Lee Weeks - Kiss and Die

Daniel Lu looked behind him at the brocade curtains, ‘The splatter pattern around the room means that all these injuries were inflicted whilst he was still alive. And this was a lengthy, prolonged torture. Perp took their time.’ He took a gloved hand and hovered over Max Kosmos’s chest. ‘These are strange wounds, really deep. He was lying down when these were inflicted.’ He traced the wounds with his finger. ‘They extend all the way across. Something literally scooped his flesh out in long strokes.’ He looked up at the ceiling where the three trails of blood and flesh had dried to brown sprays across the ceiling. ‘I don’t know what weapon made these. But someone definitely used our friend here for target practice.’ He went back to his position at the end of the bed. ‘They were standing here and used a downward action. They are about five foot three or four, I would guess. Right-handed.’

‘If not robbery then some kind of revenge, retribution? This man wasn’t just murdered, he was punished,’ said Mann.

‘It looks sexual,’ Sheng said.

‘Maybe,’ answered Daniel. ‘They cut off his penis but waited until after death to do it, unlike the amputation of his testicles which, judging by the amount of blood, was done when he was still breathing. Not a complete job though.’ Daniel Lu lifted the scrotum. ‘Sheng, make yourself useful, come over here and hold this up, I need to take a photo of the injury. ’

For a second Sheng looked as if he was about to pass on the honour of helping Daniel but then thought better of it.

‘Sure.’ He lifted the scrotum to reveal that it was cut through by a wire which was still embedded in the wound.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this done to a man,’ said Sheng, wincing a little. ‘I’ve seen girls left tied to the bedpost, serious injuries from sadistic role-playing. I’ve never seen torture on this scale and in such a public place. Perp took a hell of a risk.’

‘It could have been accidental,’ said Mann, busy dusting for prints around the safe deposit box and the minibar. ‘Cock humiliation, servant-mistress stuff. Some people get off on pain, maybe Max Kosmos was one of them, maybe the game went too far.’

‘It’s not a game I can see me playing any time soon,’ said Daniel.

‘He bought her a rose, whoever she was,’ said Sheng, looking at a single red rose lying on its side by the champagne bottle. ‘Where do people get those on an evening? A restaurant, a bar?’

Mann picked it up. ‘Nobody buys his girlfriend fake flowers.’

‘Perp left it?’

‘Yeah, I don’t think it belongs here.’ Mann took the camera from Daniel and photographed the rose before bagging and labelling it.

Daniel Lu placed the family photo flat between two pieces of absorbent paper and inside a plastic sleeve. ‘Whoever did this was sat on him whilst they delivered the final wound. My guess is they used a butcher’s knife to cut off his head. It must have taken a while. Judging by the saturation of blood here on the pillow I would say they tipped his head forward and cut from behind first. Then I think this print here,’ Daniel examined an oval blood stain on the sheet, ‘is from the perp’s knee. I think the killer knelt on his chest and used their weight to put pressure onto the knife and sever the spine between vertebrae three and four.’ Daniel pointed to the handprints in blood on either side of Max Kosmos’s chest ‘We should get some good results from these.’

‘There are more prints in the bathroom,’ said Mann. ‘Perp cleaned up before they left.’

‘Take what you need from the box and make a start,’ said Daniel, tying bags around the victim’s hands to preserve any evidence trapped beneath the nails.

Mann went into the bathroom. He lifted the bloodied towels from behind the sink and hung them over the wire across the bath – if they got put into an airtight bag they would be ruined. He looked at the lipstick stain on the mirror. A perfect pink pout. He took out some of Daniel’s fingerprint tape and pressed it over then peeled it off in one sharp, exact move. When he was sure it was as good a print as he was going to get, he wrote on the edge and then filed it in an envelope before leaning forwards and breathing on the glass to frost it. A heart appeared. Mann breathed again to see it clearly. He stood back from it, staring. The writing was smudged; all Mann could make out was

Roses are red… written underneath

Sheng appeared beside him and reached past him and sprayed the mirror with a fixative spray. ‘If it was so much trouble to get the head off, why did the killer bother?’

Mann stared at the misty heart in the mirror.

‘And where is it now?’

In the blackness the basket swayed with the movement of the tide. The silt at the bottom of the ocean occasionally burst upwards in a flurry of disturbance as the head settled. Floating particles of food were dislodged; flesh, minute shreds chewed and expelled by creatures and left to float feather-edged until they settled in another layer of silt for the bottom feeders. Through the murk a man’s head nodded with the sway of the water, open eyed and slack-jawed. He wasn’t alone in the dark. A lobster moved tentatively closer, it swam through the trap and reached out its feelers and touched Max Kosmos’s face.

Lilly walked through the first-floor landing and looked at the Africans as she passed. She wasn’t afraid to look them in the eye. The dead African lying at the bottom of the lift shaft was testament to that. The body would be eaten by the rats and the mangy cats. When it began to smell the caretaker would be called and someone would take it away like they always did. No one would investigate such a death in such a place amongst such a group of people.

Although it was day, it could have been night – the fluorescent strip lighting above their heads wasn’t working, a dripping overhead pipe had blown it. There were some corners of the Mansions that never saw light. Their booming laughs filled the corridor with a little bit of Africa. They were listening to the jangly sound of Kenyan folk music. The smoke around them was so thick it stung Lilly’s eyes. They always stopped what they were doing to watch her as she passed. She had the mix that appealed to them. Her skin was light, her eyes big and round. She had the makings of a shape beneath her skimpy clothes. She had the sass, she was a girl who knew how to tease.

Lilly caught David’s eye. He watched her from his stool inside the bar. He was not smiling. He didn’t fall for Lilly’s games. He knew they were deadly. He had seen her with the Outcasts. He knew she had secrets.

Lilly caught up with Mahmud. He was out with his sister Nina running errands whilst the restaurant was quiet. Lilly handed Nina a list. ‘Mum wanted me to ask if you can get these things for her, she’ll pay you later. I don’t know when she’s going to cook it. They are questioning her down at the police station. I don’t know why she doesn’t just get me to get them.’

‘It’s okay. Give it to me. I know these traders; I can get her a good deal.’ Nina took it from her.

Nina walked on. Lilly hung back with Mahmud. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked him. ‘You’ve been avoiding me. We can still be friends, can’t we? Even if I’m not your girlfriend any more?’

Mahmud walked along looking at his feet. He was a shy lad, thoughtful. ‘Yeah, sure. Just been studying hard, that’s all.’

‘That’s not really the reason, is it?’

Mahmud went to defend it but he shook his head instead. ‘It’s all the trouble here, Lilly. I don’t want any part of it. I knew that girl who was killed.’