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‘Tripp just walked back in. I think the DI is in reception dealing with someone. Apparently he’s looking for you, too. You and DI Callanach should probably stop asking after each other, truth be told. People will talk.’
‘If I didn’t need you to sort out this man’s face, I’d fire you immediately,’ Ava said, walking out.
‘Promises, promises,’ he muttered.
Callanach was exactly where Lively had said he would be, which was a surprise in itself. He had his back to Ava and was talking intensely to someone just out of sight. Whatever enquiry he was dealing with would have to wait, Ava decided.
‘DI Callanach,’ she said. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but can I have a moment?’
He turned to face her, frowning. When she saw the woman behind him, she understood why. Ava had known Callanach was involved with someone, even if he’d been careful to keep his work and private life separate.
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Callanach said. ‘Sorry,’ he told the woman next to him. ‘I’ll call you later, okay?’
‘No, finish your conversation, it’s fine,’ Ava said. ‘I’ll see you in my office when you’re ready.’
The woman stepped forward, extending a hand. ‘DCI Turner,’ she said, her voice husky, with a Spanish accent. ‘I’m Selina Vega. We met briefly at Luc’s once before.’
Ava remembered. She tried not to look Selina up and down, but there was too much not to see. With long dark hair that gleamed auburn at its ends, melting brown eyes, and legs whose shape were not the least bit hidden by her tailored skirt, Ava figured Selina must be at least five foot nine. She suddenly felt short, underdressed and in need of a hair appointment.
‘Selina’s a registrar at the hospital,’ Callanach explained as the two of them shook hands. ‘We met when MIT was investigating a death a few months ago.’
‘Of course, good to see you again,’ Ava told her. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt. This can wait a few minutes.’ She withdrew her hand and stepped back.
‘It’s no problem,’ Selina said. ‘Luc has talked about you so much that I feel as if I know you already.’
‘Oh,’ Ava said. ‘Well, that must have been very boring for you, so I apologise.’
‘Hardly. It’s obvious how much he admires you. I’ve been suggesting for months that we should all go out,’ Selina said.
‘Months? Wow, I didn’t realise …’ Ava’s voice trailed away into nothing. ‘Anyway, I’ve left DS Lively trying to change the mind of a man who’s refusing medical assistance in spite of the fact that his face is hanging off, so I ought to get back and check on that.’
‘I’ll find you in a couple of minutes,’ Luc said.
‘No rush, honestly.’ Ava smiled broadly at Selina. ‘So glad we bumped into one another.’
‘Can I help?’ Selina asked. ‘My specialisation is emergency medicine. Perhaps I could take a look at the injury and make an assessment. If he knows I’m a doctor rather than a police officer, he might be more inclined to take advice.’
‘No,’ Ava and Luc said simultaneously.
‘That’s not fair on you,’ Ava said. ‘You’re off duty and I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ve got it in hand.’
‘It’s no problem. I was going to wait until Luc had finished his shift anyway. I have a surprise for him,’ she said, winking.
‘You really don’t want to spend the next hour in the cells,’ Luc said. ‘If it’s necessary we’ll call an ambulance.’
‘Luc, you know I don’t have an off switch. If there’s a person in the cells who needs help, then it’s my duty to step in.’ She looked at Ava. ‘Luc says he has another hour before he can get away. I’d rather fill my time usefully than sit here and do nothing. Besides, I’d like to get a look around backstage. Hopefully it’ll be the only time I end up in a police cell.’
She laughed, and Ava noted how beautifully white her teeth were against the tan of her skin, which had somehow not lost any of its native Spanish glow in spite of the cooler Scottish climes. Selina was rolling up her sleeves before Ava could think up an excuse to dissuade her. Not that she wanted to dissuade her, she told herself. It was helpful. She had no idea why she felt suddenly territorial. What better compromise than for Mikey Parsons to have access to a doctor without going through the rigmarole of persuading him to get in an ambulance?
‘Great, that’s kind of you,’ Ava said. ‘I’ll have the custody sergeant sign you in. Detective Sergeant Lively will stay with you to make sure you’re safe, although the patient is very passive. He’s a drug addict though, so help yourself to gloves. We keep a stock behind the desk.’
‘Thanks,’ Selina said. ‘See you in an hour.’ She leaned across to kiss Luc on the lips as she walked past him. Ava looked away until the doctor had disappeared into the space beyond the doors.
‘She’s really lovely,’ Ava declared brightly to Luc.
