Brandon looked over Tony's shoulder at the slip of paper.
"It was nearly two years ago. Connolly obviously wasn't a collator then.
Either he was doing a stint with Traffic or he was on duty in the area car when he saw McConnell doing something he shouldn't have been. "
"Can you check that out discreetly?"
"No problem," Brandon said.
"You've cracked it, then, haven't you?"
Brandon looked astonished.
"You mean ... you think that clinches it?
McConnell's the man? "
"No, no," Tony said hastily.
"Not at all. All I meant was that if you can track that back from the other end, you should be able to get a magistrate to grant you an official search warrant on the basis that McConnell knew three of the four victims, which goes beyond mere coincidence."
"Right," Brandon said, sighing.
"So you're still not convinced McConnell's the killer?"
Tony stood up and paced to and fro across the carpet, its jagged geometric pattern of grey, red, black and white reminding him of the one and only migraine he'd ever had. "Before you found this, I'd come to the conclusion you'd got the wrong man," he said after a few moments.
"I know I've not had time to sit down and write out a full profile yet, but I felt like I was beginning to get a sense of what this killer's like. And there are too many things here that don't fit that picture. But this is a hell of a coincidence. This is a big city. We've established that Stevie McConnell knew or at least had met three out of the four victims. How many people are going to be in that position?"
"Not many," Brandon said grimly.
"I still don't like McConnell for the killer, but it's possible that the killer is someone he knows, someone who's met Adam Scott and Gareth Finnegan through him," Tony said. "Maybe even somebody who was with him when he got that traffic ticket, or someone that he pointed Damien out to. You know the kind of thing: " That's the bastard who nicked me for speeding. "
"You really don't think it's him, do you?" Brandon said flatly, disappointment in his voice.
"I suppose it's thin. After all, there's no evidence as such to connect the house to the killings," he said cautiously.
"But you said yourself, he's more likely to be doing his killing somewhere else. That might be where he keeps his souvenirs."
"It's not just the absence of souvenirs," Tony said.
"Putting it crudely, John, serial murderers kill to turn their fantasies into reality. Typically, they have fantasies developed to the point where they are more real to them than the world around them. There's nothing here to suggest McConnell is that type of personality. Sure, he's got a stack of porn mags. But so have most single men of his age, regardless of sexual orientation. He's got violent computer games, but so have thousands of teenagers and grown men too. What there is is plenty of evidence to suggest that Stevie McConnell isn't a sociopath. Look around you, John. This whole house reeks of normality. The kitchen calendar has dates for people coming round for dinner. Look at that pile of Christmas cards on his bookshelf.
There must be fifty there. Look at his holiday snaps. He was obviously with the same partner for four or five years, judging by the locations and hairstyle changes. Stevie McConnell doesn't seem to have problems forming relationships with people. OK, so there doesn't seem to be anything relating to his family, but a lot of gay people get cut off by their families when they come out. It doesn't mean that his family were dysfunction al in the ways that typically lead to the development of a serial killer. I'm sorry, John. I wasn't sure at first, but the more I've seen, the more this guy just doesn't smell right to me. "
Brandon got to his feet and carefully replaced the slip of paper exactly where he'd found it.
"It grieves me to say so, but I think you're right. When I interviewed him earlier, I thought he was way too calm to be our man."
Tony shook his head.
"Don't let that mislead you. Chances are when you do pull the right guy, he'll be calm too. Don't forget, this is something he's planned carefully. Although he thinks he's the best, he'll still have made contingency plans. He'll expect to be brought in for questioning sooner or later. He'll be ready for you. He'll be