When Christine got home she threw her jacket on the bannister and ran up her red, carpeted stairs taking two at a time. She turned right on the landing and burst through the second door on the right. It was her fathers old study.

She paused for a second, the memories of her father came flooding back as he sat at his desk with a pipe flicking through legal documents. The musky smell of books and his distinctive cologne made her little fingers twitch, the only tell she had never been able to control.

She snapped out of it and began thumbing through the books that lined the wall to the left.

"No, no, no..." she whispered running her forefinger across their spines leaving a trail of clarity on the dusty books. She hadn't touched this room since her parents had passed.

"Yes!" She yellows and she pulled the thickest of the books on the fourth shelf up out. She knew he'd have a full copy of the bible. He always said that the worst murderers always had religious motives and so possessed every religious text published.

She flicked through, book 5... Deuteronomy, 4:1. She had to look up Lacey's reference first:

Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Christine reread the passage several times trying to make sense of it. There seemed to be something there. She checked the New Testament. Act, 4:1:

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

She smiled. Maybe Kevin had come through and they were passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament seemed much less aggressive. They were reference numbers. Her mind flickered to religious groups. She looked up Exodus 13:2:

Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.

Numbers 16:1

Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth--became insolent.

an idea formed in Christine's head. She quickly flicked through to the 8th chapter Samuel1 18:2:

From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family.

She smiled, she wasn't sure but at least it was something. It seemed like the killer had begun to tell a story through bible readings. The possibilities opened up dramatically and she went through every possible motive and scenario. She couldn't rule out she was going down a dead end but if she was right perhaps she they could make some headway to saving a life.

Lacey and Karen were both only children, could the others be? or at least first born? The one thing she could rule out was that if Carl had anything to do with this she was going down the wrong path. He was a handsome charming man but couldn't understand the Dewy decimal system let alone understand how to reference the bible.

She had to let Doug know her idea. He could pull some resources at the station. She began texting:

Dougy, it may be nothing but are there any extreme white groups that the suspects were linked in some way with? I looked at the Old Testament and looked up the codes on the cheek in the book. There seems to be some link about withholding sons. Not to mention a bit about taking the land back. What you think?

*   *   *

Doug stared aimlessly in to space as Kristian talked at him about professionalism and respect. He was getting too old to be talked down to by what he considered a child. It had been going on for the first five minutes of the meeting. He loved his job. The satisfaction he got from potentially saving someones' life or giving a grieving family solace gave him immense satisfaction. He had met some of the scariest men London had to offer and he had come out alive, what a thought.

"Sorry I'm going to stop you there Kristian," Doug interrupted.

The room fell silent and cold. Kristian had stopped mid-sentence in disbelief that someone had spoken over him the way Doug had.

Doug continued after gently biting his lip, "Tannis, am I not right in thinking that policy states my accuser should not be in this meeting?"

Kristian's eyes widened. Doug was right, policy stated that in the case of a complaint, the complainer cannot be in the same room during investigation. Tannis smiled, she had worked in the office for several years and long outdated Kristian. She was no more a fan of him that Doug but ever the professional she only nodded slightly, glancing sideways at Kristian.

"True, but in this case I am the director of HR so am here in the capacity of my HR role."

"Then you have a conflict of interest?"

"No."

"Well yes, you did detective training. If you have a personal or professional link to case you can't take it on in a professional capacity. I'm correct aren't I?"

"Well..."

"Not well, I am. In fact the rule is that if I am to be accused of malpractice by any member of staff, including management," He gestured towards the scrawny young man in a three piece suit, "then other than the head of HR I should only discuss the case with his superior. Am I right?"

"Well..."

"Yes," Tannis said smiling.

"So Tannis can you contact those directly above Kristian, those that think he is making the station more efficient. Please indicate to them that he is taking a senior detective away from a murder case that is likely to lead to another death tonight. You can then express my concern that he is directly causing the death of a young woman tonight."

He stood up and went to walk out.

"I know you're working with Christine Doug," Kristian said.

Doug turned around and looked at the young man who sat there with a smirk across his face. He thought he'd won, got the last word.

"You've been sharing evidence with her and that's gross misconduct, a breach of confidentiality. You do as I say or your head will be on the block."

Doug turned back and leaned over the arrogant Kristian who had begun to lean back in his chair.

"Kristian, I'm fifty-one years old. I have thirty years experience under my belt. I don't really give a shit about what Mickey mouse powers you have," he was down the rabbit hole again, something about this man brought out a side of Doug even the worst psychopath couldn't bring out.

"Dou..."

"I tell you what, I've got about six hours to break the code and save a life. You'll have my notice once I'm done. In the mean time how about you kindly go fuck yourself."

He turned around and completed his exit.

"Did you hear that?! How dare he," he heard Kristian shouting at Tannis. He could swear he heard her smile.