‘This is bothering me. As you yourself have concluded, everything is being directed to Madame Ortiz – for example, the astrological symbols left beside the body, apart from the first victim that is. By the way, I concur that there wasn’t one left because she wasn’t alone when she died.’
‘But then there’s the poison.’
‘Ah, yes, the poison. It was found on all three victims, isn’t that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘But each was killed in a different manner, so that again appears to be a misdirection.’
Fielding admitted that she’d been confounded. ‘You know, this is my first senior investigating officer case, and I don’t feel it’s going at all well.’
‘I really wouldn’t worry about that,’ Simmons comforted her, ‘this one’s got me puzzled too, and I’m a trained psychologist. It’s usually quite easy to see motives and intentions in the way people behave, and in the way they kill, but this one is a lot more difficult to work out than most. As you know, we have discussed this in a previous case, people kill for a variety of reasons. Mental illness has often been touted as the primary cause, but I, like most psychologists, dismiss it in all but a handful of cases. It’s only really been proven to be the case when someone had been receiving prior psychiatric treatment. The more common motives to kill are for gratification, personal revenge, monetary gain, or simply to silence someone who is going to reveal a hidden secret – such as committing fraud or adultery. Basic, yes, they are the most prominent motives. The reasons behind the motives are the ones which need to be discovered though. A killer may lack morals and a sense of conscience, thereby having no compunction about taking a life in order to get what they want. Often how they kill explains why they kill. In most cases there is a thought-out plan; multiple murderers rarely kill without reason. What we need to find here is the reason for the deaths and, as I say, this is harder to work out than usual.’
‘I was thinking on the lines of something underhanded going on regarding Madame Ortiz’s business premises, as two of the victims had clear links to that.’
Louise shook her head. ‘I can see that being a clear possibility, but I’d say you’re looking for something other than that. Just put my reasoning down to experience, if you like, rather than evidence direction. If it was that, it would make the poisoning illogical. No, this is something more personal to the killer than a dodgy business deal.’
The last statement made Fielding sit back. Perhaps that was why she was felt something was off with her reasoning. She was looking at it being linked to the business, but could it be something as simple as what Louise was suggesting? Sometimes the simplest possibility was the correct one.
‘Occam’s razor?’ Fielding suggested, which made Louise look at her in something akin to respect. That wasn’t a term she usually came across outside of her profession.
‘Ah, I’m impressed; a student of philosophy, I see.’
‘No, not really, it’s just that I know the principle. Say there are two possible explanations for an occurrence. The one that requires the smallest number of assumptions is usually the correct one. So, in layman’s terms, the simplest answer is most likely the correct one.’
‘Very true. In that case, you need to look for the simplest thing that links all these people, the suspects and the victims. Just look at what the signs are telling you.’
As Fielding thanked her for her input, the psychologist then said something to make her reconsider what she knew so far.
‘Of course, there is always another option,’ Simmons added.
‘Which is?’
‘Sometimes multiple murders take place to mask the killer’s real intention.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘That only one person was the real target here, and the others were simply collateral damage.’
Burton and Fielding had experienced a couple of cases over the years when this had indeed been the case, but then, as she reminded Simmons, none of those victims had known one another and had been randomly chosen.
‘Then I’d say that the killer is someone who is clever enough to realise this and include victims who do know one another, and then, very importantly, have the control and calmness to carry it out. This is, of course, all conjecture, you understand, as I’m just throwing out possibilities.’
‘But it is interesting, and something to bear in mind. So, do you think that if it were the case, the killer would need to be highly intelligent?’
‘It’s possible, but then, what drives a person to kill? It could be for the simplest of reasons but they themselves make it more convoluted.’
‘One of our suspects could be putting on a very clever act then?’
‘It is possible.’
At the end of their meeting, Louise Simmons had to go back to the university, but told Fielding not to hesitate to get in touch as and when she needed her. After her departure, Fielding once again went over all the facts. Hopefully, when the other members of the team returned with their findings, she’d have more to add to them. For now, she left Burton’s office and sat down at her desk looking over her own sheet before finally going over to examine the board.
She was still studying it when the phone rang on the desk next to her. Picking it up, she listened and thought she’d misheard, but then realised she hadn’t. She was deep in thought as she put the phone down, and almost missed Joe Burton’s arrival into the office.
‘You look like you’ve just had some bad news,’ he said, which startled her and she jumped in her seat. ‘Oh, Sally I’m sorry, what is it?’ he continued.
‘There’s been another death.’
‘Same as the others?’ He pulled out a seat from the neighbouring desk and slid it over towards her to sit next to her.
‘Yes, and no.’
‘Very cryptic. How yes, and how no?’
‘There was a symbol left on the body, but I hear it’s a bit different.’
‘In what way different?’
‘I don’t know yet. I’ve just had a call from Ben Adamson who’s at the scene, that’s why he called me. He says it’s similar, but not quite the same as the others. He wants me to go down there.’
