THE COOL, TILED ROOM HARBOURED broad worktops, deep steel sinks and roomy drawers. In one of these drawers lay Bryan Shelton – six years, two months and four days old.
Delahaye and Lines were relieved they’d missed the autopsy. The pathologist was once again Professor Simmons, with Hickman and Towler in attendance. For some unknown reason, Delahaye was pleased Simmons was working the case. Because she explained her findings so clearly, she never made him feel like a layman more a student of her practice. She teaches as she talks.
‘I’ll send you the full transcript of my autopsy notes when we get the biopsy and blood test results in,’ Simmons said. ‘But I’ll give you something to work with now.’ She removed her mask to reveal her lovely face and Delahaye blinked rapidly. Lines stared in rude awe until Delahaye nudged him.
‘As you know, death’s stopwatch is unpredictable at the best of times – with or without insect activity. There were fly eggs found on him, but they hadn’t hatched. The unseasonably cool temperatures and the rain slowed further development, but their presence puts the body on site only a day or so before he was found.’ She took a breath. ‘Your senior officer informed me that the boy’s last meal was consumed at about five p.m., and, from initial perusal of Bryan’s stomach contents, I estimate he died at least an hour or two after he was abducted.’ She switched on the light box, illuminating an X-ray of a small human skull. ‘Bryan was dealt a traumatic blow to his head, which fractured his eye socket. There’s a blood clot on the brain where the injury occurred, and a fracture. A blow this hard would have rendered him immediately unconscious.’ Simmons shuffled through the photographs and presented them on the table.
Lines moved closer. ‘He has a red rash around his wrists – restraint marks?’ suggested Lines and Delahaye nodded.
Simmons handed them another photograph. ‘Rigor mortis had dissipated by the time of his discovery, but the hypostasis patterns suggest he was stored on his back after death, until he was laid outdoors on his right side. The secondary lividity pattern is fainter but present. See?’
They saw.
‘The child must have regained consciousness, and was attacked again. The bites on his palms and forearms are defence wounds. I’ll wager they share the same signature as those bites found on Mickey Grant. His fingers are bitten off at the carpals and metacarpals on both hands. He may have been small, but he fought back ferociously.’
‘As Mickey Grant had,’ said Lines.
‘Their attacker had to have offence wounds where the victims scratched and bit him. This child died very differently to Mickey.’ She handed them more photographs taken during the autopsy. ‘His throat was torn out by human teeth. The typical upper and lower crescent indentations are human bite marks. And the bites were deep, to gum level. If you see . . . here . . . the carotid was successfully bitten through. The attacker kept going in until he was successful.’ The pathologist referred to the X-ray light box again. ‘Exsanguination was the cause of death but he was also manually strangled – see the finger marks around the throat?’
The detectives nodded.
‘I found bruising to anterior neck structures. There is cyanosis around the lips and extensive petechial haemorrhaging on the sclera, the lining of the eyes, tongue and on the mucosal lining of the mouth. His hyoid bone was ruptured.’
Simmons paused.
‘We found human tissue packed under the nails of the remaining fingers,’ she continued. ‘Very little was found under the nails of the right hand. The left hand, despite its lacerations, proffered far more evidence. It’s been removed and taken for analysis. Thank goodness someone had the presence of mind to bag it when they found it.’
‘We think it might be the same person who called nine-nine-nine,’ said Delahaye. ‘But we don’t know for sure.’
Professor Simmons looked suitably impressed. ‘So they haven’t come forward?’
‘No,’ said Delahaye.
‘Bryan has no other bites anywhere else on his body other than the defence wounds on his arms, hands, jawline and throat. The attack possibly stopped as soon as the perpetrator succeeded in killing him.’
A telephone rang in the office at the other end of the mortuary.
‘Forgive me,’ she said, walking to the phone while shedding cap, gown and apron. The two detectives stared up at the X-ray in silence.
‘Gentlemen!’
The detectives switched their attention to Simmons, who was beckoning them.
‘Apparently we’re gentlemen,’ murmured Lines. They shuffled towards the compact office as Simmons took a seat at a desk littered with paperwork and notes stuck down with Scotch tape.
‘Sorry about the interruption,’ Simmons said. She turned to Hickman. ‘Could you get these fellas a cup of tea?’ Hickman nodded and left the room. ‘The body was in good condition when it was disposed of, and probably kept in a very cool, dry place from time of death. However, if the temperature had been even a few degrees warmer, we would have been looking at a less recognisable Bryan.’
Delahaye recalled Alan Shelton running towards the ambulance and thanked the unseasonably cool weather for a small grace.
‘The hand must have been submerged from the moment he was laid by the stream,’ she added ‘The water level might have been higher when he was placed, and the dismembered fingers would have taken water into the tissues quicker than if they’d been intact.’
‘Was there evidence of sexual assault?’ asked Lines, because it had to be asked.
‘No.’
Lines breathed a hefty sigh of relief.
‘But that’s no indication that there wasn’t sexual motive,’ said Delahaye. ‘If this is a lust murder, it’s possibly sexually motivated by the complete destruction of life.’
‘But if it isn’t a lust murder and it’s not need or greed, then what can be the motive for this?’ asked Lines.
‘Just because there were no semen traces doesn’t mean there was no semen,’ said Simmons. ‘Bryan’s body had been washed.’
Both detectives regarded her with steady interest.
‘Usually, with strangulation, people involuntarily defecate and urinate. Now, there was evidence that this had happened: his pyjama trousers were stained but they’d been given a perfunctory rinse, as had the body. There’s no smell or chemical evidence of detergent.’ Simmons sat firmly back in her chair. ‘Then he was roughly re-dressed.’
