Zilhouette Murders, page 17
“Night Sir.” the two officers said in unison and then packed up their files and headed home.
On his way home David Cunningham found himself conflicted with the possibility his boss and mentor Frank Adams may have used his position to get a man wrongly- convicted of a serious crime so that he could claim the credit and advance up the promotion ladder. If this were the case could it also be true that Frank Adams could be involved in these murders today?
CHAPTER 33
In the morgue in the basement of the police station two men stood motionless with their backs against the wall gazing at the mutilated and dismembered bodies of two young women murdered in the prime of their lives. Anton and Brian were dressed in green theatre gowns and wore masks and hats. Both had smeared a generous amount of vapour rub below their noses to provide some relief from the awful stench of rotting flesh and stale river water. On the other side of the room stood Pauline and Julia who had agreed to step in to assist as Anton wanted to carry out both examinations at the same time. Brian had requested to participate in the examination instead of Julia and she agreed to give Brian the extra experience his time away from forensics had denied him.
“Right Brian, let’s begin.”
Both men moved toward the victims but Brian stopped, his stare fixed on the victim he was heading for. Anton turned to see a look of horror on his colleagues face then back to the victim to see a small fresh water crab slowly climb out of her mouth.
“Are you alright Brian?”
Brian shook himself and nodded.
“Sorry Anton, I’m ready.”
Julia shadowed Brian and Pauline shadowed Anton. Both women carried a camera and started shooting as the pathologists carried out their examination.
Anton had decided to do both simultaneously to compare the condition of the bodies which might indicate which of them had spent more time in the water or had been killed first.
“Brian, is there any obvious cause of death?”
Brian walked around the corpse and with Julia’s help, they lifted her onto her side to view her back.
“Nothing stands out Anton. There’s no evidence of a stab wound or gunshot and I would rule out strangulation because the neck shows no signs of pre-mortem bruising.”
“My victim displays the same lack of a clear cause of death but let’s examine further.” commented Anton.
For the next thirty minutes both men examined the victims with great care and found nothing to show how they were killed. When they opened the chest area Pauline needed a moment because inside the cavity lived a whole host of freshwater life which had made this area their home.
“We have to clean this up Anton. I don’t think we are going to lose any evidence by doing this but working in this mess isn’t necessary.” Anton looked at Julia who nodded in agreement.
“OK Brian, lets get some water on this and clean it up.”
A hose was connected and fresh water was sprayed onto and inside the corpses. Within fifteen minutes the bodies were clean and the men continued with their examination.
After a further forty-five minutes all four left the laboratory and headed back to the office and stood around the kitchen area. Juliet had made some fresh coffee which all four grabbed with thanks. Brian was the first to speak.
“I cannot think of any worse place to leave another human being after inflicting such trauma on them. This is truly an animal we are dealing with here.”
“A very clever animal Brian,” Julia said “He’s left nothing to work on. We don’t know any more now than we did staring down at these desperate women on the river bank.”
“It doesn’t make any sense, there doesn’t appear to be any connection between these women or indeed the others we have found. We have to identify them as quickly as possible because that’s the only way we are going to find the link.”
“But Anton, there’s nothing on the bodies which can help us do that.” Pauline suggested.
“You never know, we do have the teeth and we might find some DNA in the deep tissue of the torso plus we might get lucky and find some evidence of major surgery,” Anton said remembering his sister who was identified using DNA and the scar found on Honey Bates.. “Well, we have taken samples from different areas from both victims so it’s up to the lab to try to extract something for us.” added Julia. All four finished their coffee and agreed it was time to call it a night.
“The lab assistants will store the bodies and I suggest we continue tomorrow. I am speaking to the detectives involved in the case in the morning and hopefully, by the afternoon the boys in the Lab can give us some information on DNA. In the meantime, I propose we compare notes on our thoughts on age, ethnicity and height and weight before they were killed to give the detectives something to work with. I know they have a number of missing person files which will be their first port of call on this.”
They agreed on the description and all four got changed and headed home.
CHAPTER 34
David Cunningham was one of the first in the following morning. The detectives who were covering the night shift were starting to pack their things away ready for the next shift to start. Slowly the place started to fill up as men and women who formed the Major Crime Unit headed for their desks. Some had messages left by their night-shift colleagues others completed their preparation for the important meeting starting at nine-thirty. David walked down to the briefing area to find Viv Roberts and George Sonas adding photos and graphics to the case board attached to the wall.
This was started following the discovery of the victim found at Honey Bates’ house and Anton Schwartz’s sister by the river. The board was only two metres wide. With the additional finds and leads which were being followed-up this had been expanded with each victim – identified or not – as listed on the board which detailed up-to-date information on the progress thanks to Viv Robert’s daily attention.