‘And the victim, is it someone we know?’ Burton asked, getting up, fully intending to go with her now that he was free for the rest of the day.
‘Again, yes and no.’
Burton looked confused.
‘Are you okay to come with me?’ Fielding grabbed her bag.
Burton nodded.
‘Then I’ll tell you on the way.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ Joe Burton looked at Fielding while she was driving.
‘I’m afraid not,’ she said, keeping her eyes on the road ahead but casting him a quick glance.
‘So where does she fit into all this?’
‘That’s a very good question, Joe, and all I can think is that she’s seen something that she shouldn’t have. In fact, this has only complicated matters as far as I’m concerned. By the way, I spoke to Louise Simmons earlier.’
‘Oh, and what did she have to say; was she helpful?’
‘I think she’s as stumped as we are, but she did conclude that we look at what the signs are telling us.’
‘Meaning?’
‘That perhaps the simplest answer is the correct one.’
‘You brought up Occam’s razor, didn’t you?’ He grinned.
Fielding laughed. Joe knew her so well. The whole concept had caught her attention a long time ago after hearing about it, and since that time she had found it helpful on more than one occasion. It was deduction at its basic, but had proved correct time and time again despite murderers’ attempts to throw them off the scent.
‘I’ll tell you what else she said,’ Fielding added. ‘She raised a valid point in that all the killings could be hiding the fact that only one was the true victim and the rest were collateral damage.’
/> ‘Well, it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened on a case. We’ll have to bear that in mind.’
Fielding stopped the car in the side street outside the latest victim’s house, right behind the CSI unit’s van. The ‘gawpers and rubberneckers’, as Burton called them, had started to accumulate, speculating what was going on – perhaps already suspecting the worst if the large police presence was anything to go by. Death, it seemed, always gathered an inquisitive crowd of people.
‘But I thought that one of the DCs had and interviewed all the staff following Harry York’s death?’
‘Yes, Phillipa had, but she also said that somebody was off that day, on a week’s holiday. As this lady’s name wasn’t on the list of the interviewees, I’m assuming it’s her.’
‘So, who found her?’
‘I don’t know yet. All Ben Adamson said was that there was a sign left on the body but it was different, although he didn’t say in which way.’
Burton laughed. ‘Adamson enjoys his little mysteries; I think he secretly fancies himself a detective!’
‘Apparently, he’s very fond of crime fiction.’
‘Is he, and how do you know that little gem?’ Although having known the man for many years, he hadn’t known that.
‘It was when Summers and I attended the autopsy the other day. He was speculating about how bodies ended up on his table and he confessed as much. So, you see, you’re right, I’m sure he’d be happy tagging along as a DS!’
Getting out of the car, Burton and Fielding walked over towards the terraced house which had been the home of Valerie Wilton. A uniformed officer stood at the gate with a clipboard, asking for their names before handing them each a sealed bag containing a pair of nitrile gloves and shoe coverings. Thanking him, they walked to the open front door where they slipped them on before entering the premises. As Burton went through, he stopped to look on the inside of the door and noticed that the security chain had been broken. A forced entry then, indicating that Ms Wilton most likely did not know her assailant. Once inside, the ground floor was a hubbub of activity, with white Tyvek-clad CSI technicians collecting evidence. From the look of it, there’d been a scuffle, with a canvas wall print lying on the floor, sporting a long tear diagonally across it, and traces of blood on the living room door frame and on the stair banister. Burton stopped one of the technicians and was told that Dr Adamson was upstairs in the bedroom with the victim. They made their way to the scene of the crime.
‘Ah, Joe, we meet again. I would say that it’s nice to see you so soon after the last time, but we always meet in such dire circumstances, don’t we?’ Adamson said in his own inimitable way when they entered the room.
‘Indeed. Death doesn’t get any better, I’m sorry to say.’
The doctor turned towards Fielding and bowed ever so slightly in a gentlemanly way. ‘Always a pleasure detective.’
Adamson stood back from the body to let them take a look. A colourful long scarf was tied around Valerie Wilton’s eyes, with the loose knot dangling down one side of her face.
‘Strangulation?’ Burton asked, noting the red mark around the woman’s neck. ‘Manual or with a ligature do you think?’
Fielding didn’t mind in the slightest that Burton was taking over the lead, and was actually pleased that he’d slipped into his familiar role once again.
‘Yes to the strangulation,’ Adamson nodded, ‘the mark left on her neck would be enough to indicate that as cause of death, and she also has broken blood vessels in the eyes which make it a certainty. Unsure yet as to whether the killer did it with their hands or used the scarf, but we can test it for skin cells. I left the scarf on for you to see, but I had checked her eyes to examine the blood vessels.’
Now able to remove the scarf, Adamson opened it out fully in order to examine it before adding it to one of his bags. Fielding glanced at the victim’s face and the two glazed red eyes which stared back at her. At first glance, she’d not have thought this to be connected to the other deaths, if not for the sign on the body the doctor had mentioned.
