Whispers of the Dead - Страница 16

Tom nodded to Kyle. ‘Carry on.’

The assistant pulled aside the rest of the sheet. Irving stroked his beard as he considered the body. It seemed a deliberate affectation to me, but perhaps I was biased.

‘Well, leaving aside the, ah, unclothed aspect for the moment, a few things are immediately obvious,’ he asserted. ‘The body’s been carefully arranged. Hands folded on the chest in the conventional manner, legs straightened as though this was an ordinary burial. Which it patently wasn’t. But the body has been treated with evident respect, which is a clear departure from the first victim. Still, all goes to make life more interesting, doesn’t it?’

Not theirs. I could see that Irving’s attitude irked Tom as well. ‘The body we found in the cabin wasn’t the first victim,’ he said. I’m sorry.

‘Assuming that this individual was murdered, which we can’t say for sure until we know the cause of death, then he’s been dead a lot longer than the man we found yesterday,’ Tom said. ‘Whoever this was, he died first.’

‘I stand corrected,’ Irving said, his smile glassy. ‘But that only supports my theory. There’s a definite progression. And if this Dexter character faked his own death six months ago, as looks likely, then that’s hugely symbolic. I thought at first that the killer might be in denial about his sexuality, sublimating his suppressed sexual urges into violence. But this puts a different slant on things. The first victim was covered in a shroud and buried—hidden away in shame, almost. Now, six months later, the body in the cabin is left on display for the world to see. It’s shouting, “Look at me! Look what I’ve done!” Having “buried” his old self the killer’s now coming out of the closet, if you like. And given such a huge shift in the way he treated these two victims, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some interim ones we don’t know about.’

He sounded quite excited at the prospect.

‘So you still think these are gay killings,’ Tom said.

‘Almost certainly. This all but confirms it.’

‘You seem very confident.’ I hadn’t meant to get involved, but Irving’s manner set my teeth on edge.

‘We’ve got two naked corpses, both male. That does seem to point that way, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Bodies are sometimes transported nude from the morgue. If there was no family to provide clothes then that’s how they’d be buried.’

‘So this second naked male body is just coincidence? Interesting theory.’ He favoured me with a patronizing smile. ‘Perhaps you’d also like to explain why the fingerprint Dexter left on the film canister was smeared with baby oil?’

The surprise I felt was mirrored on Tom’s face. Irving feigned dismay.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, hadn’t Gardner mentioned that? No reason why he should, I suppose. But unless the killer has a penchant for moisturizing, there’s only one reason I can think of why he was using baby oil at the cabin.’

He let that hang, making sure the barb was sunk before going on.

‘In any event, a sexual motivation would also explain the different racial profiles of the victims—the crucial common denominator isn’t their skin colour, it’s the fact that they’re men. No, we’re definitely dealing with a sexual predator here, and given the conspicuous absence of this Willis Dexter from his own grave, I’d say he’s a pretty likely candidate.’

‘From what Dan said, I don’t think Dexter had a criminal record or any history of violence,’ Tom said.

Irving allowed himself a smug smile. ‘The really clever predators never do. They keep themselves concealed, often as respectable members of society, until they either slip up or deliberately reveal themselves. Pathological narcissism isn’t an uncommon trait amongst serial killers. They tire of hiding their light under a bushel and decide to flex their muscles in public, as it were. Fortunately, most of them eventually trip themselves up with their own vanity. Like this.’

Irving gestured theatrically at the corpse in the casket. By now he’d adopted an almost lecturing tone, as though Tom and I were a pair of not especially bright undergraduates.

‘Given the logistics involved, Dexter couldn’t have done this without at the very least the help of someone at the funeral home,’ he went on confidently. ‘Either Dexter worked there himself—which given his background as a mechanic or whatever is unlikely—or he has an accomplice. A lover, maybe. It’s possible they might even be working as a team; one dominant and one submissive. Now that really would be interesting.’

‘Fascinating,’ Tom murmured.

Irving gave him a sharp look, as though only now suspecting that his pearls were being wasted on swine. But we were deprived of whatever other insights he might have shared with us by Summer’s entrance.

She came into the radiography room but stopped when she saw us standing around the casket. ‘Oh! Sorry, shall I wait outside?’

