‘Okay, let me give you the Cliff’s Notes. She—’
‘The what?’
‘The quick-study version. Elizabeth Short was twenty-two years old. Dark hair, model looks. She’d been working as a waitress, may have had aspirations to get into the movie business. Her body was found lying on an empty building lot in 1947. Cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage. The key thing I want to talk to you about was how her body was displayed.’
‘Okay . . .’ Narey sensed O’Neill’s nervousness as she neared the business end of her explanation.
‘Elizabeth Short’s body had been cut in half.’
‘Oh Christ . . .’
‘Right. So you now know why I’m making this call. Eloise Gray’s body was severed too, right?’
‘Right. Cut in two just below the waist. A technique called—’
‘A hemicorporectomy. Rachel, you saw Eloise’s body. Tell me how it was arranged.’
The inescapable sense of dread made Narey close her eyes. Behind them, she saw Eloise’s body in the harsh light of the cellar of the Highland Fling, the two halves so deliberately positioned.
‘She’d been placed with her arms above her head. Her elbows were bent at right angles. Her legs were spread apart in a way that I’d suggest was intended to be sexual.’
O’Neill nodded grimly. ‘Exactly as Elizabeth Short was.’
Narey’s gut twisted. ‘Marr’s done this as a copycat killing? As what, some kind of homage to Ethan Garland’s father?’
‘It sure looks that way.’
‘Wait,’ Narey pulled a hand through her hair as she thought. ‘How old did you say she was? Twenty-two? Eloise was twenty-two. Does that sound like a coincidence to you?’
‘Nope. None of it does. Everything either of them has done has been for a reason, however fucking sick it is.’
Narey nodded animatedly. ‘Marr has been adamant with me that there was no reason that Eloise was chosen other than that she was a victim. Lennie Dakers told me Marr was lying but we couldn’t call him on it or be sure there was more to it. Now we know different. What did Elizabeth Short look like?’
O’Neill was ready for the question and immediately raised a grainy black and white photograph to the screen.
Narey couldn’t help but see the connection right away. While Eloise and the woman they called the Black Dahlia didn’t exactly look alike, they were most definitely a similar type. The dark hair, the fresh-faced beauty, the bloom of youth. They looked enough alike that if you were searching for a stand-in for Short then Eloise would adequately fit the bill. Narey swore.
‘Ethan Garland did this search, Cally. He picked someone who fitted the profile and delivered her to Marr for dispatching. Marr told me she was killed because she was a victim, nothing more, but he was lying. It suited him for me to think she was just some random, that it could have been anyone.’
‘There was nothing random about it, Rachel.’
‘No. They picked her out and hunted her down. And I’m going to make Marr regret it.’
CHAPTER 48
Igloo. Messages. Vikki, 32.
Ryan: Hey, how are you this morning?
Delivered, 11.05
Read, 11.08
Vikki: Hi! Good thanks. Just chilling at home.
I’m just checking you’re still okay for tonight. I’m really looking forward to it.
Yeah me too! I’m a bit nervous, first time meeting and all that. I barely know you!
I know. I’m a bit nervous myself. Only natural, I guess. And I know we’ve not talked for long but it feels like we know each other. Maybe just because we’ve got so much in common.
Well that’s true. But what if we don’t get on in real life?
But what if we do? :)
Lol
It could be the start of something beautiful
Oh that’s cheesy dude!
Yeah sorry lol. What can I say I’ve got an old romantic heart
Nothing wrong with that :)
So you’ll be there?
Yeah. I’ll be there
Great. I can’t wait!
Lol me neither
I’ll see you tonight Vikki!
CHAPTER 49
Narey and Dakers watched Dylan Hansen do nothing.
He hadn’t moved in the twenty minutes they’d been there, nor in the previous hour that Wells had been in the chair.
Not a flutter of his eyelids. Not a turn of his head. Not a kick of his leg or a beat of his heart. Not a single physical sign that he was breathing, thinking, functioning. If he was alive, his body had shut down on him. If he was alive, he wasn’t going to be for long.
Five thousand miles away, they knew Salgado and O’Neill were watching too. Watching nothing. Watching everything.
And somewhere just a few miles away from them, the man they knew as Matthew Marr was doing the same.
When the green light flashed, Narey’s heart sank. The conversations with him were hacking away at her soul, carving slices from it every time they talked. She huffed, nodded at Dakers, and began to type.
Are you watching him, Matthew?
Yes. Of course. But it’s coming to an end. Maybe it’s already there.
Maybe he’s already dead. Maybe you are waiting for an ending you’ll never see.
I’ll see it. I’ll know it.
How can you be so sure?
There will be a sign. A send-off from his body. A final, futile instinctive movement. I’ll see it.
And what if you don’t get to see it?
What?
You haven’t given me enough, Matthew. Or whoever you are. You talk and you watch but you don’t give.
I’ve told you about Eloise. Told you about Ellen Lambert. I’ve told you things.
I want more.
No.
Yes. You give me more or I take this feed away from you. You know I can, and you know I will. You’ve been through all this and you won’t see the end of the show. The one thing you want.
The message was read but not replied to. The green light shone but the screen remained static.
‘He’s trying to find a way round it,’ Dakers intimated. ‘He’s driven by two strong, opposing instincts. He doesn’t want to give you anything but knows that if he gives you nothing, he might lose what he wants. If he gives you too much, the same thing might happen. The chances of him lying at this point are high.’
Marr began to type, then stopped. He scrubbed whatever he’d written and started again. And stopped again. The hesitancy continued until he final sent the message.
I will tell you something. Not everything. That would be stupid and I’m not stupid.
And you’ll tell me the truth?
Yes.
‘Keep him on a tight lead,’ Dakers advised. ‘If you leave this open-ended, he can tell you anything. And he will lie. Give him no room for manoeuvre.’
She paused, thought, and nodded her agreement. She had precious few favours left to call in from Marr, few bargaining chips remaining before the man would refuse to deal. She had to choose what she wanted most.
Okay, Matthew. I want information about a woman who was murdered. If you know about it, will you tell me?
If I do.
She was murdered in her home in Polmadie. She bled to death from a puncture wound to each wrist. Do you know who this woman is?