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Authors: Gabrielle Lord
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highway out there? They should go out on the perv patrol one night and see what it’s like.’
‘Maybe accounts clerks think differently,’ said Gemma. ‘Did anyone else hear anything? See anything?’
‘A shift worker in the top unit said he heard screams at about two in the morning but he thought it was someone’s television. Do you have any idea what time it was when your visitor was there?’ Gemma took a sip of the strong coffee. She stirred sugar in, needing something sweet in her mouth after what she’d just seen.
‘I was having a bath at about five-thirty in the morning when the door slammed shut. My companion left at ten to four. So I’m thinking he came in between then and when I woke up at five twelve.’
‘So he’s operated between about two and five. I’m waiting on the Physical Evidence people to get back to me. And Fingerprints. Will you send your clothes over to me? And I’ll need to talk to the man you were with. Just in case he saw or heard anything on the way out. I’ll get someone to go to the hotel, see if anyone saw or heard anything. Also check their staff. It could easily be someone who works there.’
‘I’ll do that,’ said Gemma, handing Angie Brian Bates’s card. ‘It was on my list of things to do yesterday.’ She took another mouthful of coffee and swallowed hard. Her throat seemed to have contracted. ‘And I’ll check out the brothels as well. The girls may have heard something.’ She paused. ‘Did you notice anything about the pattern of the attack?’ she asked her friend.
‘Yes,’ said Angie. ‘Where he’d stabbed was the same. Your clothes, the woman’s clothes, then the woman herself.’ Gemma shuddered again. Once, in an attack, she’d had to deal with a knife-wielding offender and it had been the most terrifying incident in her police career. She remembered the police trainer telling them in a session that a person who knows how to use a knife is faster and more dangerous than a person with a gun. ‘By the time you’ve drawn your weapon,’ he had told them, ‘you’re already dead.’
‘You’re still white as a ghost,’ Angie said. She disappeared and Gemma sat down again. She was just starting to comprehend fully how very near the horror had come. That’s what you do, Kit had said. You leave cracks and the hell beings slip in.
Angie returned with Gemma’s video. ‘Do you want to leave the original here?’ Angie asked. But Gemma shook her head.
As they made their way back to the lifts, a good-looking woman in a cream suit and pearl earrings, dark blonde hair upswept in a french roll and flanked by two high-ranking officers, walked past. The woman nodded at Angie and continued along the hall, back towards the Physical Evidence section.
‘Who’s Sharon Stone?’ Gemma asked.
‘Dr Zelda someone or other,’ said Angie. ‘Visiting American expert. She’s been doing the rounds for the last few days. She’s done nothing but examine the nature and action of blood and bloodstains for the last twenty years. She’s the best in the world. On a lecture circuit.’
Gemma suddenly deserted her friend and raced after the vanishing cream suit, catching her just as the trio were about to make their entrance into the secured office area.
‘Excuse me!’ Gemma called. The woman turned to Gemma.
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Gemma. ‘I only just heard about you. I wonder if I can have your card.’
The woman frowned. She had pale, intelligent eyes behind glamorous red-framed spectacles and full lips.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said Gemma. ‘Gemma Lincoln. I used to work here five years ago.’ She extended her hand and the American shook it.
‘You said “used to”,’ she drawled. ‘What about now?’
‘I have my own business,’ Gemma said. ‘Mercator Business Services.’ She pulled out a business card. ‘I would very much like to have a contact number for you.’
‘You do a lot of bloodstain work?’ The American looked up from
‘Maybe accounts clerks think differently,’ said Gemma. ‘Did anyone else hear anything? See anything?’
‘A shift worker in the top unit said he heard screams at about two in the morning but he thought it was someone’s television. Do you have any idea what time it was when your visitor was there?’ Gemma took a sip of the strong coffee. She stirred sugar in, needing something sweet in her mouth after what she’d just seen.
‘I was having a bath at about five-thirty in the morning when the door slammed shut. My companion left at ten to four. So I’m thinking he came in between then and when I woke up at five twelve.’
‘So he’s operated between about two and five. I’m waiting on the Physical Evidence people to get back to me. And Fingerprints. Will you send your clothes over to me? And I’ll need to talk to the man you were with. Just in case he saw or heard anything on the way out. I’ll get someone to go to the hotel, see if anyone saw or heard anything. Also check their staff. It could easily be someone who works there.’
‘I’ll do that,’ said Gemma, handing Angie Brian Bates’s card. ‘It was on my list of things to do yesterday.’ She took another mouthful of coffee and swallowed hard. Her throat seemed to have contracted. ‘And I’ll check out the brothels as well. The girls may have heard something.’ She paused. ‘Did you notice anything about the pattern of the attack?’ she asked her friend.
‘Yes,’ said Angie. ‘Where he’d stabbed was the same. Your clothes, the woman’s clothes, then the woman herself.’ Gemma shuddered again. Once, in an attack, she’d had to deal with a knife-wielding offender and it had been the most terrifying incident in her police career. She remembered the police trainer telling them in a session that a person who knows how to use a knife is faster and more dangerous than a person with a gun. ‘By the time you’ve drawn your weapon,’ he had told them, ‘you’re already dead.’
‘You’re still white as a ghost,’ Angie said. She disappeared and Gemma sat down again. She was just starting to comprehend fully how very near the horror had come. That’s what you do, Kit had said. You leave cracks and the hell beings slip in.
Angie returned with Gemma’s video. ‘Do you want to leave the original here?’ Angie asked. But Gemma shook her head.
As they made their way back to the lifts, a good-looking woman in a cream suit and pearl earrings, dark blonde hair upswept in a french roll and flanked by two high-ranking officers, walked past. The woman nodded at Angie and continued along the hall, back towards the Physical Evidence section.
‘Who’s Sharon Stone?’ Gemma asked.
‘Dr Zelda someone or other,’ said Angie. ‘Visiting American expert. She’s been doing the rounds for the last few days. She’s done nothing but examine the nature and action of blood and bloodstains for the last twenty years. She’s the best in the world. On a lecture circuit.’
Gemma suddenly deserted her friend and raced after the vanishing cream suit, catching her just as the trio were about to make their entrance into the secured office area.
‘Excuse me!’ Gemma called. The woman turned to Gemma.
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Gemma. ‘I only just heard about you. I wonder if I can have your card.’
The woman frowned. She had pale, intelligent eyes behind glamorous red-framed spectacles and full lips.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said Gemma. ‘Gemma Lincoln. I used to work here five years ago.’ She extended her hand and the American shook it.
‘You said “used to”,’ she drawled. ‘What about now?’
‘I have my own business,’ Gemma said. ‘Mercator Business Services.’ She pulled out a business card. ‘I would very much like to have a contact number for you.’
‘You do a lot of bloodstain work?’ The American looked up from
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