Perfect Silence

by Helen Fields

  Jonty knelt by Kate’s body, lifting the hospital gown away to inspect her injuries, taking her temperature and looking carefully at one of her wrists.

  ‘What is it?’ Ava asked, as Callanach finished with the forensics team.

  ‘Her wrist is dreadfully infected. These lines, like tiny veins, show that the infection has reached all the way up to the armpit. I’ll have to look under the microscope, as the inflammation and pus are masking the original wound, but I’d say this is the work of an infected cut or graze, and I can see debris left in the wound.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Callanach murmured to Ava.

  ‘What for?’ she asked, taking hold of his arm and leading him away from the body to the shelter of the side of an office block.

  ‘Barging into a crime scene. Making things harder than they already are. It was unprofessional,’ he said.

  ‘Kate was still alive when you got here,’ Ava replied. ‘Of course you ignored the crime scene and did what needed to be done for her. Who’s to say any of it would have made any difference.’

  ‘She died in my arms,’ Callanach said. ‘And she knew she was dying. All I could do was tell her how proud her parents are of her.’

  Ava stepped close to him, gripping his arm tightly. ‘Kate Bailey died looking into the eyes of a man who was protecting her. She wasn’t terrified, or distressed. She wasn’t alone. You did what any good police officer would have done. You cared for the person before caring about the crime scene. I’ve already got CCTV teams looking for the van at all the key city intersections. Did she say anything to you that might help us?’

  ‘She was almost incomprehensible, but she said what sounded like the word “womb” a couple of times, also “dirty” and “cold”. At the very end, when I asked her for a name, Kate said “Sam”. That was all I got.’

  ‘It’s a good start. What about a timeline? Do we know when she was found?’ Ava asked.

  ‘There was a girl crying when I arrived. A civilian.’ Callanach looked around. ‘Over there, the other side of the roundabout.’ He pointed. They crossed the road together, towards the front of the cruise terminal building, which housed a variety of shops and restaurants.

  The young woman was distraught. Two officers were with her and a blanket had been draped over her shoulders to ward off the inevitable shock. She was perched on a concrete bollard, her face a patchwork of pale skin and streaked mascara.

  Ava knelt in front of her and introduced herself.

  ‘I’m Erin Hendry,’ the young woman responded. ‘Is she …’

  ‘Dead. I’m afraid so. Was it you who called the police?’

  ‘Yes. I stayed late at work on a conference call with a couple of different time zones. I was walking to my car when I heard someone groaning. I came round the corner from the front entrance of the office and she was lying on the pavement. To start with I thought it was some sort of stupid, late Halloween prank, you know? Then I saw all the blood all over the road.’ She sobbed, her eyes wandering up the street to where Kate’s body, currently in the process of being moved, had been.

  ‘Where do you work, Erin?’ Ava asked.

  She pointed to the nearest office block, several floors up. ‘I’m a public relations manager for VisitScotland.’

  Ava sighed. The irony would have been laughable had the tragedy not been so horrific.

  ‘Did you see a vehicle at all?’ Callanach asked.

  ‘No. The area was deserted. There’s rarely anyone on this road late at night.’

  ‘So he knew the chances of being spotted were low,’ Callanach commented. ‘Erin, are you familiar with the history of this area?’

  ‘Sure,’ she said, looking surprised. ‘It’s always been docklands. Industrial, mostly. A war port at times. It dates back to medieval times.’

  ‘Is there anything about this place that might link it to prostitution?’ Ava asked.

  Erin blinked hard, looking confused, then concentrating. ‘All docks have a history of prostitution, I guess, but after the Second World War there was considered to be a need to clean up the area. Prostitution was a concern back then. The history of Leith docks is well documented.’

  ‘That explains his choice of venue,’ Ava said to Callanach. ‘We’ll make sure you get home safely, Erin. I’m sorry for what you witnessed.’

  ‘Did you find what she dropped?’ Erin asked.

  ‘I’m not sure what you’re talking about,’ Callanach said. ‘Did you hand it to a police officer?’

