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She takes a deep breath.
‘Edward even told me they went for a run along the canal on the morning of New Year’s Day. He said they’d had to cut the run short because the towpath was closed because of Lisa’s murder. I didn’t even know they were into running. And he and Satish always seem to be having little quiet conversations these days, muttering away to each other. And now this …’
She waves her hand at the note again.
‘I’m so sorry, I know I should have mentioned it to you a few days ago. I just thought it was a coincidence, you know? And it may still be, but …’
Her voice tails off, and she looks from Steph to Jess and back again, her eyes anguished.
‘Well, yes, you should have mentioned it sooner really,’ Steph says, trying not to sound too exasperated. ‘But at least you’ve told us now, and we can make some enquiries. What else can you tell us about this second man – Satish, was it?’
Mary nods.
‘Satish Patel, yes. He started at The Hub not long after Edward, November I think, I don’t know exactly. He’s a bit younger, mid-thirties. He does PR too. He seems nice enough, and he and Edward seemed to hit it off pretty quickly, although I didn’t realise they were friendly enough to spend New Year together. Not until Edward mentioned it last week. And this running thing … you know, with the police in Birmingham asking about anyone who might have seen a late-night runner …’
Her voice tails off again.
‘Right, well, thanks for telling us now. Especially in the light of this letter,’ Steph says briskly. ‘Is there anyone else you mentioned going away to? Anyone at all?’
Mary shakes her head.
‘Nobody. That’s it. And …’ She hesitates. ‘Well, I suppose this puts an end to any speculation now, doesn’t it? That it might be another Mary in Cheltenham the killer’s after. He’s used my full name in that note and sent it to my house. It’s definitely me. And that writing – the block capitals. It’s exactly the same as the diary entries. This is definitely from the Diary Killer, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, so it seems. Look, try not to panic. I know that’s almost impossible, but try, OK? We’re going to do everything we can to protect you, and if he sticks to his timetable – and we have no reason to think he won’t; he’s been bang on so far – then we still have plenty of time to catch him. And Mary, please, in the coming weeks, if there’s anything … I meananything, OK? No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, we need to know about it.’
‘I’ll tell you, I promise. I’m so sorry. Thank you. Do you think … well, will you be speaking to Edward and Satish now?’ Mary says. Her voice wobbles a little as she speaks.
‘Yes,’ replies Steph. ‘But don’t worry, we’ll be discreet. We won’t mention that it was you who told us they were in Oxford for New Year. We’ll work around that somehow. And we’ll get this note off to forensics and see if we can find out where it came from. And I think we should check your computer, your laptop, tablet, whatever you use, for spyware too. In case someone is monitoring your online activity remotely and that’s how they figured out you were possibly making plans to go away. But for now, you go home and rest, OK?’
Mary takes a deep breath, sinks her face into her hands for a moment, then looks up again.
‘Thank you so much. And yes, I think I will. I was going to go into work but I think I might just go home instead. Thank you, both of you.’
‘Of course. Look after yourself and we’ll be in touch. Jess, can you see Mary out?’
‘Sure.’ Jess pushes her chair back and stands up, and Mary follows her out of the room, her face a little less pale now. She waves a hand at Steph and is gone. Steph stares after her, thinking. A minute or so later, when Jess returns, she says:
‘At least that note implies there are only two more murders to come after all, doesn’t it? The Operation Shearwater team were getting worried there might be another diary on its way at some point, but maybe not.’
Jess shrugs.
‘Maybe. Can’t trust a serial killer though.’
‘True. Right, I’ll pay The Hub a little visit straight away then. Have a word with these two characters.’
She taps the pad on the table in front of her, where she scribbled down some notes while Mary was talking.
‘She’s very anxious, isn’t she? Mary. What do you think? You probably know her better than any of us at this point.’
Jess nods. Her strawberry-blonde hair is in a high ponytail today, and it bobs as she moves her head.
‘She is. That’s the most anxious I’ve seen her,’ she says.
‘Yeah. I think she’s pretty tough though. She’ll be OK. Anyway, the pressure’s more on Cardiff right now,’ Steph says, as she stands up and picks up her notebook and pen and the mug that’s also been sitting in front of her, half full of cold, greasy-looking coffee.
‘They’ve only got three weeks left. Did you hear they’re going ahead with warning selected individuals that there may be a threat against them and advising them to leave the city for twenty-four hours? Bryn sent an update through just before Mary arrived. Good luck with that one, that’s all I can say.’
Jess nods.
‘I saw that, yes. It’s going to be interesting to see how it goes, isn’t it? And, more importantly, if it actually makes any difference to the outcome. We’ll see, I suppose.’
‘We will,’ says Steph. ‘Anyway, I’m going to update Operation Shearwater on this latest interesting development, and then I’m off to The Hub. Let’s see what this Cooper and Patel duo have to say for themselves, shall we?’
