‘We don’t know, Captain,’ Hunter reaffirmed. ‘His anger could be escalating, but most probably he’s individualizing.’
‘And that means what?’
‘That each one of his victims will inevitably spark a whole new group of feelings inside him. Those feelings can, and will, be altered by the victim’s reaction. Some victims will be too scared to talk back. Some might think that, if they cooperate, or try to reason with the killer, it could play to their advantage. Some will try to fight back, scream, do something . . . anything, except give up. But as individuals, we all react differently to fear and danger.’
‘And the way this victim reacted might’ve really pissed the killer off,’ Captain Blake concluded.
Hunter nodded. ‘If he had a chance, and if he kept his nerve, I’m sure that Littlewood tried to talk to the killer as a psychologist, tried to dissuade him from what he was about to do. If the killer caught a hint of a patronizing tone in Littlewood’s voice, it could’ve set off an anger bomb inside him. We don’t know what went on in that room prior to the murder, captain. What we do know is that this crime scene carried a lot more anger than the previous two.’
‘More anger?’ Captain Blake looked at the two previous sets of crime-scene photographs. ‘How’s that possible?’
‘The cuts and bruises to the victim’s body suggests that the killer wanted to extend the victim’s suffering. He wanted a very slow death. One that he wouldn’t be able to achieve or control if he’d gone for the amputations too early. Littlewood’s secretary left the office at around seven-thirty in the evening. We can’t confirm it yet, but I’d say the killer got to him not much later than that. He had at least ten uninterrupted hours with the victim.’ Hunter pointed to the photograph of Littlewood’s body on the chair. ‘And he tortured him for most of them.’
‘And no one heard a peep?
‘It’s a small building full of small offices,’ Garcia replied. ‘Almost everyone had already gone home. The last one to leave was a graphic designer, whose office was on the first floor. He left at eight fifteen. The building has no CCTV security in place.’
‘And if Doctor Hove’s suspicions are correct,’ Hunter carried on, ‘the killer changed his MO for the amputations as well.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘In the first two victims, the amputation incisions were very professional,’ Garcia explained. ‘But not with the third victim. Doctor Hove said that there were indications of hacking and tearing. A butcher’s job, not a doctor’s one.’
Captain Blake let go of a worried breath. ‘OK, so what the hell does this new sculpture give us? I’m assuming there’s a new shadow image behind it.’
‘No,’ Garcia said.
‘What?’
‘There are two.’
Eighty-One
Captain Blake looked at both detectives but there was no surprise in her eyes. After what they’ve already got from this killer, hardly anything would surprise her now.
‘We’re not sure if the killer left us two different sculptures, or one sculpture in two parts,’ Garcia said. ‘He also did something else differently this time. He used office objects to complete his work.’ Garcia proceeded to explain what they’d found on Nathan Littlewood’s desk. While he did so, Captain Blake and Alice studied the new sculpture photographs in silence. When Garcia told them that the killer had extracted one of Littlewood’s eyes, seemingly for the sole reason of indicating how one part of the sculpture should be looked at, Alice felt something dislodge in her stomach.
‘We looked at this part of the sculpture first,’ Garcia said, indicating the sculpture photograph on the board. ‘And this is what we got.’ He pinned the first shadow-image photograph onto the board, directly underneath the one belonging to its corresponding sculpture.
Captain Blake and Alice stepped closer to study the picture.
‘So what the hell is this now?’ the captain said, irritation peppering her words. ‘Someone watching someone else having a bath? Has the killer gone perv now?’
‘Or someone inside a box,’ Hunter said.
‘That’s what I was about to say,’ Alice suggested, addressing Hunter. ‘I understand what you said about the level of detail of the second sculpture being lower than the first, but it was still high.’ She pointed to the photograph of the new shadow image. ‘This isn’t a bathtub. There’s a lid.’ She compared it to the photograph of the actual sculpture. ‘If the killer wanted us to think it was a bathtub, he could’ve easily ripped the lid from the original box off.’
Those had been Hunter’s exact thoughts. If it was part of the image, there was a reason for it.
‘So it looks like someone staring at someone else lying inside a box,’ the captain corrected herself. ‘Any clues as to what this might really mean?’
‘Not yet,’ Hunter replied.
‘So it’s just another meaningless clue. Another piece of this endless puzzlebox?’
Hunter said nothing.
The captain stepped back, fidgeting. ‘So what’s the second image we got?’