The Executioner (17 page)

Hunter closed his eyes for an instant.

‘Her liver and kidneys were still hot when I pulled them out of her body during the autopsy. And every organ I looked at had some severe damage caused by heat and dehydration. It was like a race to see which organ would give in and burst first.’

Silence settled, and Hunter allowed his eyes to drift back to the woman’s face.

‘Now that was ingenious,’ Doctor Winston said, following Hunter’s stare. ‘Evil, but ingenious nonetheless.’

‘You mean, causing her face to melt?’ Garcia asked and felt his stomach go rigid again.

‘Achieving that effect, really. Skin won’t melt.’

‘Yeah, I was told.’ Garcia nodded. ‘So how the hell did the killer get her face to look like that?’

‘He used an accelerant.’ Doctor Winston paused and raised his right index finger to emphasize a point. ‘Actually, it looks like he used a combination. And that’s where the ingenious part comes from.’

Hunter made a face, as if he couldn’t wait to hear it.

‘Again, I need confirmation from the lab, but a quick first test showed the killer could’ve used something as common as lard.’

‘You’re kidding?’

‘Nope. Your everyday supermarket lard.’

‘That would’ve . . .’

‘Fried her face.’ The doctor completed Hunter’s sentence.

‘OK, but that wouldn’t have caused the melting effect.’ Hunter bent over to get a closer look at her disfigured face.

‘No, it wouldn’t.’

‘So?’ He stood back up as the stinging smell made his eyes water.

‘So we definitely need the lab to confirm it, but it looks like the killer could’ve used a combination of something like lard together with a rubber compound.’

‘Rubber?’ Garcia repeated, frowning.

A confident nod from the doctor. ‘Maybe even foam latex prosthetics. Just like they use in films. It’s actually quite clever. The rubber compound attaches itself to the skin like glue.’ The doctor ran the tips of his fingers down his face as if applying a moisturizing cream. ‘With the heat, it melts, running down the victim’s face, creating the desired candle wax clump effect. The skin just behind the rubber compound is covered in the accelerant, which would’ve drastically sped up the burning process, completely destroying the skin on her face, causing unimaginable pain. The final effect . . .’ He pointed to the body, ‘. . . the melted face.’ Doctor Winston took a step back and faced both detectives. ‘And that’s not all.’

Hunter braced himself.
What else could this killer have done?

‘I have indications that the injuries to her face were caused while she was still alive,’ Doctor Winston continued. ‘He tortured her by
melting
her face first.’

Hunter frowned. ‘How?’

‘A guess – heat lamps. The victim was tied to an armchair, right? Now imagine the killer had one or even two heat lamps mounted onto a pedestal or a tripod or something, very close to and pointing directly at her face – old interrogation style.’

It suddenly seemed as if there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room.

‘The UVB rays together with the accelerant and the rubber compound used would’ve caused her face to fry and
melt
, but the injuries wouldn’t be enough to kill her. Unbelievably painful, but not life threatening. Not for hours.’

Garcia coughed twice, trying to clear something from his throat. ‘So you’re saying the killer allowed her to suffer grotesque pain for many hours before finally turning on the fireplace and cooking her alive.’

The doctor used his thumb and index finger to rub his eyes and he nodded slowly. ‘That’s my theory anyway.’

Hunter circled the autopsy table.

‘What about her back, doc?’

‘Yes. She’s no stranger to fire.’ The doctor stepped away from the body, approached a metal cabinet by the west wall and retrieved a paper envelope from the top drawer. ‘Her body’s in a very fragile state and I don’t wanna keep on moving it. So let me show you on these pictures.’ He pulled four photographs out of the envelope and arranged them neatly over his desk. ‘She’s been severely burned before. As you can see, most of her back and neck are scarred.’ The doctor pointed to the first two photographs.

‘Any idea of how long ago?’

‘Very hard to be precise, but she was probably a young girl or a teenager.’

‘That long?’

Doctor Winston nodded. ‘The skin has stretched quite a bit since it’s healed. Meaning she’s grown. I’m certain those burn marks aren’t from her adult life.’

‘The number drawn on her back.’ Hunter pointed to the third picture. ‘Did the killer use blood again?’

‘Definitely. It’s already been sent to the lab, and I’ll have a result sometime today.’

Both detectives looked at all four photographs.

‘How long would you say she was exposed to the heat, doc?’ Hunter asked.

‘Probably from Saturday night all the way until when she was found. I heard the fire was still on when the police came into the house yesterday.’

Hunter bit his lip and nodded.

‘The killer didn’t stop cooking her after she died, Robert. This was more than torturing a victim. This was a demonstration of his resolve. He knew we’d find her. And he wanted us to find her looking like this. He’s showing off how evil and brutal he can be. I’m just not sure why.’

‘Maybe he isn’t showing off, doc,’ Hunter shook his head. ‘Maybe he only stops when the monster inside him is satisfied. That’s not uncommon. Sometimes death alone isn’t enough to soothe a killer’s rage or evil or whatever the hell it is that made him wanna kill. There’re cases upon cases of killers who carry on shooting, clubbing, stabbing, cutting their victims or whatever, way after they’re dead. Some even keep them for days, weeks, months . . .’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Doctor Winston agreed. ‘Maybe just killing them isn’t enough for him.’ He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘There’s something else I need to show you.’

The doctor’s tone made Hunter stare in his direction.

Pulling a round magnifying lamp mounted onto a pedestal towards the autopsy table, the doctor summoned Hunter and Garcia closer. He positioned the lamp sideways, its beam illuminating the right side of the victim’s abdomen. ‘Have a look.’ He moved out of the way.

Hunter stared through the magnifying lamp unsure of what he was looking for. A few seconds later his eyes narrowed as they locked their focus on something just under her right breast.