‘You mentioned that another sign had been found?’ she asked, still staring at the lifeless features of the victim. Adamson bent down and retrieved a transparent pouch from his medical case.
‘You see,’ he said, ‘it’s similar, but not the same.’
She took it and Burton leaned in to take a look. The doctor was correct. The other two symbols were definitely astrological ones, and looked like they were made by the same hand. There was a definite similarity in the way they’d been drawn. This one, however, was different. It wasn’t a specific sign but a pair of scales. Fielding immediately knew what it represented: Libra.
‘The scales of justice,’ she muttered, and Burton picked up on it.
‘You mean as in the legal system or a court?’
‘Yes, just like that.’
‘So, what’s the killer trying to say here? If it’s not the same, could it be a copycat killer?’
‘Mmm,’ Fielding murmured without answering Burton’s question, still looking at the slip of paper in her hand. ‘You know, I think that this deliberately draws our attention to Caroline Watkins. She’s a solicitor, isn’t she?’
‘Putting the attention on her by making her a key suspect? But why do that, it doesn’t make sense.’
‘None of this makes sense, Joe.’ Fielding handed the polybag back to Adamson. ‘And what about the blood downstairs, doctor? Is it the victim’s or could it be the killer’s?’
‘The victim has some blood under her nails here,’ he lifted up her right hand, which had been carefully encased in another polybag, ‘so I’ll check it when I get her back to the morgue. Apart from that, she has some bruising but no cuts that I can see, so chances are this could very well be the blood of whoever attacked her.’
‘That’s good,’ Fielding thanked him. ‘And another thing, can you check for any digitalis in her system? I can’t see that there will be as, judging by downstairs, the killer must have broken in while she was answering the door, so there wouldn’t be either opportunity or need to administer it before strangling her.’
‘So, whoever’s done this has led us directly to Caroline Watkins.’ Burton’s remark held true. The astrological sign, albeit different to the ones left of the other victims, clearly linked it to the other cases. Apart from that, the murder could have easily been carried out by an entirely different killer.
Fielding nodded before asking Adamson a final question. ‘Do you think this was done by a man or a woman, doctor?’
‘I’d say a man. I think it would take some force to strangle someone, whether that be with bare hands or with an aid such as a scarf. The same applies to the front door. It looks like it’s been kicked in, and with a force hard enough to break the chain in two. If it had been a woman, then I think you’re looking for someone with extraordinary strength, and I’m not trying to cast aspersions on the female gender you understand.’
‘No, I get it,’ Fielding assured him, ‘and I agree with you on that assumption. I would have thought the same.’
‘Although,’ Burton added thoughtfully, ‘if she had been subdued by poisoning it would have made it easier for a woman to kill her, wouldn’t it?’
‘But the scuffle downstairs; it implies initial force,’ the doctor reminded him.
‘I know, but we did consider that Norman Bishop may have been killed by two people.’
Fielding looked towards Burton. He seemed to be fully up-to-date on the case.
‘Ambleton’s prepped you well,’ she said with a smile.
‘Just wanted to keep up with my team.’
‘You know, we won’t be your team when she retires,’ she reminded him.
‘You’ll always be my team!’
As their eyes lingered on each other, Dr Adamson, aware of their relationship, intervened and said that he’d arrange for the body of Valerie Wilton to be taken to the morgue for an autopsy.
‘Where was this?’ Burton asked, examining it.
‘It was lying on the floor inside the front door. I’m thinking that it maybe got caught on the handle and was torn off when the door was forced open.’
Fielding thought it looked like a piece of green material, polyester perhaps. ‘Is that not a piece of the scarf?’ she asked the doctor.
‘No. I was thinking the same, but I’ve just checked it for any tears when I took it off her; it’s undamaged.’
‘You’ll both be attending the autopsy then?’ Adamson asked. It was more a statement than a question, but Fielding was delighted when Burton said they would. Even though she thoroughly detested autopsies, the fact that she’d attended several over the past few days seemed to somehow ease it a bit. Plus, Burton would be there with her this time.
‘I’ll see you both in an hour’s time then.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
While Fielding and Burton were visiting the latest crime scene, DCs Francis, Preston, Simmons and Banks were carrying on with their own work. Banks was still reviewing the CCTV, but Fielding had asked the others to re-visit the suspects and interview them further, specifically regarding their whereabouts at the time of each of the murders.
Fielding meanwhile, decided to make an appointment for that evening with Louise Simmons, to discuss whether the crimes could have been committed by two people. Fielding knew from her own forensic profiling courses that serial killer double-acts were not as marked as sole murderers, but they did exist. Examples were the American duo, Bianchi and Buono, and of course the UK’s Fred and Rosemary West. She was interested to know the reasons why two people would jointly kill, as the concept was now fixed in her head following Norman Bishop’s death.
Francis was the first to report back in. Assigned to speak to Caroline’s friends, Francis had been to see the other two women who had visited Madame Ortiz that Saturday evening. The interviews had proved interesting.
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