“No blood!  I get it!  The dead don’t bleed.  She must have been dead for a while when he put the crown of metal thorns on her.”

“Correct!  Buy yourself a cream bun Jones.  The blood in her body was no longer pumping around oxygenated.  It had already settled and coagulated.”

Reluctantly, Detective Inspector Millar agreed to talk to Weatherup.  At that stage it was better to do so, to try to exert some control over what got into print rather than to let reporters print out of proportion fantasies, worries, and theories of their own which could worsen or complicate the situation.  Better to give them some generalisations about killers and their victims, and to tell them that they were pursuing leads on the case and hoped to make an arrest shortly, than to let panic arise.  He spoke individually to Weatherup, to ensure that he didn’t print too much outside of the press statement which he would issue to all the other reporters later in the day.  When two prostitutes had been murdered, scare stories were definitely not needed.  Of course, he admitted that there had been ritualistic aspects to the second murder, saying that he did not want too much emphasis placed on it at that stage.  He was also careful to tack on the phrase about not suspecting Devil worshippers.

“A bit more News of the World than News Herald, all that!” Weatherup laughed.

“Yes, well…..you know.  Have to rule out every possibility.  Kids these days get into all sorts.  AC/DC stands for Anti Christ/Devil Child as well as the obvious you know.”

“Really?  Jeez!  You guys know everything,” he joked, with a note of friendly sarcasm.  “Was AC/DC written somewhere in this case?”

“No.  Just an example of how an unrelated piece of graffiti might confuse the issue,” the Detective Inspector explained.

“Are you telling me that the Bible verse on the fence, in the first case, was an unrelated piece of graffiti?”

 “Let’s say I’m just saying that if you make too much of these ritualistic elements people will start letting their imaginations run riot.”