  ‘No, it was near where she was lying. She opened her hand when I first ran over to her, only when I stood up to call for help she must have let it go. I didn’t see it again. I’m so sorry. Was it important?’ Erin asked, her eyes filling with fresh tears.

  ‘Can you describe what you saw?’ Callanach asked.

  ‘It was covered in blood, but parts of it were green, I think, although the lighting isn’t great at night. The end seemed to be some sort of spike,’ she replied.

  ‘It was definitely in her hand? It wasn’t just on the road next to her?’ Ava said.

  ‘No, when I ran up to her she looked me in the eyes then opened her palm, as if she was showing it to me, only I was too scared about her injuries to pay any attention. I had to move away from her to get bars on my mobile and call for help,’ Erin explained.

  Callanach and Ava walked back across the roundabout and the few yards up the road. Now that Kate’s body had been moved, the SOCOs were in the process of collecting evidence from the tarmac. There was nothing visible left on the ground.

  ‘Hold on,’ Callanach said, walking over to an officer and borrowing a torch. Leaning down, facing into the edge of the pavement where he’d sat with Kate in his arms, he directed the torch beam into the small semicircular drainage holes that punctuated the side of the concrete every half metre or so. ‘There. Hold on.’ He called over a forensics officer and requested an evidence bag. Using slim plastic tongs, he pulled out what looked like a piece of rubbish from within the small drain. ‘What is it?’ he asked, holding up a gore-covered green spike with a horizontal clip across the top.

  Ava stepped closer to inspect it. ‘Not what I would have expected. It’s a plant marker. You put it into a pot after planting something like a herb, so you can remember what the seed or cutting was. She brought it to help us find him.’ She took the evidence bag from Callanach’s hand. ‘Clever girl, even in all the pain and fear.’

  ‘That won’t be any comfort to her parents,’ Luc said.

  ‘It won’t,’ she said, ‘but I’m going to find the bastard who did this to her, and I hope he fights or runs or does something that makes me entitled to grab the nearest sharp object and shove it through his neck, because no sentence any court will give him can make up for what he’s done.’

  ‘Nothing can,’ Callanach said. ‘Not even death. All we can do is find him and make absolutely sure he can’t hurt anyone else.’

  It was 2 a.m. before they left the scene. In fewer than six hours, the next victim was due to be taken.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ‘We have a possible name for the suspect. Kate Bailey said “Sam”, so we’re looking for the full version, Samuel, in vehicle licensing. Double-check with the DVLA for minivans registered to a male of that name in this area. We know that the vehicle left Leith travelling in a westerly direction. We last picked it up on Queensferry Road. It has not been identified getting onto any motorways so we’re assuming he took minor roads to his final destination. Once again, the few sightings we have of the van indicate that the licence plates are still muddied and unreadable. The CCTV sightings are some fifteen minutes after Kate was found, which means she survived for a substantial period after being dropped off,’ Ava said.

  ‘So did the killer miscalculate or is he getting more daring?’ DC Tripp asked.

  ‘My gut feeling is that it was a miscalculation. I don’t think he’d have left her if he’d known she was still able to communicate. It might be that she was unconscious when he
dropped her off, and he wrongly assumed she would not regain consciousness, or that she was faking it. Given that she managed to smuggle the plant marker out, I strongly suspect that Kate was playing dead in order to survive long enough to provide information,’ Ava finished.

  ‘How did she do that? Surely the killer would have noticed if she’d had the plant marker in her hand,’ Tripp said.

  Ava glanced down at her notes, more to give herself a moment to think about how to phrase the answer than to refresh her mind of the facts. A decade could pass and that particular detail would be just as crisp in her mind.

  ‘Dr Spurr found some disturbance to the wound packing in Kate’s abdomen and some dirt inside the wound itself.’ Ava frowned, trying to keep her voice even. ‘We believe she might have shoved the plant marker into the wound beneath the packing while the killer was distracted, then continued to feign unconsciousness.’

  ‘Brave kid,’ Lively said, as the scene etched itself into the imagination of every person at the briefing.