‘It’s casual,’ Luc said. ‘But I guess it’s easier seeing someone who understands shift work and why you’re effectively on call all the time.’
‘And you two have the European thing. That must be good for you. Not having to understand the Scottish accent, for a start. So how long have you been seeing each other now?’
‘Weeks, in reality,’ Luc said. ‘Not that often either, given our work schedules. What was it you wanted to see me about?’
‘Just a catch-up on Zoey Cole. We should talk in my office for confidentiality,’ Ava said, waving her security pass in front of the electronic lock and pushing the door open.
‘Sure,’ Luc said.
‘You want a coffee or anything?’ she asked as they left the stairs and walked down the corridor.
‘Um, no, I’m okay,’ he said. ‘Listen, I didn’t ask Selina to come to the station. She was trying to surprise me. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ Ava said. ‘I encourage my squad to invest time in their private lives. Happier homes make for happier officers, as far as I’m concerned.’ She looked at him and cringed. ‘God, I’m sorry, I don’t know where that corporate sound bite came from. Listen, Luc, I’m glad you’re involved with someone. I know how hard it’s been for you, and Selina seems great. We absolutely should go out sometime. I could, I don’t know, bring Natasha maybe.’
As they stepped into her office, Ava tried not to roll her eyes at her own suggestion. Going out for a foursome with Luc and the best-looking female he could have identified north of the border with her lesbian best friend as her plus-one wasn’t exactly an ego boost. Somehow everyone on her squad seemed to have someone to go home to, or go out with, except her.
‘I’m not sure Selina and Natasha would …’ Luc said.
‘You’re just worried that Natasha would seduce her,’ Ava said. ‘You know how she is about women with legs that long. I’m not sure even a man as good looking as you would be able to compete with Natasha in full flirtation mode.’
‘Are you okay?’ Luc asked.
‘Yes, of course, fine. Why?’ Ava asked.
‘You just paid me a compliment, that’s all. Not that I’m complaining, but it’s kind of unusual,’ Luc said.
Ava adjusted some papers on her desk before answering. ‘I think I’d call it a technical observation rather than a compliment,’ she smiled. ‘And don’t expect another one. That’s what your girlfriend’s for, after all.’
‘I’m not sure I’d call her my girlfriend,’ Luc said. ‘How is Natasha, by the way? I haven’t seen her for ages.’
Professor Natasha Forge – Ava’s best friend – disappeared and reappeared depending on the intensity of whatever fling she was in the middle of. Ava was used to it, but it still meant she suddenly got dropped without warning when a new woman appeared on the scene.
‘Single,’ Ava said. ‘So I’m seeing more of her than usual. Right, any progress on Zoey Cole?’
‘The stepfather has a watertight alibi and no previous convictions,’ Callanach said. ‘He was with about a hundred other people during the period when Zoey was abducted, and they’re all sending us photos to prove it. The boyfriend of Sandra Tilly, who runs the shelter where Zoey was living, turns out to have previous for blackmail and threatening behaviour, though. I’ve asked for the files. His name is Tyrone Leigh.’
‘Get an officer in the incident room to check it out for you,’ Ava said, ‘then go and rescue Selina from the cells. She seemed keen to take you away to whatever surprise it is she’s organised.’
‘I’ll stay if you need me,’ Luc said. ‘Selina can wait.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Ava said. ‘We’ll have a briefing tomorrow morning to make sure the squad is up to speed. Have a good evening.’
‘I will,’ Luc said. ‘Thanks, Ava.’ He shut her office door as he left.
Ava sat down to write up her notes of the day, trying to banish the sensation that there were other things she was missing out on.
Chapter Eight
The news that another young woman had gone missing just three days after Zoey’s body had been found was treated with quiet sadness in the incident room. Everyone on the squad had been prepared for the possibility, but that didn’t make the announcement any easier to hear. Ava decided to handle the initial enquiry herself with Callanach. There was no point mobilising the full unit until they were certain what they were dealing with, but her guts were churning. There were coincidences and there were patterns, and the new missing person report felt much more like the latter.
Leith’s mother and baby unit was housed in a grey building that had unmistakably been erected in the 1970s, featuring pebble-dashed walls to protect it from the sea to its north and the ensuing gales. Callanach met Ava in the car park, where she stood clutching the pre-noon necessity of two takeout coffees. She handed one over and began to walk towards the front door.
‘Is this a hospital?’ Callanach asked. ‘I haven’t been here before.’
