Staring into the Darkness (Urban & Brazil Book 1)

by Tim Ellis

  Behaviours:

  Abduction;

  Brutal rape, which includes strangulation, bruising to neck, abdomen, upper arms, inner thighs and genital area;

  Washes them;

  Coiffures their hair;

  Applies make-up;

  Manicures their nails;

  Deposits their naked bodies in municipal parks;

  Places an item between their breasts.

  ‘He . . . I think we’re all agreed that the perpetrator is a male, due to the rapes?’

  They all nodded.

  ‘And in my opinion, he’s working alone. There are no male or female accomplices. He’s worked out a system for abducting his victims that leaves no trace, because you’ve been unable to piece together the victims’ last hours. What does that tell us about him? First, that these crimes are not crimes of passion. He’s meticulously planned each murder. There’s no loss of control. He knows exactly what he’s doing. The brutality of the rapes make it appear as if he loses control, but that’s not what’s happening. It’s interesting that each victim has very similar injuries – bruising around the neck, the abdomen, upper arms, inner thighs and genital area. In my opinion, he’s recreating an earlier crime, something that occurred in his past.’

  ‘To whom?’ Erik said.

  ‘Obviously someone close to him – mother, sister, daughter, wife. If I had to choose, I’d say it was his mother, and I have a theory about that.’

  ‘But why?’ Eliza asked. ‘What’s it all for?’

  ‘You’re asking why an insane person does what he does, Eliza. I’m afraid we might never know the answer to that. His internal logic has become fractured in some way. As far as he’s concerned – it all makes perfect sense to him, but not to us. Now, let’s go back in time slightly. If he is recreating an earlier crime, who’s crime was it? We might argue that he committed the earlier crime, but I believe that not to be case. Let’s go back in time even further. We can surmise that he’s not of sound mind. Has he always been mentally deranged? No, I don’t think so. His abnormal behaviour is linked to this earlier crime that he’s now re-living. It’s my considered opinion that the earlier crime is the root cause of his insanity now. I say that based on the underlying theories of Doctor Sigmund Freud who believed that the way parents deal with their children’s basic sexual and aggressive desires determines how their personality develops and whether or not they end up as well-adjusted adults.’

  Katie said, ‘I don’t think you should say too much about the psychology behind your theories, Howard.’

  He smiled. ‘I’m often told that. If I start to become boring, just speak up. I’ll try not to take offence. However, bear with me for a little while longer, because it underpins my theories about the perpetrator. Freud believed that children go through multiple stages of sexual development, which he identified as Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. We’re only interested in the phallic stage, and during this stage the focus is on genital stimulation and children turn their interest and love toward the parent of the opposite sex, which he called the Oedipus Complex.’ He glanced at Katie. ‘I couldn’t ask for a glass of water, could I?’

  ‘Of course.’ She went to the kitchen, returned with a full glass of water and gave it to him.

  Howard took a swallow and put the glass down. ‘Freud also believed that any problems which occurred during these stages would result in a child becoming “stuck” forever and never moving beyond that stage of sexual development. The reason I’ve told you all of that, is because I think it explains what has happened to him. He’s “stuck” at the phallic stage, which occurs between the ages of three and six years old. The women represent his mother. He fell in love with her and never moved beyond that stage of his sexual and psychological development, because I believe his mother died.’

  Erik’s brow furrowed. ‘Lots of mothers die, but their children don’t become murderers, Howard.’

  ‘That’s true, but very few of those children witness their mothers being raped and murdered.’

  ‘You think he saw his mother being brutally raped and strangled?’ Eliza said.

  ‘Yes.’

  Erik said, ‘But why did he start killing in February 1946?’

  ‘Something happened, which made him regress back to that traumatic time in his life.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘I have no idea. However, what I can say is that whatever it was will be directly or indirectly related to the murder of his mother.’

  ‘Why does he continue to kill?’ Katie asked.

  ‘Freud suggested that once a person became “stuck”, they would become fixated at that point of their development; that it would come to dominate their personality. It is this fixation with the death of his mother that drives him to continue killing.’

  ‘I don’t understand why he brutally rapes the women,’ Eliza said. ‘If they represent his mother, why is he raping them?’

  ‘It goes back to Freud and the Oedipus Complex again. Freud believed that a boy had an unconscious desire to sexually possess his mother and that this conflict was eventually resolved by identifying with his father. However, he also suggested that an unsuccessful resolution might lead to abnormal behaviour, which is what I believe has happened here. I don’t think he ever resolved his oedipal conflict, because his mother died and left him. Also, I doubt that his father was present, or that he even knew who his father was. With each victim he rapes, he’s sexually possessing his mother and showing his anger for her desertion.’

  ‘And why does he wash them and make them look beautiful?’ Eliza asked.

  ‘Because the last time he saw his mother she was lying on the ground dirty, beaten and bruised. He loved her. She was the centre of his life.’

  ‘Why take their bodies to municipal parks and leave them there?’

  ‘Remember, he’s recreating the rape and murder of his mother, which likely occurred in a municipal park. He was there, he saw it, but he was unable to stop it or protect her. He’s lived with the guilt all his life, and now he’s overwhelmed by it.’

