Alex Barclay - Killing Ways

‘Well, that’s for your investigative minds to work out,’ said Gaston. ‘I was just throwing in my two cents.’

Please don’t.

‘Cause of death was sharp-force trauma — her femoral artery was severed. Manner of death — exsanguination, which is why we know she wasn’t killed at the scene. There was no blood. I don’t need to tell you this would have been bloody.’

He began examining the external surface of the body. Ren became mesmerized by Donna Darisse’s feet. They were scratched, bruised, and sparkling in the light.

‘Is that glass?’ said Ren.

‘Yes,’ said Gaston. He used his forceps to pluck out the shards — clear, green and blue — then drop them into a stainless-steel dish.

‘Just in the soles of her feet, nowhere else,’ said Ren. ‘I’m presuming she walked on it—’

‘As opposed to the killer using forceps to carefully push the pieces in...’ He looked up and winked.

Oh, fuck off, Gaston.

‘She walked across glass for him, yes,’ said Gaston. ‘Or ran. They’re in quite deep.’

‘Did you see any glass at the scene?’ said Ren.

‘No — not to my naked eyes.’

He managed to make that sound sleazy.

‘And what caused the abrasions?’ said Ren.

‘Probably running on a concrete surface,’ said Gaston.

‘So she could have run away from him,’ said Ren.

‘Not far — or fast — enough,’ said Gaston. ‘Then the particular damage to her heels that you can see here could have happened if she was raped — if she was lying on rough ground, kicking out, trying to get purchase... she also has abrasions on her knees, which would be consistent with her having been raped from behind.’

‘God, and he put her boots back on.’ Jesus .

Feet. Feet. Feet.

Something is clawing at me.

That afternoon, Gary stood at the top of the conference room in front of the Safe Streets squad, twenty DPD detectives, Cliff James, and Douglas County Undersheriff, Cole Rodeal.

‘How’s the arm?’ said Ren, as she walked by.

‘It’s healing,’ said Rodeal. ‘Another two weeks, the cast is gone.’

‘OK,’ said Gary, eyeballing Ren into silence. ‘SA Ren Bryce called this and will be case agent. Everything is to go through Ren. She will be coordinating the investigation with — on the DPD side — Glenn Buddy.’

‘Easy to remember cuz they rhyme — Ren and Glenn!’ said one of the DPD detectives.

Larry Someone. Dimwit.

Ren was walking to the top of the room. ‘Sadly not everything we need to remember on this case will rhyme, so I hope that doesn’t make things too difficult for you.’ She delivered it deadpan. Then smiled as she turned to face everyone.

Nervous laughter.

‘OK,’ said Ren, ‘we have — as far as we know — three brutally violated victims of what we believe is the same killer. In chronological order the victims are: Stephanie Wingerter, Hope Coulson, and Donna Darisse—’

‘Can you explain to us why you were linking them?’ said another one of the DPD detectives. Ren searched for the voice.

Unkempt, lazy-looking fuck. Sorry.

‘To break this down very clearly,’ said Ren, ‘the victims are of a similar physical type: petite, and blonde. In Donna Darisse’s case it was a wig, but the killer wasn’t to know that when he saw her. All three victims were either raped with a foreign object and/or sexually mutilated. Stephanie Wingerter was bound at the wrists with rope, Donna Darisse, with cable ties. The same two victims were prostitutes. Knives were used both on Stephanie Wingerter and Donna Darisse; manner of death was exsanguination. Hope Coulson was strangled, as evidenced by the broken hyoid bone. Post-mortem, he has inflicted burns on bodies both by setting the body alight in conjunction with an accelerant, and by using acid.’

‘And do we know for definite they were all raped?’ said the detective.

‘Because of decomposition in the case of Stephanie Wingerter, and because of the acid on Donna Darisse’s genitals, no,’ said Ren. ‘But Hope Coulson was violently raped with a foreign object. And, like I said, all three women were clearly sexually mutilated. The UNSUB could well be in the system, so he knows we have his DNA. Therefore he doesn’t want us to have any more of it. So, we have to ask the question — is the mutilation part of the thrill for our UNSUB or is it simply to destroy evidence? Also, what was the reason behind the rape with a foreign object? Did he try to rape initially, but then couldn’t sustain an erection, so resorted to whatever object was closest? I don’t know. And where were they killed if not where the bodies were found?’

She paused.

‘Weirdly, Donna Darisse had glass embedded in the soles of her feet, and Stephanie Wingerter’s feet were burned. I haven’t come across feet being targeted before, but there’s always a first time.’

‘Maybe the killer gets a kick out of making them walk over surfaces that will cause pain?’ said Rodeal.

‘Maybe,’ said Ren.

‘Are you absolutely sure it’s just one killer?’ said the detective who asked the first question.

Yes!!!! ‘I have a problem dealing in absolutes,’ said Ren. LOL. ‘But, yes — I believe it’s one killer. And in my opinion, this UNSUB doesn’t want to get caught. However, despite himself, he has clearly created a series of crimes that are linkable.’

‘What’s his motive?’ said Rodeal.

‘I think he has more than one,’ said Ren. ‘Yes, it’s a sexual thrill, yes, it’s a power thing, but I think there’s more. We’ve sent details to our profiling unit in Quantico, and they will be back to us within two weeks with a profile.’

‘It takes that long?’ said another DPD detective.

Ren searched the room until she found the questioner. ‘Is this your first case involving the use of a profiler?’ You little shit.

‘No, ma’am.’

‘Then, I don’t really need to answer that.’ Do I?

Silence.

‘I’m ready,’ said Ren, ‘with your help, to find this monster. I do not want him to be caught because he has a broken fucking taillight. He will not be stumbled upon because of a routine traffic stop. This is not routine: there is a psychopath out there raping, killing, and mutilating innocent women. He will not win. I will not let him win. And, I know, neither will you. We are going to find him. We will stop him.

‘At the end of this briefing, I will be assigning different tasks to each of you. I want you all to do what you’re assigned to do, to focus intently on the task at hand, but to also have a three-sixty view of the entire investigation. I need you all to cross-reference things, to read everything in detail, and to sharpen your ability to make connections. There is now a copy of the preliminary autopsy findings for Donna Darisse on the table by the door, along with the autopsy reports of the other two victims.

‘On the subject of the media, I do not want one breach. Is that as clear as it sounds to me? This is not going public right now. We will be agreeing on what we’re releasing to the media. Our UNSUB will be brought to justice. There will be no compromises. I do not want the lives of the women of Denver, our investigation, or the resulting court case to be fucked up because the wrong thing appears in the newspaper, because someone in this room, or someone they know, releases information for money or to get a fucking kick out of seeing it in print or because they have a better plan than mine to catch the killer. If misleading information enters the public domain, someone could be killed. By me.’ She smiled. ‘I’m not fucking kidding.’