by Estelle Ryan
“Is the crime scene—” I stopped when Ivan nodded.
“I locked everything down when I made the connection this morning, knowing you were here.”
Manny swore, then got up and snapped his fingers in my direction. “Move it, Doc. We’ve got a crime scene to go to.”
Chapter FOUR
COLIN FOLLOWED IVAN’S dark blue SUV into a tree-lined road. The narrow road curved to the right and we slowed down. Ivan turned left into a private road and we followed him through an open gate, tennis courts on our right. The road ended with only forest ahead and Colin parked behind Ivan. I had spent the entire twenty-seven-minute trip mentally writing Mozart’s Flute Concerto No.1 in G major to aid me in ignoring the argument in the back seat.
“If Franny’s side of the bed has a better connection, I want that room. The internet in my room is barely enough for a good video call with my Roxy.”
“Oh, for the love of all the saints.” Manny shoved open the door and got out.
Vinnie leaned over Francine towards the opened door and inhaled to continue the argument that had been going on for most of the drive here, but didn’t get the opportunity. Manny slammed the door so hard that Colin’s SUV rocked.
Vinnie sat back and huffed. “Well, that was rude.”
Francine snorted and hopped over to the door Manny had slammed and also exited the car, Vinnie getting out with a chuckle.
Colin squeezed my knee. “Good to go?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“Okay, then.” His smile was soft. “Let’s do this.”
We got out the SUV and Vinnie uttered a content sound when he stretched his neck first to the left, then to the right. “Man, it’s pretty out here.”
The weather was surprisingly warm for this time of the season. The thermistor in the SUV had measured the temperature at nineteen degrees. Thermistors were notoriously inaccurate, and standing outside, the real temperature felt closer to fifteen or sixteen degrees. Still pleasant though.
Francine and Manny were standing with Daniel and Ivan. We joined them and looked at the greenery in front of us. “Tell me about the park.”
Ivan looked at the forest, his smile genuine and proud. “This is one of the few surviving examples of Prague’s Baroque era. There is a maze of paths that a lot of people refer to as Alice in Wonderland paths. This park is a favourite for people who want to be close to nature, but don’t have the time or means to leave the city.”
He must’ve noticed my impatience, because he started talking faster, his smile fading. “There are a few statues, but what we are going to now is the Poustevna Hermitage. It’s small and the history is not important now, but this is our crime scene. I got a call a few minutes ago to tell me the medical examiner finished his work here. We can go to the scene. The ME will do a full forensic autopsy as soon as the body is in the morgue.”
“The victim?”
“He was tortured. Badly. The ME’s preliminary finding is that this man died from exsanguination. He was dead when he was dumped here.”
It was well-hidden, but it was there. I didn’t like speculating, but I was convinced Ivan knew I could see he was hiding something from us. He glanced at me every time he caught himself touching his neck, crossing his arms or covering his mouth when he answered. I gave myself more time to observe before I would challenge him with this deception.
“Blood loss. So there is a primary crime scene somewhere drenched in blood.” Manny pushed his fists in his trouser pockets. “Holy hell.”
“Do you have a name yet?” Francine’s hand hovered over her tablet screen.
Ivan nodded. “Jan Novotný. His fingerprints were in our database because of his work.”
“What did he do?” Vinnie asked.
“He was a scientist working for Prokop Industries. As soon as we’re done here, I’ll find out what exactly he did that required his fingerprints to be on file.”
“Hmm.” Francine raised one eyebrow, scrolling and tapping on her tablet screen. “Ol’ Jan seems like a boring old fuddy-duddy. No social media, his bio on the company website talks about his passion for his work and how he inspires his colleagues and the whole department.” Her top lip curled. “He has a comb-over.”
“What’s a comb-over?” Ivan frowned.
“Something not relevant to the case.” I stared unblinking at Francine. “What else do you have that is relevant?”
“Oh, a bad hairstyle is always relevant, girlfriend.” She winked at me. “But I’ll keep my opinions to myself. For now.” She turned her attention back to her tablet. “Doctor Jan was a guest lecturer at quite a few universities. University of Zurich, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Université de Lyon.” Her head jerked up. “Hey, you also lectured there. Maybe your paths crossed?”
