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sighed – he didn’t know what to make of this.  Apart from the cards there was nothing obvious to link the cases at all.  Different method, the men were poles apart socially – so what was it that they had in common?
    The bad feeling was back – the one he got when things were worse than he’d realised and they were up against it.  He beckoned Ruth over to join him.  She’d been talking to the nephew.  She patted his arm comfortingly and passed him over to the ambulance crew who were waiting to take North’s body to the morgue.
    ‘Looks like we’ve got a serial killer, Ruth,’ Calladine told her quietly.  ‘We need to do some digging, but I can’t see what could possibly link North to Ahmed,’ he shuddered.  ‘I just hope our killer isn’t choosing people at random, that’s all we need,’ he said stamping his feet up and down against the cold.
    ‘Albert lived very quietly according to his nephew.’
    ‘He did recently,’ Calladine scoffed.  ‘But not when I knew him.  The man was a right villain back in the day.’
    ‘According to his nephew he couldn’t get about much anymore due to a stroke he had a while ago.  He wasn’t a well man.  He was breathless most of the time and had a failing heart.  This wasn’t part of his usual routine – walking his dog on the common, I mean.’
    ‘Perhaps he wasn’t the target then.  Who was it usually took the dog out?’
    ‘Jayden, his nephew over there.’
    He didn’t look more than twenty.  This must be a nightmare for him, seeing the old man like this.  Calladine wondered if he knew about North’s past – about the things he’d done, the trouble and misery he’d caused.  ‘We’ll look at him closely too, in that case.  But even if the victim’s wrong, I still don’t see where the tie up is.’
    ‘It could be anything, drugs, the hospital or something else.  North was a patient and Ahmed a doctor.  That could be something, I’ll check that out – see what clinics North attended,’ Ruth decided.
    ‘Looks to me like he was doused in a flammable liquid and set alight.  Whatever was in that can most likely,’ Doc. Hoyle offered.  ‘Most of the heat seems to have been at the neck area and his head.  That was down to the thick scarf he was wearing.  Soaked up most of the accelerant then burned good and hot.’
    Calladine winced.  The old man hadn’t been able to help himself - it’d have been too quick.  ‘Get the body back,’ he told Hoyle.  ‘I’ll come and see you later once I’ve briefed the team.’
    ‘I think most of your team are here, aren’t they, Tom.  There’s only DC Goode missing.’
    True – a measure of how short handed they were.  Calladine looked around – no sign of Thorpe though, he thought thankfully.
 
    ***
 
    ‘All we can say for now is that the two men were murdered, but everything about those murders is different.  Despite the different methods used we’re still looking for only one killer.  The reason - because one of these was left at the scene of both,’ Calladine told the team pointing to the two tarot cards pinned to the Incident Board.  ‘I can’t even begin to understand what they mean, but we’ll find someone who does and they may be able to cast some light.  That shop in town,’ he put to Ruth.  ‘The one you bought the new cards from - perhaps they know who might enlighten us.’
    ‘I’ll go back and ask,’ she nodded, making a note.
    ‘We’ll both go,’ he decided.  Suddenly the entire card issue had become important.  ‘This isn’t like any other multiple killings we’ve dealt with.  For a start we’re used to killers using the same method of despatch.  Serial killers have a tried and tested way of operating that they’ve honed over time.  What’s baffling about this is the difference.’
    He rubbed the back of his head and stood away from the board.  ‘Any ideas?’
    ‘Could we have two killers – each using their own methods but each