‘No, it’s somewhere new mothers can look after their babies with supervision if the court has concerns about the care they might provide. Better this than having the baby taken from them and adopted, but it’s a last resort. The state provides medical care, rooms, food, guidance and prepares the mother for independent life,’ Ava said. ‘The baby’s being seen by a doctor now.’
They entered the building through pale blue corridors that smelled of bleach and nappies, and were directed to a small room where a doctor was just buttoning up a Babygro.
‘This little girl’s fine,’ the doctor said, stroking the baby’s cheek. ‘No marks on her, no signs of distress, her temperature is normal. I’d say the baby hasn’t been touched. She is getting grouchy though, so I’ll hand her over to a nurse for a feed.’
‘Thank you,’ Ava said. ‘Still no word on the location of the baby’s mother?’
‘Not that I’ve heard,’ the doctor replied, ‘but you should speak to the unit director. He might have had an update.’ The doctor left them and took the baby with her.
‘How old is the missing mother?’ Callanach asked.
‘Nineteen,’ Ava said. ‘The pram was discovered a few roads away from here, left in an alleyway near a newsagent. No one saw who left it there. It was in a reasonably sheltered position out of the wind but a passer-by became concerned when she heard the baby crying.’
There was a knock at the door and a man walked in carrying a file and pushing an empty pram. ‘I’m Arnold Jenkins,’ he said. ‘I manage the unit. Thank you for coming. This is the pram baby Tansy was found in. It belongs to the unit and it has an identification tag underneath, so we can be sure it’s ours. I gather a search for Lorna Shaw is already underway?’
‘Uniformed officers are checking CCTV footage and walking the streets in the area. Do you know what time Lorna left here?’ Ava asked.
‘Three hours ago. She was taking Tansy out for some fresh air, apparently, and wanted to top up her phone credit at the shop. Lorna had permission to take the baby with her. She’d agreed to be no more than sixty minutes. We were already concerned before the police notified us that the baby had been found,’ Jenkins said.
‘You don’t think this is simply a case of a young woman under too much pressure who just ran away?’ Callanach asked.
‘Every report on her makes it clear that she was doing well. The baby is reaching all her milestones. We were helping Lorna apply for independent housing with a view to her moving out in a couple of months. All her supervisors say she’s a doting mother. If it had been one of the other women here, then perhaps, but if Lorna was going to disappear she’d have taken her baby with her,’ Jenkins replied. ‘We’re really very concerned. Lorna wouldn’t have left her daughter out on a street. If she really had to run away, if there was something going on that we didn’t know about, it would have made more sense to go to the shops alone and leave the baby safe here,’ the director explained.
‘Any violent former partners you’re aware of?’ Callanach asked.
‘None specifically that Lorna ever talked about, although she had a hard life and kept less than desirable company. She had previously abused drugs, although she’s clean now, and during her pregnancy she failed to keep medical appointments, which is why she ended up here,’ Jenkins said.
‘What about the baby’s father?’ Ava asked.
‘Lorna slept with a number of different partners while she was using drugs. She’s not sure of the father’s identity and doesn’t know the surnames of many of the men, so they can’t be traced. Whoever the father is, he has no idea that he has a new daughter,’ Jenkins said. ‘Given the fact that Lorna was previously in contact with drug dealers, one possibility is that she bumped into someone she owed money to, or who felt there was an old score to settle, which is why we called you so promptly.’
‘All right,’ Ava said. ‘We’ll expand the resources and see if we can identify her last movements. I’ll get the Police Scotland media liaison team on it. We’ll put out a statement later today to see if any members of the public noticed anything. Do you have a recent photo of Lorna we could use, and details of the clothes she was wearing when she left here?’
‘I’ll go and sort that out for you now,’ Jenkins said. ‘Give me a few minutes.’
Ava waited until he’d closed the door. ‘So that’s not just one but two crimes linked to the drug users in the city. Who’s to say whether or not Zoey had come into contact with some of the same people. The news will have spread around the city’s drug community by now that Mikey Parsons’ face was slashed. The small-time dealers who sometimes help when we need it won’t be talking to the police. If Lorna’s disappearance really is related to her previous drug use, there are hundreds of undesirables she might have crossed paths with.’
‘Selina said Mikey’s injury was atrocious,’ Callanach said. ‘Sharp blade, steady hand, clear intent. You think there’s an anti-drug vigilante on the prowl?’