I didn’t have to think hard. “I never met a Czech scientist when I guest-lectured in Lyon.”
“Damn.” Her mouth twisted as she looked back at her tablet. “Hmm. He was researching a cure for opioid addiction. Not treatment for addiction. A cure. Interesting. And he’s currently on a sabbatical. He also gave a TED talk about genomics.”
“If he worked with narcotics, it would explain his fingerprints being on file.” Ivan tilted his head. “What is this genomics?”
“It’s a field of science, an interdisciplinary field that deals with the structure, evolution and editing of genomes. And genomes are complete sets of DNA, including all of its genes. Genetics is the study of individual genes. Genomics focuses on the collective quantification... of... genes.” Vinnie slowed down and stopped when he noticed everyone’s wide eyes and Manny’s slack jaw. “What?”
“Dude!” Francine punched him on his shoulder. “You just totally geeked out on us.”
Vinnie shrugged, colour rising from his neck to his cheeks. “Rox and I talk.”
“Ya think?” Francine snorted. “The two of you are like gossiping teenage girls.”
I didn’t know what gossiping teenagers would be like—male or female. As a child, I had never had friends and to this day had no patience for idle talk. But if Francine was implying that Vinnie and his romantic partner, Doctor Roxanne Ferreira, talked a lot, she was correct.
It had taken me some time to get used to the chaotic characteristics of the highly regarded international specialist in infectious diseases. Roxy would leave a wake of dirty dishes and disorder behind when she made a simple cup of tea. In private, she was an organisational disaster, but professionally, she was one of the best in her field.
Manny looked at me. “Why would Shahab need a Geronimo scientist, Doc?”
“Genomics.” I sighed. “And you know better than to ask me to speculate. I have far too little data to extrapolate anything worthy of a conclusion.”
Manny gestured impatiently towards the forest. “Then we might as well go and get more data.” He looked at Ivan. “Take us to the crime scene.”
Ivan nodded. “Sure. But I don’t want to take too many people. We’re trying to preserve the scene as much as possible.”
Manny pointed at me. “You. The rest can stay.”
“Do you need me, love?” Colin lifted my hand and covered it with both of his. I hadn’t realised how tight my hold was until he flexed his hand a bit.
I relaxed my hand and thought about his question. “I don’t know.”
Ivan looked from me to Daniel to Colin and back to me. “Colin can stay close just in case.”
Clearly Daniel had briefed him and for this I was grateful.
“Thank you.” Colin’s smile was sincere as he looked at Ivan. “I’ll stay out of the way if I’m not needed.”
“Vin and I will hang back and keep Daniel from breaking the law.” Francine didn’t look up from her tablet as she delivered this outrageous statement. It took a lot of effort not to remind her that Daniel was one of the most conscientious people she would ever meet. I clenched my teeth and followed Manny and Ivan.
They were walking towards the forest, Manny asking Ivan abo
ut the number of people who had already trampled all over the crime scene. I watched as Ivan’s muscle tension increased. He turned his head to look at Manny, the downturned corners of his mouth telling.
His thought process was visible in his micro-expressions and I saw the moment he relaxed. A sardonic smile replaced his anger. “Is being insulting your way of establishing dominance?”
Manny’s eyes widened briefly before he came to a stop. He turned around to face us and shook his finger at Colin. “Stop laughing, Frey.”
We caught up to them and Colin grinned. “You’re becoming too easy to read, Millard.”
“Oh, bugger off.” Manny rubbed his hand over his face and looked at Ivan. “I apologise for being condescending. I didn’t mean to imply that your people don’t know how to process a crime scene.”
“No worries.” Ivan’s smile was genuine. “Daniel warned me that you might come over a bit strong.” He shrugged. “And I’m used to power struggles.”
“What does that mean?” I held up my finger before anyone could answer. “I know what a power struggle is. I would like to know why you are used to it.”