  ‘Indeed,’ said Ava. ‘Brave, but very much aware of what had happened to her and of what her assailant was intending to do next, I believe. So let’s repay Kate’s courage and quick thinking by finding the animal who butchered her before he kills again.’

  ‘We’re assuming he drove further this time, if he’s coming into the city from the west, and yet Kate obviously coped with the journey better. Do we know why?’ Salter asked.

  ‘Dr Spurr says the cuts were shallower and that the wound packing was much more effective. This is a learning-curve killer, who is improving their surgical skills each time. Also, Kate was delivered back to us earlier than expected. We don’t know why, but one theory is that our enquiries have been noticed,’ Ava said. ‘We got closer than he likes, and he panicked.’

  ‘But not enough to just kill Kate and dump her body without attracting attention,’ Lively chipped in.

  ‘No, not enough for that. We know this killer is driven and obsessive. We think he is operating under what he believes to be a biblical mandate. Kate suffered exactly the same wounds as Zoey and Lorna, so we can assume we are waiting to find another doll. Kate Bailey’s identity will be revealed to the press later this morning, once her parents have been moved from their usual address to a friend’s house. I will not allow them to be dragged into a media circus. If Mr and Mrs Bailey wish to release a statement, they will do so through the Police Scotland media team.’

  ‘Was Kate raped, like Lorna?’ Tripp asked quietly.

  ‘She was not,’ Ava said. ‘No solid theory on that except that perhaps the killer kept better control of himself, or something about Lorna appealed in a different way than the other two women. There’s no evidence of sexual assault at all, but given the wounds and circumstantial evidence, there is no doubt that this is all the work of the same person.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ PC Biddlecombe hissed from the doorway. Ava held a finger up to her. Whatever it was would have to wait until she was finished briefing the team. Biddlecombe had three fingernails jammed into her mouth and was chewing frantically.

  ‘It’s now 7.45 a.m. Later this morning DI Callanach and I will be attending the City Mortuary to go through the post-mortem findings and so—’

  ‘Ma’am, please, I was told …’ Biddlecombe muttered, jiggling on the spot.

  ‘What is it, Constable?’ Ava asked her.

  ‘You’re wanted,’ Biddlecombe blurted. ‘By Superintendent Overlord. Overbeck. Oh my God.’ The whole room turned to stare at Biddlecombe’s crimson face.

  ‘Tell the detective superintendent that I’ll be up in a minute,’ Ava replied softly.

  ‘Not here,’ Biddlecombe said in the direction of the floor. ‘Over at the Fettes Avenue offices. They’re waiting for you right now. The super said that DI Callanach was to take over from you with immediate effect.’

  The incident room quietened to something worse than silence, closer to a vacuum.

  Callanach stood up. ‘Lively, allocate roles,’ he said. ‘I’ll walk you to your car,’ he told Ava.

  She sighed, grabbing her bag and coat from a chair and striding from the room. ‘I don’t have time for Overbeck to throw a strop now,’ she muttered as they took the stairs.

  ‘What’s it about?’ Callanach asked.

  ‘A row, yesterday, about my handling of the Melanie Long murder, and the super’s failure to have any moral backbone,’ Ava said. ‘I should have known she’d do this. That woman really can’t take criticism.’

  ‘Just how much criticism did you aim at her?’ Callanach asked.

  ‘Oh, you know … some,’ Ava said. ‘I should be back within the hour. She’s going to haul me over the coals, let me know who’s boss. Threaten to demote me. I’m guessing she’s organised a disciplinary board, by the book. Just don’t get distracted. I need to keep Salter and a couple of other officers on the Long case. Her family deserves answers just as much as the other girls’ do.’

  ‘Meet me at the mortuary then?’ Callanach asked. ‘I can come with you, if it’ll help. Back up your assessment of the case. It might be better to present a show of force from the squad.’

  ‘Not necessary,’ Ava said. ‘This is a storm in a teacup. I’ll eat some humble pie, get a bollocking, nothing I haven’t had before. I need you here to keep the squad on track. See you shortly.’

