LITMIR.BIZ

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breath then exhaled. “In my opinion the killer knew the victim, who, for whatever reason let him into the factory, either because he was forced to or he was unaware of the killer’s intention. At what time the crook was let in is unknown, but I’m told the shooting was around 2 a.m.”

      Ballard cut in. “We’ve a revised time of about 1.30 a.m. It’s unlikely the medical examiner will narrow it down any closer, so yes we’re looking at 1.30 to 2 a.m.”

      Ken shrugged. “That being the case, it appears there’s a significant elapse time from when the victim would have gone home, say between 5 and 9 p.m. and 1.30 to 2 a.m. in the morning when he was killed.” He steepled his fingers while resting his elbows on the desk. “What was the killer doing in all that time? We don’t know. Was he playing the cat and mouse capture, release, recapture routine? Was he enjoying his domination over the victim? Remember the deceased posed no threat as his hands were bound behind him with a cable tie. Was the killer trying to get information, or a confession?” Ballard glanced across at John.

      Ken leaned forward over his desk. “I don’t believe there were any torture marks on the deceased, other than the rope marks and the bullet wound. As such, my thoughts are the killer isn’t sadistic.” He paused. “In my opinion he isn’t capable of what I term in-your-face torture, such as cutting off fingers, bits of flesh, or engage in non fatal stabbing or mutilation wounds. Clearly he is capable of… again my terminology, ‘decisive’ murder. Kicking the victim off the chair then blowing his brains out. In a way that’s a far more remote form of killing.”

      A smile appeared on Ken’s face as he looked at John. “Of course there’s another theory regarding the shooting which you may not like. Have you considered that the dispatching with a bullet may have been a mercy killing?” Both men looked at Ken, astonished. “By mercy killing I mean as the victim’s neck was unlikely to have been broken, he would’ve been flaying about choking to death. As you know, this can take some time and it isn’t a pretty sight. What may have occurred is the killer couldn’t take it any more, or didn’t have the time, so he put the victim out of his misery.”

      John snorted. “So the killer is really Mother Teresa sporting a .45 calibre?”

      Ken smiled politely. “I warned you my theory may be hard to accept.”

      Ballard stole a look at John, who in turn was looking at Ken with new found respect. Both men remained silent, inviting Ken to continue.

      “The final two stages are associated with the killer’s signature, in other words, what the offender does to satisfy his psychological needs when committing the crime. This raises the question, has our killer achieved what he set out to do, or is this part of a bigger plan? My belief is if more killings occur, his taste for it will intensify dramatically.

      “This murder was controlled rage, perhaps revenge of some kind. He’ll relive this over and over in his mind, perhaps even invent an excuse to re-enact it. It may now be an intoxicating feeling he can’t resist. Heaven help anyone he plans to kill in the future, should this be his objective. Without doubt he’ll drag out the act, extracting maximum psychological pleasure from it.”

      Ken slumped back in his chair, as though his comments had physically exhausted him. Again he looked at both men for a reaction. John obliged. “Ken, mate. I’ll never doubt your ability to crawl inside a shithead’s mind ever again. I’m sorry I ever questioned you.” Ballard glanced sideways to see whether John was being sarcastic, surprised to see he wasn’t.

      Ken’s face lit up in a beaming smile. “Always willing to help you guys. You know that.”

      Ballard stood and shook Ken’s hand. “Many thanks, Ken. You’ve given both of us a lot to think about. I can assure you we’ll be calling on you again before this is over.”

      John grunted his appreciation as he moved from Ken’s desk, summing up the meeting. “So what we have is an ‘organised’ killer who’s murdered for revenge in a state of controlled rage, has a penchant for mentally torturing his victim then thinks nothing of dispatching them with a minimum of effort. On top of that, if he’s planning to kill again he’ll precede the act with some form of extended psychological torment.”

      Ballard grimaced. “Scary thought John. Ok, where to from here?”

      John listed their actions so far. “Well we’ve checked the crime scene, interviewed neighbouring factory owners, checked with forensics, viewed the crime scene video and had a preliminary profile briefing.

      “Sounds a lot but think what’s left: catch up on the autopsy; view the interviews with the wife, the family and Mario’s two staff; re-interview each of them; see where fingerprints and the DNA take us; check with the eCrime and Crime Scene boys; update the Case Narrative in our offender and intell’ databases; write up our reports…”

      Ballard threw up his hands. “Enough John, enough. Let’s tackle things one at a time.”

      John ignored him, a devilish grin on his face. “So you’re suggesting we eat the elephant by starting with the tail then move to its testicles.”

      Ballard shook his head. “Very classy John, but yes, something along those lines.”

      As John headed towards his desk, he called over his shoulder, “I’ll give the medical examiner a call to see when we can drop around.”

      Ballard waved a responding hand as he headed for Delwyn’s office to provide her with an update. Minutes later, while he was still touching on the key points, John knocked politely on her door. Acknowledging Delwyn with a brief nod he directed his comment to Ballard, “We’re in luck. Matthews has finished the autopsy. He can spare us time if we get over there in the next half hour.”

      Delwyn, looking tired but determined said. “Go guys. Keep up the good work, something’s bound to give. I can feel it in my bones.”

      Handing Ballard his day book, John commented, “I knew there was a reason I didn’t finish my lunch. Let’s visit the man.”

      Five minutes later, after surviving another high speed descent in the police car they headed for the Coronial Services Centre, or as John preferred to call it, ‘The Morgue’.

      CHAPTER

      9

      ‘The man’, Gerald Matthews, was one of the Institute’s most experienced forensic medical examiners, as well as a member of the Royal College of Pathologists. Both men knew that with him performing the autopsy no detail would be missed. Everything would be documented meticulously, photographed from every angle and analysed as it should be; it was a comforting feeling.

      John grimaced as he looked reflectively at Ballard. “Remember our first autopsy? If the general public knew what went on they’d do anything to ensure they died in their beds of natural causes.”

      Both men recalled in vivid detail the first all body cavity autopsy they were required to witness as young detectives. The deceased was a middle aged male, believed to have been poisoned by his wife of thirty years. The internal examination had commenced with the medical examiner making a Y shaped incision from shoulder to shoulder, meeting at the breast bone then extending down to the pubic area. The next process involved using a scalpel to peel back skin, muscle and soft tissue. Once this stage was complete, the chest flap was pulled up over the face, exposing the ribcage and neck muscles. Cuts were made to the ribcage on each side, then it was removed from the skeleton after severing the tissue behind it with the scalpel.

      Even at this juncture Ballard and John had felt light headed, with a sense of disbelief at what they were witnessing. With the organs exposed, a series of cuts were made that detached the larynx, oesophagus, various arteries and ligaments. Next, the examiner severed where the organs were attached to the spinal cord as well as their connection to the bladder and rectum. Once this was done, the entire

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