Ivan shrugged again. Then he rubbed the scar on his hand. “It took a long while before the other detectives considered me more than just a first-responding, gun-toting, superhero wannabe.”
“That must’ve been rough,” Colin said.
Ivan nodded, then pointed his chin towards the footpath. “It took more than a dozen investigations of crime scenes like this before they would accept that I actually had an intellect.”
“The way Daniel talks, it sounds like you are highly respected in your department.”
“It was hard work.” Ivan started walking along the footpath and we followed. “Putting my head down and just doing the work, ignoring the noise around me. Nobody wanted to partner up with me. The first two years, I worked alone. Then I got all the rookies.”
“Let me guess.” Manny pushed his hands in his pockets. “Now they all want to partner up with you.”
The corners of Ivan’s eyes crinkled, his cheeks lifting in a genuine smile. “Yeah. But I’ve grown to enjoy working with the rookies. They’re so eager to learn and they always bring fresh eyes to a case. They often look for things that aren’t there and ask obvious questions.”
“And often those are the things and the questions seasoned detectives overlook because they think they know better.” Manny huffed, then pointed at me. “She’s the one asking all the annoying questions. Keeps me on my toes.”
Manny’s tone and the part of his face I could see informed me that his intention was contradicting the insulting meaning of his words. I was about to confront him with his lack of clear communication when Ivan stopped and turned around to face Colin. “You can wait here for us.” He pointed at a grouping of trees ten metres ahead of us. “The crime scene is over there.” He looked at me. “Anytime you need him, just say and we’ll call out.”
I nodded and let go of Colin’s hand. He took my hand again and pulled me closer to him. “I’m here, love.”
“I know. I see you.”
He smiled and kissed my temple. “Yes, you do.”
By now I knew that there was a double meaning in his assertion. A few years ago, he’d explained to me that I understood him in a way no one else did. I saw who he really was.
I had disagreed with him then and I still did. Our friends also ‘saw’ Colin. But I wasn’t going to rehash that argument now. Instead, I nodded and left him standing in the pathway and walked towards the copse of trees.
Ivan and Manny were five metres ahead of me. They turned to the right when they passed the shrub on the other side of the trees. My mind rebelled against witnessing Shahab’s brutality yet again. I inhaled and exhaled while counting to ten. Only then did I step around the copse of trees to find Manny and Ivan waiting for me.
Ivan was standing in a manner to prevent me from seeing behind him. His brow lowered in concern. “This is one of the most brutal crime scenes I’ve been to.”
“I’ve seen Shahab’s victims before.” And sometimes had flashbacks that had twice brought on shutdowns. I forced Mozart’s flute concerto back into my mind and pushed my fisted hands in my jacket pockets. “I’m ready.”
Manny stared at me for two seconds, then grunted and walked further off the wide footpath. With trepidation I waited for Ivan to step aside so I could see the crime scene.
To our left was a building that looked like ruins, but I assumed was the hermitage Ivan had talked about. It was a small unassuming building with three arches in the front and stonework on the sides. I forced myself to look away from it to the right of the building where Ivan’s and Manny’s attention was focused.
It was as bad as I had expected. Not even four metres from where we were standing, a body was lying under the low-hanging branches of a shrub. Or it could be a tree. I had never developed a sufficient interest in flora to be able to identify the plant where Shahab had left his latest victim.
My feet felt heavy as I walked closer, my breathing laboured. Shahab had made no effort to hide the man in his fifties who was staring at the bottom of the lowest branches with unseeing eyes. The beard covering his jaw was unkempt, dried blood turning his gray hair into a matted rust colour.
Manny was on his haunches, studying Doctor Jan Novotný’s face. I stopped next to him, a shudder racing down my spine. Looking at the scientist’s left hand was like stepping back into Neuhof forest outside of Strasbourg.
A year ago, Shahab had brutally tortured Jace, a young non-verbal autistic man, then dumped him in Neuhof forest to bleed out. The fingers Manny and I were looking at now were as bent out of position, swollen and clearly broken as Jace’s had been. This man had suffered unspeakable pain at the hands of Shahab Hatami.