‘No need to on my account,’ Irving said, favouring her with a broad smile. ‘Although I’ll defer to Dr Lieberman, of course. He has rather strong views on sheltering students from the facts of life.’

Tom ignored the jibe. ‘Summer’s one of my graduate students. She’s helping us out.’

‘Of course.’ Irving’s smile broadened as he eyed the studs and rings decorating Summer’s face. ‘You know, I’ve always been fascinated by body art. I once considered a tattoo myself, but such things are frowned upon in my line of work. But I love the paganistic aspect of piercings, that whole concept of the modern primitive. So refreshing to find that sort of individualism in this day and age.’

Summer’s face bloomed red, but with pleasure rather than embarrassment. ‘Thank you.’

‘No need to thank me.’ Irving’s charm was on full wattage. ‘I have one or two textbooks on primitive body art you might find interesting. Perhaps—’

‘If that’s all, Professor Irving, we need to make a start here,’ Tom interrupted.

Annoyance flickered behind Irving’s smile for a moment. ‘Of course. Nice meeting you, Miss…’

‘Summer.’

Irving showed his teeth again. ‘My favourite season.’

Peeling off his gloves, he glanced round for somewhere to put them. Failing to find anywhere suitable, he held them out for Kyle to take. The young morgue assistant looked startled, but meekly accepted them.

With a last smile at Summer, Irving went out. There was a hush after the door closed behind him. Summer’s face was dimpled in a smile, cheeks blushed crimson beneath the bleached blond hair. Kyle looked crestfallen, the profiler’s gloves still dangling from his hand.

Tom cleared his throat. ‘So where were we…?’

While I took more photographs of the uncovered remains, he went out to call Gardner. A forensic team would need to examine the casket, but usually that wouldn’t happen till after we’d removed the body. The fact that it was naked probably wouldn’t alter anything, but I didn’t blame Tom for checking with the TBI agent first.

Kyle lingered in the radiography suite, even though there was no real reason for him to be there any more. But seeing the way he looked at Summer I hadn’t the heart to tell him he wasn’t needed. His expression put me in mind of a kicked puppy.

Tom wasn’t long. He came back, his manner brisk. ‘Dan says to go ahead. Let’s get the body out.’

I started towards the container, but Tom stopped me. ‘Kyle, would you mind helping Summer?’

‘Me?’ The assistant’s face turned crimson. He shot a quick glance towards her. ‘Oh, uh, sure. No problem.’

Tom gave me a wink as Kyle went to join Summer by the aluminium container.

‘Shouldn’t you have a bow and arrow?’ I murmured, as they prepared to lift the body.

‘Sometimes you have to help these things along.’ His smile faded. ‘Dan’s keen to get things moving. Normally I’d leave these remains till I’d finished working on the ones from the cabin, but as things stand—’

There was a sudden exclamation. We looked over to see Kyle straightening beside the casket, staring at one of his gloved hands.

‘What’s wrong?’ Tom asked, going over.

‘Something pricked me. When I touched the body.’

‘Has it broken the skin?’

‘I’m not sure…’

‘Here, let me see,’ I said.

The gloves were heavy-duty rubber gauntlets that reached almost to the elbow. Kyle’s was slimed with fluids from the decomposing body, but the jagged hole on its palm was clearly visible.

‘It’s fine, really,’ Kyle said.

I took no notice as I pulled off his thick glove. Kyle’s hand was wrinkled and pale from being in the rubber. In the centre of his palm was a dark smear of blood.

‘Let’s get it under the tap. Is there a first aid kit?’ I asked.

‘There should be one in the autopsy suite. Summer, can you go and get it?’ Tom said.

Kyle allowed me to lead him to the sink. I put his hand under the fast-flowing cold water, washing off the blood. The wound was tiny, little more than a pinprick. But that made it no less dangerous.

‘Is it OK?’ he asked, as Summer returned with the first aid kit.

‘If you’ve had all your shots I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ I said, putting as much confidence into it as I could. ‘You have had all your shots?’

He nodded, watching anxiously as I cleaned the wound with antiseptic. Tom had gone over to the casket.

‘Whereabouts did you touch the body?’