The case board was now more than four metres wide and contained details the latest find by the river the previous day, though there was just the heading because nothing more was known at this stage. On a separate board was a list of missing persons who matched the general description of the current unidentified and missing victims of the ‘Zilhouettes’ murderer. This had been edited from the original thirty to a more manageable list of ten by ruling out from the first list women who were the wrong age, the wrong build and ethnicity and reported missing outside the time frame of the investigation. From those ten it was hoped the current unidentified victims of the ‘Zilhouettes’ murderer were on this shortened list.
At nine-thirty exactly David Cunningham stood up in front of his team and opened the meeting.
“Good morning everyone, thanks for getting here on time. Now, before we start does anyone have any news which has come to light overnight?”
One hand was raised in the back of the room.
“DC Menton?”
“Yesterday afternoon DC Black and I followed up on the CCTV in the areas we talked about and we have found two interesting sightings. One from the garage just along the road by the golf course where Paula Monarch’s body was discovered and one on the edge of the Town Centre from a mast in the evening Honey Bates disappeared.”
“What interesting sightings?”
“Well, both cameras showed British Gas Transit type vans in the area.”
“Is that all?” David Cunningham asked – just a siting of a Gas van? There are hundreds of these vans on the roads DC Menton, what makes these sighting interesting?”
“The age of the vans Sir. According to British Gas they replace their vans every four years – five years maximum. The vans shown on these cameras were much older than that.”
“Is there a clear registration mark or photo of the driver?”
“Unfortunately not Sir. The van didn’t stop at the garage and it was too dark to pick out the registration mark on the one caught on camera by the Town Centre but we have more footage to view and more cameras to find Sir.”
“Good work, and I am sure we all look forward to more details from your continuing investigation. Anyone else?”
The room remained silent, then the door at the rear opened and in walked Anton Schwartz accompanied by Julia Potter.
“Thank you for coming Anton and it’s nice to see you too Julia,” David Cunningham said as he guided his speakers to the front of the case board. He then addressed the group.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have asked Anton Schwartz and his colleague Julia Potter to come here this morning and give you an update on their findings including hopefully, some information on yesterday’s discovery. Anton Schwartz.”
Anton stood up and thanked DI Cunningham for the introduction and also thanked Julia for attending the meeting.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I have been a leading forensic scientist for many years and I know Julia Potter, also with many years will agree when I say we have never encountered an adversary with so much anger against a group of people and so much control in the way he leaves no clues. It’s as if he is challenging us with his use of the signature ‘Zilhouettes’ chocolate carton left at the scene of the crime and the duplicity of the actual murder of his victims. He is unquestionably very intelligent and possesses a great deal of knowledge about anatomy and how to remove evidence from his victims and the surrounding area.
He is also either a very confident man or a man who wants to be caught because of his contact yesterday which led us to the gruesome discovery of two more victims left by the river. This is the first time he has left his victim in a public place unless we include Paula Monarch. I say this because there is some doubt about whether her murder was part of his overall plan or simply one to divert our attention and off his trail. It is unusual for a serial killer who has followed a pattern to suddenly divert from that pattern which is what happened yesterday.”
Julia stood up.
“It may well be the killer thought the bodies left in the river might break loose and either be found miles away and become unconnected or never found which will have destroyed his plan. This man has a plan. This man has a reason to kill these people in a specific way and to taunt us with this comic book signature of a chocolate box. If he thought part of his plan would break down because two of his victims were found somewhere else, in the centre of London for example because the river transported them, his plan might be ruined. There is going to be a climax to his work and it will be ‘spectacular.’ He is going to present us with something so alarming, so macabre he thinks he will achieve status with us and the public and he will have completed whatever he set out to do.” Julia sat down.
The room was silent. All attendees, including DI Cunningham and the late-arriving Peter Wicker and DC Warrington sat with their mouths open and a with a shocked expression on their face.
“Thank you, Julia for that insight,” DI Cunningham said. “Any questions.”
Just about every detective in the room held their hand aloft. DI Cunningham selected the first.
“My question is for Ms Potter. You said we can expect a spectacular conclusion. Why do you think this and in what form might it take.” Julia stood up again.
“I base my theory after what happened yesterday when the killer told us where to find two victims. Prior to this the victim was always left alone. Now we have two it seems he has either finished and this was the spectacular show or this is a step to the next reveal.