A dead leaf left over from winter floated from the tree above and came to rest on Doctor Novotný’s torso. I didn’t even want to think about the bruising and internal bleeding the medical examiner would find during the autopsy.
My attention shifted to Doctor Novotný’s right hand. Immediate darkness pushed into my peripheral vision, threatening to take me to a safer place, void of this level of violence.
I couldn’t speak and it took great effort to unfist my hand so I could point a shaky finger to draw Manny’s attention to the hand half hidden from our view. It took four seconds before he glanced at me, frowned, then turned to see what was causing me such distress.
“Holy bloody fuck.” His expletive was a mere whisper, but conveyed the emotions I was feeling. Revulsion and shock. Manny stood up and stepped into my personal space. “Doc, I’m going to touch you now and turn you away from this.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want him to stand this close and I didn’t want him to touch me. But my brain couldn’t get the message to my vocal cords to communicate this. So I just continued shaking my head. And couldn’t stop.
“Frey!” Manny scowled at me before swearing yet again. “Bugger this.”
He grabbed both my shoulders and turned me to face the direction we had come from. Seeing Colin rush towards me loosened something inside me and I gulped in a deep breath.
“I’m here.” Colin pushed Manny’s hands off my shoulders and glared at him. “You should know better.”
“Bugger off, Frey.” Manny stepped away.
I knew the moment Colin saw Doctor Novotný’s right hand. His body stiffened, his gasp audible. He took a controlled breath. “Okay, let’s get you away from this.”
Again I shook my head. Colin waited.
I focused on Colin’s warm hands resting on my shoulders and mentally turned up the volume of the Adagio of the flute concerto. I only needed eight seconds. “Shahab’s behaviour has escalated.”
“Understatement of the year, Doc.” Manny walked away from us, then swung around and came back. “Never mind what I said. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
I didn’t need to look at Doctor Novotný’s hand. The image of the reattached fingers was
burned into my memory. “The swelling and discolouration leads me to think that Shahab cut off and crudely sewed back Doctor Novotný’s fingers while he was alive. I can’t see whether the fingers were completely severed before they were reattached, but the pain must have been excruciating.”
“Shahab would want that,” Colin said quietly.
“Why is this so significant?” Ivan walked closer and stood next to Manny.
“He didn’t cut off his other victims’ fingers and sew them back.” Manny rubbed both hands over his face. “This... this... I don’t know.”
Colin stared at me. “Do you need to see more or shall we go?”
“I want complete photographic records of this crime scene and the body.” Manny waved us forward with both hands. “If Doc doesn’t want to go, I do.”
We walked in silence back to the SUV. Ivan stopped briefly to instruct an officer, then joined us while Manny gave Vinnie and Francine a quick summary of what we’d found.
“Motherfucker!” Vinnie walked away and slapped the roof of Colin’s SUV hard enough to make the vehicle rock. He turned back and shook his index finger at me. “We’re finding him, Jen-girl. This will stop.”
I looked at Francine, then at Ivan. “I need to know as much as possible about Jan Novotný. More than just his online biography. There was a reason Shahab tortured him so extensively. Previously, he tortured his victims to get information from them. This time? I don’t want to speculate—”
“But you’re thinking that he developed a liking for this,” Manny said.
“No.” I frowned at him. “Although that is very likely given what we know about Shahab. To finish my thought you so rudely interrupted, I wonder if the importance of the information is related to the level of torture.”
“So the stuff Jan Novotný knew was more important to Shahab than the intel he wanted in Strasbourg?” Manny scratched his stubbled jaw. “Hmm.”
“I also wonder how a scientist fits in with Shahab’s previous patterns. If we look at victimology, he doesn’t match the young people Shahab targeted in Strasbourg.” I thought about this some more. “Was Doctor Novotný a new entity in Shahab’s plans or was Shahab already active in Prague when we encountered him? Is this also connected to Shahab’s drug trafficking? Is this related at all or something completely different?” I raised one hand, palm out. “Don’t try to answer with speculation. My questions are rhetorical.”