pile of pink paint chips.It’s frustrating the hell out of me.”“Sounds like he’s pretty careful, which usually means he’s done it many times before.That level of care takes a hell of a lot of planning.How’s he overpowering them?”Clayton sighed again.“We haven’t figured that one out yet.One girl was found in pieces.The other one was intact, apart from her arms.The coroner ruled death by strangulation, which still doesn’t tell us how he gets them off the street and into his car.”Clayton issued a groan of frustration.“We’re going round and round in circles, mate.We had two suspects, but one of them doesn’t match the DNA profile and the second one’s been eliminated for other reasons.”“All right, let’s talk about what you do know.You said all the girls went missing on weekdays; is that right?”“Yeah, they did, although until we find Sally Batten, we can’t say for sure she’s related.The only link we have is the professor at the university and, pending DNA results to confirm what we already know, he’s no longer a suspect.”“But you think this other girl’s connected?”“Yeah, I do.I don’t have any proof other than what my gut’s telling me, but I think she’s another one of his victims
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