Allan found a small restaurant downtown. As he entered, he took in the people and the ambience with one sweeping glance. It was half-filled, he saw, with families and older couples. The décor had a rustic feel with red-and-white checkered tablecloths, wood floors and walls. He chose a quiet booth in the corner. The waitress, a pleasant-faced brunette, appeared with a menu. After a quick look at it, Allan ordered turkey on rye with soup of the day and tea. While waiting, he sat back and reflected on the investigation ahead. He needed to enter the details of the Trixy Ambré and John Baker homicides into ViCLAS—a case linkage database that tracked serial offences Canada-wide—to see if there were any similar murders committed elsewhere in Canada. Perhaps this killer had struck before. Allan decided to call the ViCLAS center in Halifax first thing in the morning to have two questionnaire booklets sent up to him so he could get the procedure started. In preparation he took out his spiral and wrote down some keynotes about the murders, beginning with John Baker: 1.
