Last Kiss (6 page)

Having made the decision to work from home, primarily so she wouldn’t be disturbed, Kate began flicking through her morning’s notes. Mark Lynch might still have reservations about
the killer being female, but the more she thought about it, the more the evidence pointed in that direction. Standing up from the desk, she began recording her notes into the phone.

‘Hands tied behind victim’s back, right ankle tied to bedpost, with a double-knotted rope, left leg bent at the knee, placed under the right leg at a ninety-degree angle. Head positioned at the bottom of the bed, eyes open, looking towards the windows. Extensive puncture and slash wounds to the body, indicative of a frenzied attack. Details of autopsy report to confirm exact cause of death, the existence of toxins in the bloodstream, and whether toxins were primarily sedative in nature. Potential sequence: sedation, slitting of throat, attack while victim immobilised or deceased. Initial pathology examination indicating ropes were applied after death. Require final confirmation as to whether puncture, slash wounds and whip marks were also post-mortem. Other areas of note: analysis of lipstick for its properties and DNA. Potential DNA profile from lips, under eyelids and other areas of contact.’

Kate thought about what she had said the previous day to Mark Lynch, that poisoning or drugging a victim was associated with women. She was well aware that things had moved on significantly over the last decades, primarily with women’s changing social roles. Internationally, the methods of killing now included guns and knives, and had in some cases become more phallic, less associated with a woman’s role as a nurturer. For male and female murderers, killing was a way of creating an illusion of control, but if the killer was female, the control might also derive from a history of abuse, a form of triumph over the past.

She pressed the record button again. ‘The nakedness of the victim, exposure of genitals and the tying up of the body, before or after death, is likely to have been engineered by the killer, possibly creating an element of reward, and an act of post-death humiliation.’

It wasn’t easy thinking about a woman as the killer. Statistically, even within changing societal norms, it was a rarity. The overriding influence was to nurture rather than to destroy. Kate had met many damaged people over the course of her career, and she had often wondered how different her life would have been if she had walked in the steps of some. Was she capable of killing, given the right set of circumstances? If they were looking for a female attacker, there was no doubt in her mind that something extreme had led the killer to this point, and it was unlikely that the trail of destruction would be restricted to the murderer alone. Others had played their role. Kate picked up an old photograph of her late mother. She was no more than twelve years old in the studio image, dressed up in her finery for the occasion. Her mother had been undeniably subservient to her father, and from the nervous expression on her young face, the subservience had started long before she had met him. It’s a strange thing, Kate thought, putting the photograph down, how you think you know someone, yet when you lose them you start to see things you’d never noticed before. When she looked back on what she had witnessed of her mother’s life, it seemed many of her mother’s decisions were based on the conviction that she had never been good enough. It had probably been instilled in her long before that studio photograph had been taken.

Kate also wondered if that was partly why she pushed herself so hard, constantly wanting to overachieve. A work colleague had offered her advice once, saying it’s important to be clear about your journey in life; otherwise, you’re less likely to achieve your goals. There were times she questioned the nature versus nurture aspect of her upbringing, how much of her personality was genetic or learned. Lately, outside of work, and her love for her son, Charlie, the rest of her life seemed less clear. Whatever belief she may have had about her life being focused, especially when she and Declan were together, was long gone. Best to concentrate on getting through each day, she told herself – an aspiration, rather than a set path, that the answers would come to some of the many questions.

She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and brought out an old Tarot deck. It was a cheap copy, but it would suffice for her purposes. She pressed the record button for the third time. ‘The Tarot card deck is made up of seventy-eight cards, of which fifty-six are over four suits, pentacles, wands, cups and swords. The Hangman card is one of the twenty-one Higher Arcana cards, along with the Fool at zero, completing the overall total of seventy-eight. Each card has its own individual meaning, and the interpretation of the card is influenced by those surrounding it in the spread. The spread is chosen by the Querent – the person seeking the reading.’ Kate paused, thinking about her last words, then began again. ‘Note. If the killer is the Querent, is the card part of a spread, and if so, how many cards are in it? What position does the Hangman hold? Are all the cards from the higher deck? The true meaning of the card may depend on other cards.’

