‘Oh excellent,’ Ravi said, pointing at the top result. ‘We can go clay pigeon shooting at Chalk Farm in Chalfont St Giles for only eighty-five pounds each. What a bargain.’

‘Shhhh.’

Pip’s eyes scanned the entry below; a story from last year, about GCSE results from a nearby school where two teachers just happened to be called Miss Chalk and Mr Stalker.

She felt Ravi’s breath on her neck as he leaned closer, head against hers as he said, ‘What’s that one?’ and the low vibrations of his voice felt like they were coming from within her. She knew which one he meant, fifth result down.

DT Killer Still At Large After Claiming Fourth Victim

It had four matches to her search items: Buckinghamshire, pigeon, stalks, chalk lines. Small snippets from the UK NEWSDAY article, truncated sentences separated by three little dots.

‘The DT Killer,’ Ravi read aloud, voice catching on something in his throat. ‘What the fuck is that?’

‘It’s nothing, that’s an old story. Look.’ Pip underlined the date with her finger: the article was from 5th February 2012. Over six and a half years ago. This wasn’t news; Pip knew this case, how it had ended. She could tell you at least two true crime podcasts that had covered it in the last few years. ‘You don’t know this story?’ she asked, reading the answer from his dread-widened eyes. ‘It’s OK,’ she laughed at him, nudging him with her elbow. ‘He’s not still at large. He killed another woman after this, a fifth victim, and then they caught him. He confessed. Billy, um, something. He’s been in prison since.’

‘How do you know that?’ he asked, his grip loosening a little.

‘How do you not?’ She looked up at him. ‘It was big news when it was going on. Even I remember and I was, like, eleven, twelve. Oh – I,’ she stuttered, stroked the bones in his hand. ‘It was around the time that Andie and Sal...’ She didn’t need to finish.

‘Right,’ he said quietly. ‘I was a little distracted at the time.’

‘It all happened pretty close by,’ Pip said. ‘The towns where the victims were from, the places where their bodies were found. In fact, almost everywhere nearby except Little Kilton.’

‘Had our own murders going on back then,’ he said flatly. ‘What does DT Killer even mean?’

‘Oh, it was the media’s name for him. You know, a serial killer’s got to have a creepy name, sells more papers. Short for the Duct Tape Killer.’ She paused. ‘The local newspapers used to refer to him as the Slough Strangler, keep it close to home, y’know, but that never caught on with the national press. Not as catchy,’ she smirked. ‘Also, not very accurate seeing as only two victims were found near-ish Slough, I think.’

And just saying those words, Slough Strangler, took her back to the last time she’d said them. Sitting in this very chair, on a call with Stanley Forbes, interviewing him about Andie Bell’s coroner’s inquest. She’d brought up the article he’d recently written about the Slough Strangler, marking five years since his arrest. Stanley down the end of the phone, alive, but not for long because his blood is dripping out of the edges of her phone, covering her hands and –

‘Pip?’

She flinched, wiping her bloody hands on her jeans. Clean, they’re clean. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’ Pip hunched her back, folding her chest around her hummingbird heart.

‘I said click on it, then. The article.’

‘But... it’s got nothing to do with –’

‘It’s matched four of your search terms,’ he said, grip tightening again. ‘Pretty coincidental for a stab in the dark. Just click on it and see what it says.’

Last week, police found the body of Julia Hunter, 22, now officially confirmed as the fourth victim of the DT Killer. Julia – who was living with her parents and her sister in Amersham, Buckinghamshire – was killed on the evening of 28 January, her body discovered the following morning on a golf course just north of Slough.

The DT Killer began his crime spree two years ago, murdering his first victim Phillipa Brockfield, age 21, on 8 February 2010. Ten months later, the body of Melissa Denny, 24, was found after a week of extensive police searches. She went missing on 11 December and forensic experts believe she was killed that same night. On 17 August 2011 Bethany Ingham, age 26, became the third victim of the DT Killer. Now, five months later, after much media speculation, police have confirmed that the serial killer has struck again.

The DT Killer – short for the Duct Tape Killer – is so called because of his distinctive MO: he not only binds the wrists and ankles of his victims in duct tape to restrain them, but their faces too. Each woman was found with her head fully wrapped in standard grey duct tape, covering her eyes and mouth, ‘Almost like a mummy,’ commented one police officer who wished to remain anonymous. The duct tape itself is not the murder weapon in these horrific crimes. In fact, it appears the DT Killer intentionally leaves the nostrils of his victims free so they do not suffocate that way. The cause of death in each case has been strangulation by ligature, and police theorize that the killer leaves his victims bound in the duct tape for a while before killing them, and then dumping their bodies in a different location.

There have been no arrests in the case, and with the DT Killer still at large, police are scrambling in their efforts to identify him before he kills again.

‘This is an incredibly dangerous man,’ said DCI David Nolan, speaking outside High Wycombe Police Station today. ‘Four young women have very sadly lost their lives, and it’s clear this individual poses a significant risk to the general public. We are doubling our efforts to identify this offender – known as the DT Killer – and we have today released a composite sketch from a potential witness at the scene where Julia’s body was found. We urge the public to please contact the police on the case hotline if you recognize the man in the sketch.’

Police release composite sketch of the DT Killer

In addition to the sketch, police today have also released a list of personal items that were missing from each victim, items they had on them at the time of abduction, as identified by their families. Police believe the killer took these items as a trophy for each murder, and that they are very likely still in his possession. ‘Trophy taking is common among serial killers like this,’ commented DCI Nolan. ‘The trophies allow the killer to relive the thrill of the crime and to sustain his dark urges, lengthening the time before he feels compelled to kill again.’ From Phillipa Brockfield, the killer took a necklace which police describe as ‘a gold chain with an antique coin-style pendant’. It was a ‘lilac or light purple paddle-shaped hairbrush’ from Melissa Denny, which she carried everywhere in her handbag. A ‘gold stainless-steel Casio watch’ from Bethany Ingham and now, from Julia Hunter, a ‘pair of rose gold earrings with light green stones’. Police are asking the public to keep an eye out for these items.

UK Newsday spoke with Adrienne Castro, a criminal profiler who used to work with the FBI and today consults on popular true crime show Forensic Time. Miss Castro gave us her expert opinion on the DT Killer, based on all the information police have released so far: ‘As ever, profiling is not an exact science, but I think we can draw some tentative conclusions from this criminal’s behaviour and his choice of victim. This is a white man who could be anywhere between his early twenties to his mid-forties. These aren’t compulsive acts; these murders are planned and methodical, and our killer likely has an average to high IQ. This man would seem to be perfectly normal, unremarkable, charming even. He outwardly appears to be an upstanding member of society, with a good job where he’s used to a level of control – maybe a management position. I think it’s very likely he has a partner or a wife, and potentially even a family too, who have no idea about his secret life.