Читать книгу Killing Ways - Alex Barclay - Страница 11

Hope Coulson’s autopsy revealed that she had been strangled, and it likely happened not long after she had gone missing. She had been raped with something green and ceramic that had broken, and left shards behind, one of which had a partial fingerprint that matched Jonathan Briar’s. Her father identified her body. Jonathan Briar identified the shards as parts of a tall green ceramic sculpture – an engagement gift they had been given – that he had failed to notice was missing from their living room.

‘Well, being raped with one of your engagement gifts would be a serious fuck-you if you cheated on your fiancé,’ said Ren. She was sitting at the edge of her desk in the bullpen, where most of the squad was gathered. ‘Yet no one in all the interviews has suggested that Briar was anything other than kind and loving toward her. But, of course, behind closed doors … who knows. However, if he raped her with that in the apartment and it broke, which it clearly did, there should be more blood there. And it’s highly unlikely there would be no evidence of the sculpture. Unless he raped her on something that he took away and destroyed. His car was clean. Nothing was found with her in the landfill. The black plastic used has no connection to any product found in their home, which doesn’t mean much. Then there’s the issue – if we are to believe he was the rapist and it didn’t happen in their home – he would’ve had to have taken her somewhere to carry it out, and he would also have had to carefully package up the sculpture and bring it with them. Would someone do that? I don’t think so.’

‘Who gave them the gift?’ said Everett. ‘That could be significant.’

‘If that guy’s innocent, I would be amazed,’ said Gary.

‘Prepare to be amazed,’ said Ren.

Gary stared at her. As Gary often did.

‘We also have to consider the fact that she was raped with a foreign object,’ said Ren. ‘That’s typically carried out by a man with sexual problems, which, again, there is no evidence of in Briar’s case.’

‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ said Gary. ‘He could have had a problem for months not being able to get it up. He’s a young guy, too embarrassed to go to the doctor, she’s too embarrassed to mention it to anyone, thinks it’s her fault … and, maybe, she goes elsewhere to get what she’s not getting at home …’

He has made up his mind.

‘Can you really see a kindergarten teacher having that attitude?’ Ren paused. ‘You should go talk to Briar …’ Open your mind.

They stared each other down.

‘How about we go through the night of her disappearance again?’ said Ren. ‘And how Briar was at work for the entire evening—’

‘And out making deliveries,’ said Gary.

‘All of which he appeared to have made in a reasonable time frame,’ said Ren. ‘Unless he has a cape somewhere …’

‘That entire shift was made up of his dope-smoking, mouth-breather friends,’ said Gary.

‘And we have video to back up most of his comings and goings,’ said Ren.

‘Most,’ said Gary. ‘And they’re in over-sized jackets and baseball caps, faces not very clear …’

Grrrrr.

The meeting broke up, and everyone returned to their desks through the haze of tension. Ren fired up her computer. A rubber band flew through the air and whipped her hair off her face. She looked up. Robbie was standing in the center of the room with a wooden gun. Ren laughed.

‘Beautiful shot.’

‘Thank you,’ said Robbie, blowing imaginary smoke from the top of the barrel.

‘But you do know you are now dead,’ said Ren. ‘There’s a price on your head. Fifty per cent off.’ She slid open her drawer to take her own wooden gun out.

No ammo. Shit.

Ren’s email pinged. She glanced at it. Gary.

Subject: BP support

Oh, here we go …

Tonight. Henderson Hotel.

Control explosion.

Ren went to Gary’s office. Her fist was poised to knock on the door, until she heard his rising voice.

‘Nothing!’ said Gary. ‘Nothing is wrong, Karen! Jesus Christ, I’m going to record it on a loop.’

Gary Dettling was calm, cool, rational, in control. He could rein in any emotion … until it came to his wife. He loved that she was crazy, he hated that she was crazy, she made him crazy.

But Ren knew that in some small way, Karen Dettling was bound to have made Gary more sympathetic to Ren’s own brand of crazy.

‘No, good. Go ahead!’ said Gary. He slammed the phone down hard.

Ren let out the breath she had been holding.

Fuckity fuck.

She knocked.

‘Yes!’ said Gary.

Ren opened the door and walked in. ‘Do you have any rubber bands?’

Gary frowned. ‘Yes.’

Ren walked over to his stash. ‘Can I just say I hate these passive-aggressive emails about meetings and appointments?’

‘They’re active-aggressive,’ said Gary. ‘And I can get even more active …’

Ren grabbed a fistful of rubber bands and walked out.

Why do you even keep them in here? You asshole.

When Ren went back to the bullpen, Janine and Everett were huddled together. They looked up.

‘Was he shouting at you?’ said Everett.

‘You could hear that out here?’ said Ren. ‘No – it wasn’t me. For once.’

‘Are you coming out tonight?’ said Janine.

‘No,’ said Everett, ‘she’s checking into a facility …’

‘You may be right,’ said Ren. ‘No, Janine. I was out last night, and the night before. I think even I need a break every now and then.’

‘Well, I’m ready to strap on my drinking boots,’ said Janine.

‘As am I,’ said Everett.

‘Damn you both!’ said Ren. ‘Well, if you’re going, Janine, would you like to stay in my place? Save your drinking money.’

‘Even better, thank you,’ said Janine.

‘I will try not to be bitter,’ said Ren.

‘Robbie’s going to come too,’ said Janine.

D’oh! Everett’s face …

Only Ren noticed. And only she could see the sparkle in Janine’s eyes.

Ren sat at her desk and thought about Hope Coulson – how she hadn’t driven home, how that likely meant that she had met with someone unexpectedly, that something had changed her plans.

‘I think someone was watching Hope Coulson,’ said Ren. ‘I think she was taken from right outside the church.’

‘Like she was bundled into the back of a van?’ said Everett.

‘I don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘Who knew where she was going to be? Was it someone close enough to her that they knew her routine? Was it a member of the congregation? Someone who was served Meals on Wheels by her? A relative of one of the elderly people she visited? Maybe one of the fathers whose kids go to her school. Maybe someone she trusted …’

‘Maybe some creepy guy who had a thing for her,’ said Everett. ‘Or maybe it was an opportunistic thing – some guy who lived near the church?’

‘There are ten registered sex offenders in the area,’ said Janine. ‘According to DPD’s notes, they were all cleared.’

‘Every sex offender was, once upon a time, unregistered,’ said Ren. ‘And every killer had a clean record before their fairy tale ended.’