‘No way!’ he exclaimed, feeling a chill electrify his body.

Doctor Winston nodded calmly.

‘You’ve gotta be shitting me, doc.’

Two distinct groups of crime-scene photographs, separated by a white marker line, were now pinned onto the corkboard in Hunter and Garcia’s office. On the left, the Seven Saints Catholic Church and the brutality of a priest’s decapitation; on the right, the mansion in Malibu and the sadism of a body left to roast in front of an enormous fireplace.

With the discovery of a new body, Captain Blake had demanded a team meeting from now on, every day, at nine in the morning. Hunter and Garcia made it to the office with ten minutes to spare.

The forensics report from Amanda Reilly’s crime scene revealed that they’d found a partial print in one of the rooms upstairs. They’d also found a utilities room and a vacuum cleaner that’d apparently been used recently. The lab report would take a few days to come through.

The information they had so far on Amanda Reilly was basic. Born and raised in Los Angeles. Left high school before graduating and had been in the property business ever since. Her mother passed away seven years ago. Her father was never a strong presence in her life – alcohol and gambling problems. His location is unknown. Amanda was divorced. Ex-husband ran his own restaurant in San Diego. He’d been living there for six years. He was working all through the weekend. Alibi verified. She was also experiencing heavy financial difficulties. Her agency wasn’t doing well. The house in Malibu is owned by a stock market investor millionaire named Dan Tyler.

At 9:00 a.m. Captain Blake entered the room without knocking, carrying a copy of the
LA Times
.

‘Have you seen this?’ she asked Hunter.

‘I tend not to read newspapers. They depress me.’

‘Well, then this will make your day.’ She calmly placed the paper on his desk with the front-page headline facing up.

Hunter let his eyes glide towards the paper without reaching for it. Garcia stood up and approached Hunter’s desk, curious to read it himself.

THE EXECUTIONER STRIKES AGAIN. NEW VICTIM SCORCHED TO DEATH BY SADISTIC SERIAL KILLER. LOS ANGELES POLICE BAFFLED.

Hunter read the headline in silence before quickly checking the reporter’s name – Claire Anderson.
I could’ve guessed that
.

As Hunter made no attempt to read the rest of the article, Garcia was quick to snatch the paper from his desk.

‘My question is,’ the captain said, annoyed, ‘how the hell have they linked these two murders together?’

‘She’s got contacts in the police and probably at the morgue,’ Hunter replied casually.

‘She?’ the captain asked with a worried frown.

‘Claire Anderson, the reporter who wrote the article.’

Captain Blake stared at Hunter with inquisitive eyes. ‘By the look on your face, I gather you know her.’

‘We’ve met.’

The captain held Hunter’s gaze for a few seconds, but he was giving nothing away. ‘No one else at the RHD, apart from the three of us, knows that these two cases are connected.’ She started pacing the room. ‘If neither of you talked to her, the tip couldn’t have come from here. Doctor Winston has guaranteed me that only he and three very reliable forensic agents know about the connection. He’s sure the leak isn’t on his side.’

‘It says here,’ Garcia interrupted, reading from the paper. ‘
Special Homicide Detective Robert Hunter is leading the investigation. Though he’s declined to comment, there’s no question that both murders have simply baffled the police. The Executioner
. . .’ he paused and raised his eyes at Hunter. ‘Cute name. Who the hell comes up with these?’

Hunter shrugged indifferently.

Garcia continued reading. ‘. . .
The Executioner is now roaming the streets of our city, and once again the police seem to have no real direction, no suspects and, as we understand, no clues. For all our sakes, this reporter sincerely hopes that Detective Hunter gets to the Executioner faster than he did to the infamous Crucifix Killer
.’

‘Bitch,’ Hunter said under his breath.

‘All this doesn’t really bother me . . . yet,’ the captain said, locking eyes with Hunter. ‘I don’t care if this reporter somehow managed to link both cases together. What we must, at any cost, keep from the press is the numbering on the victims. If the press gets hold of that, we’re screwed. We’ll have a citywide panic on our hands. Not to mention the nuclear pressure to find the first two victims.’

‘They obviously don’t know anything about that,’ Garcia said, waving the paper in his hand. ‘Or else it would’ve made the headlines.’

‘And we’ll do our best to keep it that way,’ the captain countered. ‘I want this case completely sealed off. No one else is to have access to this room or the investigation files without you clearing it with me first. Is that understood?’

Captain Blake approached the corkboard and studied the new photographs. Hunter noticed she visibly flinched before falling back into her usual controlled demeanor. ‘Did the killer use blood again to draw the number?’ She pointed to one of the pictures.

‘Yes,’ Hunter replied, pushing his chair back with a scraping sound and standing up.

There was a knock at the door.

‘Come in,’ the captain called ahead of Hunter and Garcia.

Ian Hopkins entered and was instantly surprised to see Captain Blake in the room.

‘Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were having a meeting.’

‘It’s OK,’ Hunter said, motioning him to stay.

Captain Blake turned to face Garcia with a questioning expression.

‘He’s OK.’ Garcia gently shook his head. ‘He’s the officer you assigned to us to help with the legwork, remember?’

‘I just came in to tell Detective Hunter that no one took down the Monica girl details,’ Hopkins said. ‘When the officer got to the interrogation room, she was gone.’

‘Monica?’ the captain asked, turning around. ‘Is this the girl who came in yesterday saying she had some information on the Seven Saints church murder?’

‘That’s her,’ Garcia replied, leaning against his desk.

‘So what came of that?’

‘We had just started talking to her when we were told about the new victim.’ Hunter joined the captain by the photo board. ‘She never got a chance to tell us what she came here to tell us.’

‘Was she at the church? Did she see anything?’ The captain’s interest grew.