  ‘Has he stopped?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid not. He won’t stop until he’s caught. He’s “stuck”. He can’t help himself anymore.’

  ‘So, who are we looking for?’ Erik said. ‘You may have explained why he’s murdering all these women, but we really need the who?’

  Chapter Fifteen

  Howard smiled. ‘Yes, that is why I’m here, isn’t it?’ He began another list on the blackboard:

  Middle-aged white man.

  ‘How old is he?’ Howard posed the question and began answering it himself. ‘I’ve already suggested that he was five or six years old when he saw his mother being killed. Also, his victims are between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two, so I’d say that his mother was still young when she gave birth to him – maybe sixteen, which would have made her approximately twenty-two years old when she died if he was six, and it could explain why the father was absent. It’s also entirely possible that he was the product of an earlier rape.’

  ‘And he could have found out?’ Eliza said.

  ‘Yes, that’s possible as well. He’s acquired some degree of skill in terms of hair styling, applying make-up and manicuring, so I’d put his age at between thirty-five and forty years old, which would locate the original crime between 1908 and 1920.’

  Erik said, ‘Katie already had the idea that the key to identifying the killer was possibly a similar crime that might have occurred in a municipal park in the past, and I’ve been searching through old newspapers and magazines at the library for just such a crime, but I haven’t come across anything yet.’

  ‘That’s a good idea. Yes, if we could identify the original crime, we’d know we were on the right track.’

  ‘And it might mention the boy, if there was one,’ Eliza suggested.

  Howard nodded. ‘Yes, it might.’

  ‘Did Katie mention that between the two of us we might have solved the riddle of the clues t
hat he leaves on his victims?’ Erik asked.

  Howard glanced at Katie. ‘No, she didn’t.’

  ‘I’ll let you tell him,’ Erik said to Katie. ‘I need to conserve my energy.’

  ‘All right.’ She pointed to the list on the right-hand whiteboard. ‘As you can see, we’ve linked some of the clues to silent movie stars.’

  For the benefit of Eliza as well, she explained how each clue connected to the movie star.

  Hildegard Zinn – a dead rattlesnake – Theda Bara;

  Paula Simpson – a car key – Mabel Normand;

  Vivienne Turner – a needle and syringe – Barbara La Marr;

  Dawn Morrison – a new red shoe – Thelma Todd.

  Erik said, ‘I also discovered today that Jean Harlow’s husband – Paul Bern – was shot in September 1932. He was found sprawled in front of a mirror with a bullet through his head and drenched in Harlow’s favourite perfume – Mitsuoko, (mystery) by Guerlain.’

  Katie went over to the whiteboard, added the information to the list and said, ‘So, we have five now.’

  Isabella Brunet – a bottle of perfume – Jean Harlow.

  Howard tapped the board. ‘What about the other three clues?’

  Sally Wells – a Chinese hair stick;

  Annie Brazil – a black velvet wrist bow;

  Lola Coburn – a red and blue striped scarf.

  ‘I need to make a phone call,’ Katie said, walking over to the sideboard and picking up the telephone. She called Milton Luboviski at Larry Edmunds: Cinema & Theatre Bookshop.

  ‘Hello,’ a female voice said.

  ‘Git, it’s Katie Brazil. Is Milton there, please?’

  ‘Yes, he is. We’ve just closed up for the day. Here he is now.’

  She heard scuffling noises and then, ‘Hello, Katie.’

  ‘I said I’d call you when I was free, Milton.’

  ‘Yes, you did.’

  ‘Were you able to link any of the other clues to silent movie stars?’

  ‘I was.’

  ‘Oh, by the way, we’ve linked the perfume to Jean Harlow.’

  ‘Ha! Yes, I had that – the murder of her husband?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I also have the names of the other three silent movie stars as well. The Chinese hair stick is from a still of Nita Naldi who retired from acting in 1928; Asta Neilson always wore a black velvet wrist bow and she retired in 1932; and the red and blue striped scarf comes from a still of Vilma Banky who retired in 1933.’

  ‘Then we have all eight. Thank you for your invaluable help, Milton.’

  ‘It’s been my pleasure. Call me anytime.’ He lowered his voice and chuckled. ‘Especially when Git isn’t here.’

  There was a click and the line went dead. She put the phone back on the sideboard and wrote the details of what Milton had told her on the whiteboard.

  ‘I don’t know what you all think,’ Howard said. ‘But I’m convinced that knowing what we now know, his mother was probably a silent movie star.’

  ‘Which would make the dates about right,’ Erik said. ‘I’m no expert, but from my research I do know that the silent era was from 1894 to 1929, and the first talkies came in around 1930.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Howard agreed. ‘Shall I continue?’

  Katie glanced at her wristwatch. ‘Please.’ She’d asked everyone to come to her apartment at this time, and now she didn’t want it to appear as if she was hurrying them along and pushing them out of the door. Time was running out though. It was already six thirty-five.

  Not married.