She sat down at the desk, clicking the record button again. ‘The likelihood of the killer having a history of violence is high, based on the level and organisation of the crime. A three-card spread could represent their past, present and future. Is the Hangman the middle card?’ Stopping the recording, she fanned the deck in her hands, knowing the number of potential options was vast, dependent on size of spread and cards previously chosen. If the killing wasn’t a one-off crime, had the cards been used before, and if so, where and when? What were the potential causes of or influences on gaps in time? Desire, stress, some form of payback or revenge? This case had never looked straightforward, but the more Kate thought about it, the bigger the haystack became.

She looked up at the clock again: 12.15 p.m. Mark Lynch would call at any moment. Pressing the record button for the last time, she put her final notes on the tape: ‘Sexual and ritualistic influences of crime scene v. emotional dynamics. Several sexual inferences surround this case. Questions: Was sexual motivation the principal trigger? What other elements are at play? What is the emotional map inside the killer’s head? Note: cause and effect require further exploration.

‘The victim used the services of an escort, and was specific in his requirements, demonstrating a desire to dominate, to administer pain and draw blood, hers or his, a sexual fetish challenging the balance of control. Victim was also prepared to relinquish power, to become the punished – role-switching, opening up the possibility of victim having previously explored sexuality in groups, especially where role play is dependent on multiple partners.’

Turning off the recorder, she stared at the images on the laptop, considering the orchestration of the murder scene and the old adage that actions speak louder than words. Was it possible that whoever had killed Rick Shevlin had known he was alone, and had watched the prostitute leave? There had been no signs of forced entry. If the victim had known the killer, how close were they? What means did the killer use to gain access? Ian Morrison hadn’t mentioned any needle points during his preliminaries. If a form of sedation had been used, it was taken orally, either under duress or with victim compliance. Was there a level of trust – a previous relationship?

The more she flicked through the images, the less sure she was of what she was looking for. Having segregated the photographs across categories, she examined close-up, distant and wide-angle shots of the room. Remembering what Morrison had said about the entry level of the knife attack, she re-examined the penetration points on the body. None of it was giving her anything new. She knew the method of killing was important, but so too was how the murderer had dealt with the body after death. There were no signs of panic or struggle. The whole process had taken time to orchestrate and follow through on – time the killer was prepared to invest. They had been careful in covering their tracks, coupled with the attention to detail, and the positioning of Rick Shevlin’s body. How long had the killer remained in the room afterwards? Anger had played a part – no doubt about that. No one uses a knife in such a frenzied manner without a highly charged impetus. If the Hangman card was a signature, it had any number of
meanings, but indecision, often associated with the card, wasn’t one of them.

Flicking through the images again, she thought about being in the hotel room the previous morning. The sights and smells were still with her. She began noting as many sensory details as she could remember in the case file, imagining the killing happening during the hours of darkness. Then, the sights, sounds and smells would have been different from when she had stood in the room. Kate had leaned over the body in the way the killer might have done when giving the victim his last kiss. She might even have stood in the same spot. The connection, speculative though it was, made her feel as though she was grasping the threads of a spider’s web long after the spider had left. Lost in thought, she jumped when her phone rang, but picked it up immediately. ‘Mark, what do you have?’

‘Morrison is still keeping his options open on cause of death, but he’s confirmed substantial traces of toxins in the blood. Samples have been sent for analysis to get an exact breakdown. As suspected, the victim was tied up after death, the whip marks were made prior, and the slash and puncture wounds were definitely post-mortem.’

‘Did he mention finding any needle points on the body?’

‘No, why do you ask?’