Your second question about in what form might it take. There have been cases in the past were multiple victims were found together but not in a dressed state like this man seems to like doing. Going to the trouble of placing a victim in the location where another victim was murdered and taken and swapping hair is very precise. He is dressing the scene in a precise way to leave a message. As yet, we don’t understand the message and maybe this is making him frustrated and even more angry – which is good for us because he might make more mistakes. Assuming he retains his composure and based on what happened yesterday I think we might find more than two victims together in one place and left in a way that might give us more clues about this man and why he is doing this.”
Again Julia sat down.
DI Cunningham stood up again and selected another detective with his hand up.
“Thank you, Sir. My question is for Mr. Schwartz. You have done this for many years and dealt with some pretty awful cases, why do you think he’s doing this?”
Anton remained seated. “I have no idea Detective but Julia’s point is important to take on board. This is an angry man and he is selecting these women as his victims because he is angry with them or what they represent either through their work, their beliefs – Hell they might be just selected randomly and we are misreading this but, most of us get angry and most of us can get really upset by people we work with, people in certain professions, family members, people in the news or celebrities but very few of us actually go out and kill any of these people unlike this man. I believe he is killing for revenge. Something has happened to him which these women have been part of and this is the reason why he is killing them. His method and his dressing of the victims might be either some kind of fantasy or represent part of what happened in his life.”
DI Cunningham got up again “Anyone else with a different question, one we have touched on so far?” A hand went up from a female detective.
“My question is for both scientists. Isn’t it just possible this man hates women and these victims were just unfortunate to be in his way?”
“A very good question detective,” said Anton, “Of course it is possible this man has a hatred of women of a certain age which might explain why all the victims are similar age. It might also be possible he hates Caucasian women because all our victims are white but I think this is too broad a category. I think it is more specific to these particular women not women in general. If he was just killing women he need not go to all the trouble of making them difficult, even impossible to identify. No, these are selected for more than being just female.”
“Thank you, Anton, I think that’s enough for now. Perhaps you could advise us when you hope to have more information on the two victims discovered yesterday.”
“We are waiting for DNA and other test results, maybe today, more likely tomorrow.”
“Right ladies and gentlemen, can I please ask you to return to your desks and back to work. Let’s nail this bastard!” DI Cunningham shouted out.
There was a spontaneous round of applause and the detectives dispersed and headed back to their individual desks.
“Do you both fancy a coffee in my office before you leave?” David asked Anton and Julia who both nodded “Love too.”
All three headed for David’s office and David asked one of the administrators if she wouldn’t mind getting some coffees. “No problem Sir.” She took everyone’s order and left the room.
David’s phone rang. He picked up the handset and listened for a few moments then handed it to Anton “It’s for you”.
Anton took hold of the phone. “Hello.”
He obviously knew who was calling because he started to write some notes before looking up at his colleagues and smiling.
“Thanks Jess, that’s really-good work.” he gave the handset back to David.
“Good news Anton?” David asked.
“That was the laboratory, they have extracted DNA from both victims teeth. They have run it through the Database without finding any match but with the DNA we can now use this information to go through the missing persons list again.
“This is great news guys, a real breakthrough.”
The others smiled and concentrated on finishing their coffee before the meeting broke up and everyone left leaving David and Anton sitting in silence.
“We’re going to get him David, I know we are.”
CHAPTER 35
In another part of Surrey the killer drove the van along a deserted track to a selection of building rented for many years. The killer stopped the van, got out and walked to the rear and opened the double doors, removed some packing materials and left them on the ground then turned and headed for the first building on the left. The entrance door was unlocked and inside stood the stainless steel bench used to execute some of the victims, dismember them and drain their blood. On the left stood a large freezer and all around the walls were shelves full of dressings, chemicals and surgical instruments. The killer was wearing a black boiler suit, no shirt and a pair of boots, a surgical cap and a pair of long surgical gloves which covered arms and hands.
From the first freezer the torso of Gillian Murphy was removed still wrapped in the polythene bag she was put her in after she was killed on the bench. The body was carefully carried out of the building and back towards the van where she was gently lowered on the ground. The killer then turned and went back into the same building and removed the body of Josephine March from the same freezer and carried her out of the building and laid her next to Gillian Murphy, and then walked towards the second building, unlocked the door and walked inside. This was smaller than the first and only contained a smaller freezer and a stainless steel bench. From inside the freezer another torso was removed and carried outside and she was laid on the floor next to the other two.
The previous two days were spent thoroughly cleaning the van and a small round metal table was bolted to the floor. There were three metal chairs resting against the inside of the van and one by one these were arranged around the table. The killer then walked back into the second building and picked up a small bag from the floor and carried it outside before pausing for a moment to view the scene with three of the victims lying together on the floor. The ice around the torsos was slowly melting and the features of two of the women could be made out pressing against the clear polythene.