  ‘When he’s not raping and killing women, he’s just a normal person, but I don’t think he’s married. He might have been married in the past, and could have fathered children. However, I think he suffers from low self-esteem. If he was married, he was not the master in his own house, his wife was. He is weak, a person nobody notices. The rape and murder of the women gives him strength and power over them.’

  Works full-time.

  ‘He has a job connected to the movie business. We know he’s very skilled at hair styling, applying make-up and manicuring, which suggests he might do that.’

  Katie opened her mouth and was about to mention Lilly – Frank Page’s assistant – but stopped herself just in time. Instead, she looked at Eliza. ‘Weren’t you going to compile a list of all the men with qualifications in Hollywood who could do those things?’

  ‘Yes. I have it here.’ She took a dozen pieces of paper that had been folded over from her bag and passed it to Katie. ‘I found that there were far too many on the list – over three hundred – for it to be of much use. In fact, you’d think it was something a woman would be ideally qualified for, but there are three times as many men doing it as women.’

  He knows the victims.

  ‘With that in mind,’ Howard continued. ‘The reason he can get so close to his victims is that he knows them in a professional capacity. These particular women are chosen because they reject his sexual advances, which triggers a psychotic episode. During these episodes his perception and interpretation of reality is different from those people around him. The episodes probably include hallucinations and persecutory delusions, which lead him to brutally rape and strangle the women who reject his sexual advances. He is then filled with remorse for his actions. We can therefore surmise that he works on his own in a building which permits him the isolation to commit the crimes. It’s also possible that he takes drugs and/or drinks alcohol as a way of controlling the psychosis, but it actually makes it worse.’ At the bottom of the blackboard he wrote:

  Single white male; aged between thirty-five and forty; possibly previously married with children; low self-esteem; works full-time as a hair stylist, make-up artist, manicurist or all three; works alone in a building that allows him access to come and go in isolation; owns a vehicle;

  His mother was a silent movie star who gave birth to him when she was young – possibly around sixteen years of age, the father was absent;

  He saw his mother being raped and murdered when he was around six years of age and blames himself for not being able to protect her;

  Two years ago, something caused him to regress back to that traumatic experience and he now has psychotic episodes when his sexual advances are rejected.

  Erik pulled a face. ‘With the exception of the underlying psychology, you’ve not really told us anything that will help us catch him, Howard.’

  ‘Don’t be ungracious, Erik,’ Katie said.

  ‘I’m speaking the truth.’

  ‘Detective Urban is right, Katie. However, what I do suggest is that you don’t discard that list of men that Mrs Linton has given you. I think you can reduce the pool of suspects considerably by eliminating those who don’t fit my description.’

  Erik held out his hand towards Katie. ‘Give it to me. I’ll put my men on it. If that’s all we’ve got, then we’ll simply have to make do.’

  Katie passed him the list. ‘Is there anything else anybody would like to say?’

  Nobody spoke up.

  ‘Well, I’d like to thank you all for coming and I suggest we meet here again on Monday at the same time?’ She looked at the faces and everyone nodded their agreement.

  Eliza stood up and walked towards the hallway.

  Howard followed her.

  Katie let them out, said goodnight and waited for Erik to catch up, but he didn’t appear. She closed the door and returned to the living room. Erik hadn’t moved. ‘Do you need me to help you?’

  ‘Didn’t you forget to tell us something?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Such as hiring Don Carroll as a bodyguard; signing a contract with Sam Rich; having a screen test at MGM; and obtaining a photographic portfolio at Frank Page’s studio?’

  ‘You know?’

  ‘I’m a detective. It’s my business to know.’

  ‘You’ve been following me?’

  ‘I’m in no condition to follow anybody, but I had two
of my men follow you.’

  ‘You had no right.’

  ‘I had every right.’

  ‘It’s the only way, Erik. You said it yourself, we still have nothing. How long will it take your men to whittle down that list of men to a manageable number? And even then, there are no guarantees . . .’

  ‘That’s not the point.’

  ‘It is the point.’ She sat down next to him. ‘We’re on the outside looking in. We need someone on the inside.’

  ‘I said you weren’t to do it.’

  ‘And I said I’d do whatever I needed to do to find my sister’s killer.’

  They glared at each other.

  ‘I’m not happy, Katie,’ Erik eventually said. ‘I appreciate your help with the investigation, but acting as bait without protection is really stupid.’

  ‘Oh, so now I’m stupid?’

  ‘In this respect – yes. Don Carroll and my men were confined to sitting outside while you were inside unprotected. If the killer had chosen you as his next victim, we’d have only found out when you failed to reappear.’

  She didn’t want to tell him about the gun Don had given her, but what choice did she have? ‘I know. Which is why Don Carroll gave me a gun.’

  ‘A gun?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Now, that’s downright crazy. Do you have a licence to carry a gun?’

  ‘No.’

  He held out his hand. ‘You’d better give it to me for safe-keeping.’

  ‘I will not.’

  Erik pushed himself up. ‘I need some rest. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. In the meantime, I suggest you don’t kill anybody with your illegal gun, because then I’d have to arrest you.’