‘If Rick Shevlin was given drugs to knock him out, or reduce his defences, they must have been taken orally, opening up the possibility that he swallowed them willingly, and the existence of a previous relationship with the killer.’

‘That would fit with the lack of forced entry.’

‘And the killer being a woman.’

‘You’re still convinced we’re looking for a female?’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘Well, Kate, Rick Shevlin may have been married, but he certainly wasn’t monogamous. We have enough ex-girlfriends to keep us busy for a while.’

‘Anything else come out of this morning’s meeting?’

‘It looks like the non-functioning of the CCTV cameras wasn’t the only laidback thing about the hotel’s security arrangements.’

‘How so?’

‘They operated on a key rather than a card system, keys attached to chunky gold rings with the room numbers engraved on them.’

‘I guess it fits with the hotel’s step-back-in-time image. Anything more on Rick Shevlin?’

‘He moved in pretty elite circles, dealing in paintings, modern art for the most part, abstract.’

‘Makes sense. Art dealers usually choose a specific form or period that works best for them.’

‘That may be true, but Rick wasn’t averse to the odd dabble in other types of deals.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Apart from his small, profitable art gallery, rumour has it that it wasn’t his main money spinner. Although the margins he took on the sale prices were high, compared to other galleries, every now and then he would make a big hit at auction.’

‘I’m guessing it wasn’t because he had a knack for spotting a bargain.’

‘No. He liked to call in the help of a few stooges to rig things.’

‘He put plants at the auction rooms to inflate prices?’

‘Yeah, but it didn’t end there. He had a long list of regular clients, but one of his ex-girlfriends told me he also sourced paintings for people on the lookout for something irregular.’

‘Stolen?’ Kate didn’t attempt to hide her shock.

‘Not stolen but, according to the ex-girlfriend, he gave the nod to fake work being original.’

‘Wouldn’t that have been noticed at the auction, or later?’

‘He had his private sales too.’

‘Can you prove any of this?’

‘Not yet, but allegiances will start crumbling now that he’s a dead Rick Shevlin.’

‘That tells us a lot about him. It takes a certain type of person to extort large sums of money from people. His reputation would have given him credibility, but if he was prepared to commit serious fraud, it denotes a particular moral base.’

‘Maybe the killer wanted to teach him a lesson for his greed.’

‘I don’t think money is a likely motive here, or if it is, it’s only part of it.’

‘Hold on a second, Kate. I have another call coming in.’

Kate’s attention went back to the images on the laptop. She noted the various pieces of art work in the hotel room, most likely mass-produced copies. Was there anything of importance to the killer? She knew she was clutching at straws with a copy of a Monet. She recognised it as
Women in the Garden
, a scaled-down version of the original. When Monet had painted it, the
canvas was so large he had had to work on the upper half with the lower section positioned in a dug-out trench, maintaining a single point of view. It was as she was thinking about the painting that her eye was drawn to another image, which showed the victim reflected in a side mirror of the dressing table. It framed him perfectly, the scale reduced because of the distance, but the image was set within the parameters of the frame, almost as if it was picture perfect.

‘Kate, are you still there?’

‘The dressing table in the hotel room, Mark. Was it moved?’

‘How did you know? It was pulled out slightly from the wall on one side. I thought it might have been shifted as part of a struggle. One of the techies noticed the indents on the carpet from the more permanent position.’

‘It wasn’t moved because of a struggle, Mark. The killer adjusted the angle.’

‘Meaning?’

‘If I’m right, because she wanted to frame Rick Shevlin’s reflection in the glass.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘A photograph I took yesterday. From memory, I was standing at the windows … If the killer purposely formed a trajectory between the victim and the window, perfectly angling Rick Shevlin’s dead body in the dressing-table mirror, she wanted to layer the scene, multiply and reproduce her deed.’

‘I’m not getting you.’

‘She isn’t only creating a replica of the Hangman card. She’s creating an image within an image.’