A Killing Mind

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‘What did you see?’

‘I saw a young woman who’d been horribly murdered. She’d had her throat cut almost to the bone and the side of her neck sliced open, causing her to bleed to death. Her fingernails and some of her teeth had been removed, and there were clear signs of sexual assault.’

‘Such as?’ Sean pressed.

‘Her skirt had been pulled up and her underwear ripped off. Her legs were apart when she was found.’

‘So,’ Sean added, ‘he killed her immediately after he raped her or she was already dead.’

‘Surely he raped her while she was alive?’ Morris said. ‘Rape is a crime of power and humiliation. He’d want her alive when he did it or what would be the point?’

‘You’re assuming the attack was sexually motivated,’ Sean told her.

‘It has all the hallmarks,’ she replied, waiting for him to agree. ‘You don’t think it was?’

‘Maybe not,’ he admitted.

‘Then what?’

‘I don’t know,’ he told her. He could see no point in sharing his true thoughts with someone who was no longer to be involved in the investigation. ‘Not yet.’ He quickly moved on. ‘And he made no attempt to cover her?’

‘No,’ Morris confirmed.

‘Then he felt no compassion for her,’ he explained. ‘No guilt or mercy. If he had, he’d have repositioned the body and at least pulled her skirt down.’

‘Or he panicked and ran,’ Morris suggested. ‘Maybe he was disturbed.’

‘This one doesn’t panic,’ Sean said before he could stop himself. He kept talking to prevent her from coming back at him with any questions. ‘The scene report said she had her mobile phone and some cash on her?’

‘Yes,’ Morris confirmed, spreading her hands apart to show her confusion. ‘So?’

‘Just going back to your pimp theory,’ he explained. ‘Did it not seem strange to you that he’d leave her phone and cash behind? It would have been second nature to him to have stripped her of anything of value.’

‘Whether she was killed by her pimp or some sexually motivated madman, it’s possible they were disturbed, panicked and ran,’ she argued. ‘But of course you don’t believe that could have happened.’

Registering her irritation, Sean reminded himself that he needed her absolute cooperation and that wouldn’t be forthcoming unless he could get her onside. ‘You could well be right,’ he said. ‘I’m just considering all the possibilities at this stage.’ He moved on swiftly: ‘I understand she also had a wound to the back of her head.’

‘Significant, but not fatal. It would have almost certainly knocked her unconscious, or close to. There were traces of blood at the entrance to the alley where she was killed. It looks like he waited for her to get level with the alley, then hit her in the back of the head with a blunt instrument. The blood on the ground would indicate she fell to the floor. He then bundled her deeper into the alley where he continued his attack behind a large wheelie bin used for commercial rubbish from the restaurants that back on to the alley, hidden from view of anyone passing along the street.’

‘Could she have been dragged, maybe by the feet, deeper into the alley?’ Sean asked.