‘I think we need a greater police presence on the streets until we get to the bottom of it. Lively described the Z on Mikey’s face as something akin to a branding. I’m not quite sure what the shape cut out of Zoey’s stomach is supposed to represent, but it may well have been born of the same sick imagination. It’s all close-up blade work. Then there’s the fact that Zoey’s body was found the same day that Mikey’s face was cut. I’m not sure which is worse – thinking there’s one person out there capable of causing this much chaos alone, or the idea that perhaps there’s more than one psychopath out to maim and kill,’ Ava said. ‘I’ll need to speak with Overbeck when we get back to the station. She won’t want to agree the budget, but I can’t see a choice. This needs to be a cross-division effort. The Major Investigation Team can follow the leads, but we can’t be out there stopping all these incidents at once. Let’s get Lorna’s details then organise a briefing. We need to find that girl in the next twenty-four hours or baby Tansy might never be reunited with her mother.’ Ava stood up and ran her hand down the soft, pale blanket in the pram. Its silky edge had been tucked in at the bottom to keep tiny toes warm. ‘It’s true about that baby smell. I always thought it was a ridiculous myth, but something makes me think of freshly baked bread and Christmas morning when I hold a small baby.’ She untucked the blanket and held it up to her face, breathing in deeply and smiling into the fleecy material.
‘I remember when the first of my close friends became a father,’ Luc said. ‘We all thought he was ruining his life, but the look on his face when he brought the baby to visit …’
‘What the fuck?’ Ava took half a step back from the pram, then leaned over it to look inside again. ‘What is that?’
Luc peered over Ava’s shoulder at a scrunched-up sheet that had been left in the bottom of the pram. The head of a doll peeked out, with strands of brown hair stuck roughly on, eyes drawn with pen onto the pale grey face, and a series of darting black stitches in an arc, as if her mouth had been sewn shut. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Luc took out a pack containing gloves and reached in to gently extract the doll from the pram.
‘You don’t think …’ he said.
‘Yes,’ Ava replied, stepping away from the pram and pulling out her phone. ‘I do think. Have you ever seen anything made from human skin before?’
‘We can’t be sure of that,’ Luc said, holding the doll well away from his own body.
‘Its hair is the same colour as Zoey’s,’ Ava said. ‘And the doll is fractionally smaller than the cuts to Zoey’s body, even to the naked eye, which would account for the margin needed to stitch it.’
Luc turned it over. The doll had been created by stitching two matching cut-out shapes together. A rag doll with crude arms and legs, no detail, no clothes fitted over it. The seams had been sewn with rough thread, the stitches pulling at the red-tinged seams.
Ava called for backup and a forensics team. Arnold Jenkins opened the door and stared at them. ‘Stay there, Mr Jenkins,’ Ava said. ‘No one who has handled this pram since it was brought in leaves the unit. In fact, no one leaves at all until every person residing and working here has been spoken to by a police officer.’
Jenkins blanched. ‘Has Lorna been found?’ he stuttered. ‘Is she dead?’
‘Do you recognise this?’ Callanach held up the doll. Jenkins wrinkled his face in disgust and shook his head. ‘Lorna hasn’t been found yet, but we do need to bring in a Scenes of Crime team to ensure that any evidence contained within the pram is preserved.’
Jenkins shut the door once more, his footsteps rapid as he disappeared up the corridor. Ava sat down, still clutching the baby blanket.
‘This means that whoever took Zoey has Lorna,’ Ava said. ‘It was one week from Zoey’s disappearance to her death. Lorna’s abductor is a few hours ahead of us now. If we don’t find her …’
‘I know,’ Luc said. ‘What do you think the relevance of the doll is?’
‘Something to love? Something to play with? It might be sexual, or even a sort of reverse trophy that the killer is presenting to us, rather than keeping for himself,’ Ava suggested.
‘You said him. I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, but we don’t know that yet,’ Luc said.
‘It’s the most likely scenario. The victims are both young women. Men are statistically more likely to use cutting as a form of torture. I don’t know, maybe he can’t find a partner who’ll give him a baby so he’s creating his own quasi-offspring from their skin. God, that even sounds insane to me.’
‘We’ve dealt with insane situations before,’ Luc said.
‘I’ve never seen a doll made from skin cut from the body of a young woman who was still alive when it happened,’ Ava said, her voice less than steady. ‘And I’ve never been more certain that the same is going to happen to another young woman who is already beyond our help.’
‘The dolls are a calling card, then. An announcement of intent. Zoey’s killer wants us to know what’s in store for Lorna.’
Sirens followed by a knock at the door signalled the arrival of the SOCOs, who appeared white-suited and ready for action.
