As a child, Carla had once stolen a Mars bar from her local shop. It had been both thrilling and terrifying, but it hadn’t taken long for the guilt to kick in. After a few sleepless nights, she’d confessed to her mother, who’d frogmarched her down to the store to pay for the stolen chocolate. Carla was feeling that same excitement and terror at breaking into Jessica Sherwood’s house. It was the only site she hadn’t visited and she wanted to check for the presence of a daisy wheel or another apotropaic mark. She was now convinced the pattern would be there but hidden away like the scrunched-up doodles in Madison’s trash. The killer was toying with them – happy to put the witch bottle material in a prominent position but much more restrained when it came to the hexafoils. This contradiction was bugging Carla, but she couldn’t yet guess a reason for it.
She’d been tempted to wait until nightfall. She welcomed the anonymity of the dark but, once in the house, she’d be forced to use a torch, which would draw attention to her presence. In the end, she set her alarm for six a.m. and was out of the house before Patricia was awake. She took her car, intending to head on to campus after she’d checked over the location.
At Penn Street, she walked past Jessica’s house, checking how easy it would be to enter the garden unnoticed. She was relieved to see an easy route round to the back of the house, leading, hopefully, to a window she could jemmy open. She had in her bag her archaeology trowel and was about to use it for a criminal act. Happy that the coast was clear, she doubled back on herself and slipped through the entrance. Following the path to the back of the house, she passed through a gate with a broken lock, wondering if this was how the killer had entered the house and why no one had thought to repair it.
At the back of the house, she looked at the property’s layout and decided the basement was the best bet. The first door she tried was locked and the catch held. After rattling it a few times, she moved to the window, sliding the trowel’s blade under near the catch and pulling. The metal snapped off, hitting Carla in the face, and she swore as she felt the sting of the cold metal.
In frustration she tried all the other windows on the ground floor, each of them holding firm. The winter sun, low on the horizon, bounced off the final window to the right of the house, reflecting her image back to her. The glass was hazy, at odds with the well-maintained exterior of the rest of the building. Carla squinted. Was she seeing patterns where there were none? She ran her hands over the smooth glass. Whatever was on the glass was disfiguring it from the inside. Cupping her hands to shield out the light made no difference. She needed to get into the house.
Stepping back, she screamed as she felt a body close behind her. She turned as a hand gripped her arm.
‘Would you like to explain what you’re up to?’
Baros pulled her away from the glass and pointed at the window of a neighbouring house. ‘That’s the home of a concerned citizen worried about a prowler at the property of a woman who was murdered.’
‘I can explain.’
‘Please do.’ Perez came around the corner, her hands on her holster. Baros smirked at her. ‘No need for the weapon; Albert would never forgive you.’
‘What she doing here?’
‘Just wondering the same thing.’
Sick of the double act, Carla took a breath. ‘Look, do either of you have a key to the house?’
‘Nope,’ said Baros. ‘Why?’
‘There’s something etched on the glass, only it’s been executed from the inside. I’d like to get in the house to see it.’
Baros made a show of considering the proposal. ‘What mark?’
‘Look.’ Carla led them to the window and showed them the scratching. ‘I’d like to make a tracing of it. It’ll be clearer what it is then.’
Baros looked at Perez. ‘What d’ya think?’
Perez bent over the glass. ‘There’s a fingerprint.’
‘I touched the glass, I’m sorry,’ said Carla.
‘Inside. Look.’
While Carla had been looking for patterns, Perez was all cop. It seemed Baros was prepared to listen to his partner. He looked at the smudge. ‘We won’t lift a print off that.’
‘Could you try?’ Carla looked from one to the other.
Baros shrugged. ‘Maybe. The neighbour has a key. I’ll get it.’
The house looked as if it was waiting for its owner to return. Jessica’s coats were hanging on a peg ready for a winter she’d never see and a fan of mail littered the carpet. Perez bent down, picking up the envelopes and placing them on the hall table. Inside, Carla could see the pane of glass was in the room where Jessica had died. She crossed to the window, Baros close behind. ‘Don’t touch anything,’ he warned.
Closer up, Carla saw the daisy wheel scratched into the glass and held her breath. ‘See it?’ she asked the pair.
‘What is it?’ asked Perez.
‘It’s this.’ She found a pen in her bag but no paper. Instead, she drew on the back of her hand the image.
‘It’s called a daisy wheel.’ She showed them the drawing. ‘Recognise it?’
Perez got the connection straight away. ‘Similar to the drawings found in Madison’s wastepaper basket.’
‘What?’ Baros leant forward. ‘It looks like a bunch of lines to me.’
Carla ignored him, focusing on keeping Perez’s attention. ‘Can you see the similarity?’
Perez looked from the image on Carla’s hand to the window and back again. ‘Maybe. What’s its significance?’ asked Perez.
‘It’s a protective mark to ward off evil spirits. When there’s a house involved, it’s placed where I’d expect it. Entry points where evil could enter, such as a window. In the open ground, they’re harder to place. I found one on the tree where Iris Chan was killed.’
Baros took a step back. ‘The lieutenant’s told you to lay off that case. She told us not to discuss Ms Chan with you. We worked long hours to get that one solved and we’re not having you mess things up.’
Carla, furious, shouted at the pair of them. ‘Look at it. You’re telling me a retired teacher carved out a protective mark against witches on a window? I’m finding a pattern and all you do is argue.’
‘I’m not listening to this.’ Baros stormed out, banging the door to the room behind him. Perez looked thoughtfully after him, frowning.
‘Let me talk to him. We need to have a meeting with the lieutenant given what we’ve just found. She know about any of this?’
‘I promised her I wouldn’t be looking into the deaths any longer.’
‘Why are you here then?’
‘I think I’ve found a pattern linking all of the recent killings of Jericho women. I just needed to visit this scene to confirm everything. I’m going to ask for a meeting as soon as possible to let Viv know. I only gave her a loose theory before. I now have something concrete.’
‘Did you mention the daisy wheel to her?’ Perez’s voice sounded odd.
‘Not really, but I did talk about anti-witchcraft symbolism. She wasn’t very happy.’ She saw Perez had lost her colour. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I’m not sure. I need to go back to base and look something up. I can see why the boss was pissed at you. Catching Michael Lines was one of our big successes.’
‘You’re happy with the way everything went?’
Perez scuffed her feet. ‘I interviewed Michael Lines. It was me and Baros. Then my shift finished and I left Baros to carry on with another detective. I couldn’t believe it when he told me he’d confessed. He’d shown no sign of it when I was sitting in.’
‘You think the confession was extracted under duress?’
Perez shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’ She paused. ‘You know, I’ve been reading through the Stella King files. It was my first homicide and I feel we never did the girl justice. Is there anything I should be looking for?’
‘There’s a daisy wheel there already in the shape of the mall. I also think the horseshoe trinket has a significance. I don’t know if there’s anything else to find. What about relooking at the police work in relation to suspects?’
Perez turned away. ‘Stella was Hispanic. Did you know that? Do you know what the murder clean-up rate for us is compared to victims of white ethnicity?’
‘I don’t know. I guess it’s a lot less.’
‘Significantly less. We did our best on that case, but there’s only so much you can do as a lowly detective.’
‘Are you suggesting that there were people above you less interested in solving the case?’
Perez took a step back. ‘I’m not saying anything. Just watch your step.’