Red Widow (Vivian Xu, Book 1) (10 page)

“
We need to discuss what
you found today.”

“
What more is there to say?
You saw what he did back there.”

“
But what led you to
Grigorshire? How did you reach the outskirts?”

“
Why does it matter? You
wanted me to find the killer, right?”

“
Yes, of course. But it
still doesn’t make sense…”

Vivian pursed her lips, not about to
expose her “ally” in the metro tunnels. The last thing she needed
was Joakim sending her thirteen calla lilies.

Nikolai seized her wrist.

“
You look like you’re going
to pass out. Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

“
No, no, I’m fine…” She
sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the wall. The cracks in
the plaster seemed to gel together. She could hear the sounds of
Grigorshire again; the gurgling walls, the humming radiators, the
jutting blades…

“
Vivian…” She turned
around. The instant she saw the gun in Nikolai’s hand, she tried to
scream. His body slammed against hers. She thrashed in his
clutches
and jabbed him in the stomach with
her tiny fist. The next punch glanced off his chin and sent him
reeling toward the wall.

“
Damn it, Vivian, listen to
me! I’m not going to hurt you!” She continued to squirm like a bird
beating against its cage. To her surprise, he thrust the gun in her
hand.

“
You’ve seen what he’s
capable of now… This is why I didn’t want to show you the photos.
We’re dealing with something far worse than any petty
criminal.”

Vivian staggered away from him with a
sob for air. The adrenaline was still throbbing through her veins,
punching her heart around in a tumultuous fray. Nikolai suddenly
found himself staring down the barrel of that same gun, Vivian’s
teeth bared in a snarl. The instant shot of adrenaline told him to
dodge, but the cock of the hammer riveted him in his
steps.

“
Let me be clear, Nikolai.
I’m only going along for this sick ride to piece my life back
together. I don’t care about absurd riddles on the wall, this
psycho killer, or why he’s turning women into…
that thing!
I’m not your pawn to
dangle in front of him like some piece of bait. I’m doing this for
myself, not for you.”

The gun wavered back and forth in her
unsteady grip, leaving Nikolai only guessing the path of the
imminent bullet.

Vivian’s ears perked up at the sound
of a dozen cops just down the hall. With a flustered sigh, she
stowed the gun in her pocket.

“
Never scare me like that
again,” she growled. The detective acquiesced with a
nod.

“
Never again.” Vivian held
his gaze for a moment longer before marching toward the door. He
seized her arm again. “Please take this.”

“
What is it?”

He held out an envelope.

“
Open it when no one is
looking.” She immediately began to tear at the seal when Nikolai’s
hand closed around hers.

“
I need you, Vivian. This
investigation needs you. There’s no telling what we may find here
that can ultimately seal this case away. Don’t give up
now.”

“
Who said anything about
giving up?” she said, regaining some of her fire. Nikolai smiled
wryly.

“
That’s what I like to
hear. Remember, don’t open the envelope here.” Nikolai meekly
retraced his footsteps toward Krista’s resting place. “Return to
the manor and get some rest. You’ve done more than enough
today.”

Vivian regarded the padded envelope in
her hand. What could it possibly contain? Photos from another crime
scene? She tore it open, anxious to know what he had planned for
her. For the longest time, she could only stare at the contents.
Finally, she thrust her trembling hand inside. Crisp American
dollars ruffled between her fingers. There could be no sweeter
feeling than this, not even sex.

Two thousand American
dollars.

It was a meager sum compared to the
long term reward, but it felt like a million dollars to a young
woman forced out of college.

In that moment, Vivian contemplated
fleeing with the money and purchasing an airplane ticket. However,
she knew the authorities would stalk her to the brink of society.
Besides, what would she do? Resurrect her debauched career in the
streets of Karlovy Vary? Once she was in Nikolai’s spindly
clutches, he would never let her go.

She could only force
herself to endure.
If I find the killer,
Nikolai will drop the charges against me and share the $50,000
reward. I can regain my life. I can shoot for the nursing program
again and study even harder. I’ll volunteer at hospitals for
experience. My parents… will accept me again.

The twinkling fingers of sun beckoned
her through the main entrance with the promise of new beginnings, a
brighter tomorrow, a painless paradise whispering to her just
beyond the warped horizon.

Eyes gleaming with hope and misgiving,
she stepped outside Grigorshire Palace into the rain-washed
streets.

* * *

The medical examiner’s forceps dropped
another hook into the metal tray. Mangled steel basked in a pool of
blood like metal glaciers in a crimson sea. The thought of those
hooks embedded in living flesh made Nikolai squirm.

Jezebel presided over the autopsy as
she had so many times, a medical examiner who never ceased to
intrigue Nikolai. With the nonchalance becoming of a politician
picking at the bones of society, she retrieved sixty hooks from
Krista’s corpse.

“
I’m not sure what we’re
dealing with now,” Nikolai admitted. “I’ve overseen hundreds of
homicides but this is surreal.” Jezebel peered above her glasses,
perking up at the sound of fear.

“
The victim suffered
extensive damage to her tongue, eyelids, phalanges, and labia
majora,” she said. “The savagery of the kill has escalated since
the last incident. It doesn’t seem to fit his pattern.”

“
What makes you think this
killer is predictable?”

“
Most serial killers adhere
to a repeated formula of behavior. They feel a sense of comfort
knowing precisely how the situation will unfold, maintaining that
omnipresent control, knowing their chances of success.”

Success.
Nikolai had never heard success defined so
repugnantly. Mutilating innocent women.

“
Not to cast doubt on your
infallible instincts, but are you certain you’re dealing with the
same perpetrator?”