‘I need a bag straight away,’ Ava said. ‘This doll and the pram need to be logged into evidence, then I’m taking the doll directly over to the mortuary. Somebody contact the pathologist and tell him we’re on our way. I need him there, and I’ll need access to Zoey Cole’s body at the same time.’
‘What about that?’ One of the officers motioned towards the baby blanket that Ava had in her hand.
‘Yes, this too,’ Ava said. ‘The pram needs a complete DNA, skin cell and foreign fibres check. Someone put their hand down inside the blanket and sheet, and tucked the doll out of sight at the baby’s feet. We only found it by accident.’
Ava’s hands were stripped with sticky tape to make sure she hadn’t removed any crucial trace evidence from the pram, then she and Luc left the room. They found Arnold Jenkins, the unit director, in an office with four female staff members. He introduced each in turn – a nurse, an administrator, a catering manager and one of the other residents. Each had handled the pram at some point, moving it or lifting the baby, and every one of them was tearful and shaken. Ava was glad they had no idea quite how bad the situation really was. Uniformed officers took over to record statements as Ava and Luc headed back towards the car park.
‘You don’t need to come to the mortuary with me,’ Luc said. ‘I can handle this alone.’
‘I know,’ Ava said. ‘But I feel like I owe it to Zoey. We’re taking part of her back. I know it sounds stupid, but I want to be there with her when we take this monstrosity in.’
‘I understand,’ Luc said. ‘Sometimes it’s personal.’
‘It is,’ Ava nodded. ‘I can’t even explain why. Dr Spurr, the temporary pathologist – you dealt with him before. Is he good? I mean as good as Ailsa, because if not I’m calling her back in. I need answers, and I’m not risking any mistakes.’
‘Jonty Spurr is excellent,’ Callanach said. ‘Don’t worry about that.’
They drove their cars in convoy to the city mortuary. Dr Spurr met them in the reception area, already gowned and gloved. Ava and Callanach suited up, handing the bagged doll to Jonty, who peered at it with undisguised revulsion.
Without exchanging a word, they filed into the autopsy suite, where Zoey was waiting for them, sheet pulled back to reveal her skinned abdomen. Jonty took the doll from the bag, laid it on a sterile tray and photographed every aspect of it, recording each measurement and dimension as he went. With immaculate care, and making sure he preserved the knotted parts of the thread, he opened the stitching and separated the two sections of material.
Holding the material up to the light, he turned it over and around. ‘That’s human skin, without a doubt,’ he said. ‘I can clearly see the follicles, lines and pores.’
He walked slowly to Zoey, holding the front section of the doll by the ends of each arm. A sheet of plastic had been placed over Zoey’s abdominal wound, and he placed the first section of skin flat over the top of it, smoothing out the parts that had been folded over at the edges. It almost perfectly filled the shape that had been stolen from Zoey’s body.
‘It’s shrunk as it’s dried out,’ Jonty said, ‘which accounts for the size difference, but you can see where there are tiny imperfections in the cuts. They match both the wound edges on Zoey’s body and on the doll. There is no doubt at all that what you’ve found was made from Zoey’s skin.’
‘Thank you, Dr Spurr,’ Ava said, talking a step forward and gripping Zoey’s cold hand for a few moments. When she walked away, Luc could see tears in her eyes. She dumped her gloves in the bin and left.
‘When Ava finds the person who did this, I think she might be serious about killing them,’ Luc said.
‘I believe you might be right,’ Jonty said. ‘You’d better just make sure you get there first.’
Chapter Nine
Lorna
True terror was exhausting. That sliver of knowledge was just one step on the steepest learning curve of her life. Twenty-four hours earlier, she had woken at 6.45 a.m. with her baby in a cot at her bedside, and wondered what to cook for breakfast. Now she knew how it felt to sleep strapped to a table in the dark, smelling dirt and rotting leaves. Lorna lifted her head, but the immobility of her arms and legs made it pointless. Through dirty, green-stained glass, a waning moon cast cold shadows. The blanket over her naked body was making her itch, but it kept off the insects that buzzed and flapped through the dark. Beneath her, the table stretched longer than her frame head to toe, and was a foot wider at either side, as if it had been taken from the dining room of some grand old house. What she couldn’t believe was that she had slept. How was it possible to fear for your life and still fall into dreamless sleep? Lorna remembered crying. Being made to eat and drink. Screaming uselessly for as long as her voice held out. Then nothing. At some point she had simply burned out.