They sat in silence until Hickman brought in cups of strong, sweet tea.
‘Mickey was half-naked when found,’ said Lines. ‘Could be the attacker attempted to clean up, but the body was too far gone to do so.’
Delahaye nodded. ‘Bryan might’ve been washed to get rid of any evidence.’
‘Yeah, and the murderer is smart enough to wear gloves because he hasn’t left fingerprints,’ said Lines. ‘And it seems he has no dental records either.’
‘If this perpetrator killed Mickey Grant too – and that looks very likely – then he might’ve learned from his mistakes,’ said Simmons quietly.
‘Murderers such as this progress from petty offences to murder,’ said Delahaye. ‘Voyeurism, burglary, animal cruelty . . . ’
‘There was plenty of evidence of animal cruelty at Banlock Farm,’ said Lines.
Delahaye nodded. ‘But the care with the dogs . . . ’
‘Even Adolf Hitler liked dogs,’ Simmons added, and smiled.
Delahaye cleared his throat.
‘We’ve concluded the motives for killing the boys are different,’ he said. ‘Mickey must’ve surprised the killer on his turf, so he was attacked to keep him from calling the police. God knows why he killed Bryan Shelton. There’re no signs of prolonged torture or restraint.’
‘None of this is making sense to us,’ said Lines. ‘Robbery and sex we understand, but if neither of the usual is the motive then where do we stand?’
‘The biting,’ said Delahaye.
‘Oh, Bryan had bitten back,’ said Simmons. ‘He lost the rest of his baby teeth in the process but we found flesh tissue mashed against his molars.’
Good for Bry. It wouldn’t make the suffering any easier for the Shelton family, but if they knew that he’d been brave and fought back . . . Sometimes, these small details helped.
‘The Casualty departments might aid you with details of patients with recent hand infections. The infections caused by human bites are more dangerous than that of a dog’s, you know,’ said Simmons.
Lines shut his notebook with an exasperated snap. ‘I don’t get it: how can that be true when we brush our teeth and dogs eat their own shit and lick their own goolies?’
Simmons frowned down a smile at this colourful question. ‘Our mouths simply contain the more toxic bacteria,’ she replied. Lines rolled his eyes and shook his head.
‘Biting in self-defence is common but biting to attack is rare,’ Delahaye said. ‘You mentioned before that it might be part of the killer’s fight pattern.’
Simmons nodded. ‘Hmm, yes, it’s uncommon for men to bite while fighting because it’s generally considered unmasculine. Men will usually bite as a last resort or during aggressive sex. For women and children, however, their teeth are their most effective primal weapons given their more limited upper-body strength. In general, people recoil from biting because it’s so intimate and they see it as dirty somehow. Personally, I find biting more terrifying than fists and weapons. It means the attacker has no inhibitions, likes to get as physically close as a lover.’ Simmons sipped at her tea then added, ‘There’s no typical evidence of cannibalism in either. I think Bryan’s fingers were collateral damage not the prize.’
Delahaye agreed. ‘And nothing stopped the killer from biting a terrified little boy. Nothing stops dogs, or any animal, from biting us. They rarely pause before they bite and never consider the consequences of their action – it’s both attack and defence. Maybe this is how it is with our murderer.’
‘Animals are all over this,’ murmured Lines.
Simmons leaned forward, interested. ‘Pardon?’
Delahaye briefly outlined each piece of evidence connected with animals. Principally canines: dogs, wolves and foxes. He mentioned the barking dog and the ridiculous yet disturbing sighting of a man in a ‘bear’ costume on the night and in the same area Bryan Shelton was dumped. Professor Simmons listened in rapt silence, clearly fascinated.
It couldn’t be a coincidence. Not anymore.
‘And you think Neville Coleman is the eye of the storm?’ Simmons asked.
Delahaye’s gaze switched to the ring finger of her left hand. ‘I believe so. It’s not much to go on, but Mickey Grant was killed on Coleman’s property, and Bryan Shelton was found close to the care home Coleman lives in as well as strange activity seen and heard around the building – opposite Coleman’s room, in fact.’
Simmons walked out of the office and returned to the morgue. The detectives followed her to the table, on which rested a small, shrouded form. She removed the sheet to reveal the dog found by Bryan’s body.
‘An old friend of mine is a vet,’ said Simmons. ‘He checked this little fellow over. It appears to be a straightforward hit-and-run – died of internal crush injuries. He hasn’t a collar but he was well nourished, looked after. Has anyone come forward to claim a missing dog?’
Delahaye shook his head. ‘We’re keeping the information from the public so we can filter false confessions. We’ve had quite a few of those.’ The police were also keeping back the extent of Bryan Shelton’s injuries, especially the torn throat. It was another piece of evidence a person had to give to police if they telephoned into the incident room and claimed they were the killer.
‘The way Bry was laid out with this dog,’ said Lines. ‘It was almost ritualistic.’
Delahaye agreed.
* * *
Delahaye and Lines left the mortuary with full notebooks, including some information the Sheltons could endure – that the boy had not been sexually assaulted and that he had fought back very bravely.
‘I don’t understand how but I feel better for talking to the pathologist about all this,’ said Lines as they climbed into the car. ‘We’re no closer to finding a suspect, let alone making an arrest. But at least we’ve got a fresh perspective.’
Delahaye said nothing as he processed the post-mortem and what it meant for the investigation. Lines was right.
‘She doesn’t know, does she?’ said Lines as they drove away from the mortuary.
‘Hmm?’
‘Professor Simmons. She doesn’t know she’s stunning.’ Lines grinned when Delahaye shrugged, as if he hadn’t noticed this.