“
His signature was scrawled
across the crime scene.
Literally.
A psychiatric diagnosis and the words ‘you cannot
hurt me anymore.’ Except this time he smeared the words in blood
instead of carving them into the wall.”

The sclerae in Krista’s eyes were
grotesquely red from internal hemorrhaging. Nikolai could almost
imagine the scarlet tears sliding down her cheeks just before death
bestowed its mercy. Jezebel silently mulled the scenario over in
her head, tapping her forceps on the surgical table as an
afterthought.

“
I will admit, the previous
homicides were low key compared to this. I’ve never seen anyone go
to such lengths to torture and kill someone. This was executed like
a freak experiment, utilizing elements of suspension. He
essentially turned her into a marionette.”

“
What is
suspension?”

“
Suspension is a form of
body modification. Multiple hooks are inserted in the skin to
evenly support a person’s weight. Then the ‘suspendee’ is rigged to
the ceiling or an apparatus with wires or a pulley. It requires a
shrewd understanding of mathematics and anatomy. Some people engage
in suspension to reach a higher state of spiritual
being.”

“
They
meditate?
” Nikolai asked
incredulously.

“
Yes. Some even perform
acrobatics while suspended. Others describe it as a stress outlet
or a high.”

“
That’s sickening… Wouldn’t
the skin stretch? How did this thing get started?” Jezebel stripped
off her gloves like a second pair of skin, emphasizing the image
worming into Nikolai’s mind. The elastic material snapped
taut.

“
Suspension originated in
the Native American Mandan tribe. They used suspension to signify
the rite of male passage into adulthood. Large wooden splints would
pierce the chest, shoulders and dorsal muscles before the boy is
winched by ropes to the ceiling of a hut. Sometimes the skulls of
the deceased ancestors were placed on the splints. Once the boy
passes out from the pain, he is lowered down to have his left pinky
amputated as a sacrifice to the gods.”

“
Then he is recognized as a
man?”

“
Not quite. The boy would
run around a ring where the villagers have gathered. They would
reach out and seize the wooden splints still embedded in his body
and tear them free.”

Nikolai could only blink away his
shock.

“
Lovely.” He blew out a
sigh and focused once more on the woman sprawled on the necropsy
table. “So the killer anchored her in place… by her
skin?”

“
Yes. The skin is
surprisingly resilient. What strikes me about this suspension are
the unusual locations of the butcher hooks. The killer inserted
hooks in her eyelids, strung with microfilament wire to more hooks
in the coccyx. There are also hooks in her lips strung with wire to
hooks in her genitals. It seems he intended for her to wake
up.”

“
And tear herself to
pieces.”

“
Precisely. This killer has
been meticulous and calculating in every aspect; sedating her,
inserting the hooks, threading the microfilament wire. It must have
taken hours.”

“
Great, he has a sewing
habit,” Nikolai said, glancing down at Krista. Her arm revealed a
small lump where a needle likely pierced her. Jezebel brandished a
syringe of her own and began to milk blood from one of the femoral
veins into a plastic container.

“
Have the toxicology
reports been finalized for the last victim?”

“
Yes, and given the
injection site on Krista, we can only assume the killer subjected
her to the same drug. The chemical doesn’t compare to any substance
I’ve analyzed before. Based on the chemical properties, I’ve ruled
it out as anything currently on the market. Mass spectrometry
didn’t even lead us anywhere close to a solution. It shares more
qualities characteristic of a psychoactive drug, particularly
salvia divinorum.”

“
Do enlighten
me.”

Jezebel slapped a label on the
container filled with blood from the heart’s right atrium. It
swirled in a tantalizing solution of sodium fluoride.

“
It releases chemicals that
cross the blood-brain barrier and target the central nervous
system. Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner’s Sage,
was thought to be the plant reincarnation of the
Virgin Mary among the Mazatec shamans in Mexico. The shamans would
ingest salvia leaves to produce visions during spiritual healing.
Realistically, salvia could be extracted into a liquid and
injected.”

Nikolai didn’t voice the thoughts
cycling through his head. He once dealt with a repeat offender who
lingered at cyber clubs, slipping designer drugs into unsuspecting
women’s drinks before spiriting them away. The case ended with five
victims and a copious stash of ecstasy and GHB.

“
Deep in thought?” Jezebel
quipped.

“
This is the same killer,
but like you said, he’s escalating. It sounds like he’s becoming
more volatile. The time elapsed between killings is rapidly
diminishing.”

“
At this rate, you’ll find
another body in a week.”

Suddenly, the room was doused in
darkness and a flash like a gunshot scattered Nikolai’s vision.
Grotesque images burned into his retinas. The eerie films were
emblazoned against the black void like lightning. Nikolai gawked at
the extent of damage inflicted to the skull and pelvis. An icy
corona of cyan light suspended above the autopsy room.

“
Jesus,” he breathed. “A
little warning would have been appreciated.”

“
Of course,” Jezebel smiled
above her lenses as they reflected the cruel damage applied to the
skull. She clipped another film to the light box, illuminating the
final tragic moments of Krista’s life. Nikolai devoured the images
in a detached manner. The first several years of his career had
been medicated with vodka to erase the horrors witnessed in this
autopsy room.

Now he could stand before Jezebel with
an unflinching demeanor as she unlocked rib cages with pruning
shears. At least he thought he could. This killer was beginning to
test that wall of indifference he had worked so diligently to
construct.

“
As you can see, our victim
suffered extensive head injuries prior to death,” Jezebel said,
indicating the area. Fracture lines spider webbed along the
lambdoidal suture at the base of the skull, suggesting all manner
of gruesome scenarios for Nikolai’s imagination. He could envision
the crushing blow that rained down on her head, rending axons and
tearing white matter.