  She climbed into her car, cursing her big mouth. It had been obvious that Overbeck wasn’t going to tolerate her much longer, especially given what she knew about DS Lively, and yet still Ava had been unable to stop herself fighting back. Overbeck wanted her pound of flesh. So be it. All Ava wanted was to get on with the job.

  Twenty minutes later she was being shown along a top-floor corridor by a civilian who looked nothing less than terrified. Detective Superintendent Overbeck had that effect on people. Pausing just long enough to turn her mobile to silent and run her fingers through out-of-control hair, she pushed the door handle down hard and walked into the conference room.

  Six men and two women – Overbeck was one of them – sat around a conference table. The Police Scotland board had indeed been summoned. A secretary sat poised to take notes in a corner and breakfast had been delivered by caterers. This was no impromptu meeting then. It had been organised the night before, and yet no one had seen fit to advise Ava of it until twenty minutes earlier. She seethed beneath a calm facade. Overbeck meant business. This was no normal disciplinary meeting, that might get passed over as a blip in her record.

  ‘Good morning,’ Ava said with a smile, taking a seat at the end of the table where a single chair had been left for her and a glass half filled with ice water was already leaving a mark on the polished wooden surface.

  ‘DCI Turner, thank you for joining us,’ the chairman began. He glanced over to check the secretary was making notes, then cleared his throat and continued. ‘Would you like coffee before we commence?’

  ‘Actually, I have work to do, so let’s get started,’ Ava said.

  ‘That’s exactly why this meeting’s been called.’ His eyes darted around the table. ‘We have become increasingly concerned with the lack of progress in the murders MIT is currently investigating. I gather a third body was found last night.’

  ‘It was. The missing woman, Kate Bailey, was left in a near dead state at Ocean Terminal. She died at the scene in the early hours of the morning,’ Ava reported.

  ‘Is it definitely the work of the same man who killed the other two girls?’ the chair asked.

  ‘Without a doubt,’ Ava replied.

  ‘The prognosis for his detainment?’ the woman next to her butted in.

  ‘He’s killed three times in under three weeks. We have DNA from a hair in Zoey’s case, so if we pick up the murderer we will be able to identify him with certainty, and link the other two deaths to him also. We also have a description of his vehicle. We believe he lives in the area to the west of the city. There is even video footage of him, although his face is obscured and his body shape is difficult to make o
ut because of a large overcoat.’

  ‘And yet,’ another man said, lips curling, the mockery resonant in his voice, ‘your squad has still been unable to apprehend him, in spite of the building amount of peripheral evidence. Perhaps, DCI Turner, that is because you have distracted yourself with a less high-profile case? One it might be easier to find scapegoats for?’

  Ava looked directly to Overbeck, who stared out of the window.

  ‘MIT is currently investigating two cases. The second involves two serious incidents of assault to severe injury with a third victim who was assaulted so badly, she ended up falling into the path of a bus. Melanie Long is dead, leaving a grieving partner and young son. I don’t regard either of those cases as being more or less high profile than the other. The perpetrators of both are dangerous, and constitute an ongoing threat to the people of Edinburgh,’ Ava said. Her voice was quiet enough that the board members were leaning forward to hear her words. Beneath the table, her hands were fists in her lap. If Overbeck thought she could get rid of her like this, she might as well go down fighting.

  ‘I’m sure Mr Alby-Croft didn’t mean to imply that one case was less important than the other, although I believe last night’s victim was studying at the University here. We certainly don’t want others to be put off regarding Edinburgh as a safe place to visit or study.’ The chairperson attempted a smile.

  ‘Am I supposed to allocate resources depending on the victim’s IQ?’ Ava asked. ‘Or is it that the board believes the loss of a few drug users is not a particularly big deal? I can see your point. Eradicate both the homeless problem and the drug problem in one fell swoop. Why would you want me to solve that particular crime?’

  ‘DCI Turner, you are overstepping,’ Overbeck said.

  ‘I’m drawing a conclusion from what I’m hearing. That’s a different thing. I thought I was being paid for my analytical and investigative skills,’ Ava said.