FOUR
The dining room had changed in the last hour. Darlene Lewis’s body remained entombed in the smoke beneath the plastic, but an exhaust fan had been placed in the window and the fumes from the hot glue were much easier to handle now. Six fluorescent fixtures mounted on light stands stood off to the side, plugged into the wall and ready to go.
Detective Vega traded looks with the district attorney. After a moment, Vega nodded at the man wearing the gas mask, who then removed the lamp from beneath the plastic and set it down on the floor careful not to spill any glue that might have remained in the dish attached to the light bulb. The girl’s form underneath the plastic went dark, and Teddy tried to get a grip on what he was about to see. Then the man with the gas mask began releasing the spring clamps that sealed the plastic to the wood of the dining room table. Everyone took a step closer, whether they were conscious of it or not. The fan whirled in the background. The haunting sound of the man’s labored breathing through his gas mask was almost too much to take. Teddy glanced at Vega, the detective’s chiseled face beneath his short dark hair filled with hope and expectation. Then at the district attorney, all wound up like a spring.
The man in the gas mask gathered the plastic and pulled it away.
Teddy felt his heart skip a beat. The noxious smoke rose from the corpse like the plume from a mushroom cloud, the shock wave smacking everyone in the gut. Darlene Lewis was lying on the table completely naked, her arms and legs tied down with rags, her mouth gagged. Her eyes were open and bulging beyond their sockets, and her neck appeared bruised. From the hideous expression on the girl’s face, it looked as if she died screaming. But it was worse than that. Skin had been removed from her body, and when Teddy noticed, he shuddered in terror. A large patch of skin on her lower right calf, another just above her shaved vagina, and even more from the underside of her breasts. A thick, clear liquid was oozing from the breast wounds and collecting on the table. Teddy tried to look away, but couldn’t.
“Bring in the lights,” Vega whispered.
Teddy took a step back with the others as the crime scene techs grabbed their lights and positioned them around the table.
“Close the curtains,” the detective said. “And turn off the house lights.”
The room went black. Teddy wasn’t sure he could deal with the darkness, then felt Powell take his hand, give it a gentle squeeze and let go as the fluorescent lights were switched on. They were black lights, casting the body in a deep blue, dream-like glow. The girl’s skin darkened and white-hot marks appeared all over its surface.
Fingerprints. Bite marks. Impressions left from the killer’s lips.
Vega moved closer, his eyes dancing over the dead body in amazement.
The super glue had somehow mixed with the moisture left behind from the murderer’s skin. What he’d done to the girl blossomed to the surface like flowers smoldering in the void. For Teddy, it was a leap into the darkness, almost as if he were watching the murderer at work before his eyes. The crime was in motion, yet he couldn’t stop it as he watched it unfold. The madman’s hands pawing at the girl’s legs, then moving up her body. Kissing her open thighs, feeling her arms and then grabbing at her chest until he finally reached her neck. It was almost as if his hands and mouth had been dipped in bright white paint, leaving a record of what they’d done. Now Teddy understood why Vega hadn’t wanted the body disturbed-why the detective had taken the chance and tented the body before it was handled or moved. Teddy couldn’t help but admire him. Even at a glance, the brilliance in the man’s dark eyes shined through.
“Bring in the cameras,” Vega said. “Video first, then stills. We’ll do prints and take samples later.”
The man Teddy had seen loading his camera with a fresh tape brushed by him and approached the table. After he recorded the body in wide shots, he moved in for a series of closer views. Vega stood by his side, pointing out where the killer had squeezed the girl’s breasts, pressed his lips into them, and then removed the skin with a knife that must have been as sharp as a razor blade or scalpel.
Teddy felt his stomach turn and thought he might vomit. He’d seen enough and slipped past Powell through the entryway. Not sure that he could drive just yet, he found a seat in the living room and sat down in the darkness. He wondered what kind of person could do this. We all share the same world and even breathe the same air, he thought, but what could be going through this person’s twisted mind? What brand of madness brought him to think it and desire it, let alone carry it through?
Someone entered the living room. Teddy looked up and saw the district attorney take a chair on the other side of the coffee table across from him. Andrews was a seasoned veteran. But Teddy could tell that what happened to Darlene Lewis was a mile or two beyond even the district attorney’s every day tour.
“You okay, Teddy Mack?”
Teddy nodded. The district attorney’s continual use of his full name irritated him, but not enough to say anything right now. He watched the man light a cigarette. Andrews must have sensed his need and offered him one. Teddy took it, leaning into the flame with a shaky hand as Andrews struck his lighter. Teddy didn’t smoke very often-one or two at parties-but the nicotine seemed to help quiet him down.
“What was wrong with her breasts?” Teddy whispered. “That clear liquid oozing out.”
“Implants,” Andrews said.
Teddy took another drag on the cigarette, drawing the smoke in and wondering why an eighteen-year-old girl who looked as good as Darlene Lewis thought she needed breast implants. He thought about what Carolyn Powell had said in the girl’s bedroom-Darlene Lewis in the modern world.
“We’re glad you’re here,” Andrews said after a moment. “You can go back to Barnett and tell him what you’ve seen. Holmes will face his preliminary arraignment tonight. After that, he’ll be transferred to one of the city’s prisons. When I know which one, I’ll let you know.”
Teddy looked for an ashtray, but couldn’t find one. Andrews slid his across the table.
“The reason I mention it,” Andrews said, “is that I’d like you to be there when Holmes checks in. I want to make sure everything’s done just right. I’m offering you a chance to observe the process so you’re as sure as I am. If he’s got a black eye, it’s because he walked into a door on his own. If he should die tonight with a bump on the head, it’s because he slipped on the floor and fell down. If you’d like to meet with your client after he’s checked in, that’s okay, too. I’ll make the arrangements no matter what the hour.”
Teddy nodded, crushing the cigarette out and ready to hit the road. He stood up. Andrews followed, shaking his hand. As Teddy started for the front door, he remembered the dismantled plumbing and turned back to Andrews.
“What was with the sinks and toilets?” he asked. “What were you guys looking for?”
“Her skin,” Andrews said quietly. “We tore everything apart. We did the same thing at his place downtown. We couldn’t find it.”
“What do you think he did with it?”
Andrews repeated the question, then paused a moment, mulling it over as he stared back at him. “Don’t you get it, Teddy Mack? It’s the reason we let you in this afternoon. The reason you’re going to the prison tonight. Your client’s from the planet Neptune. He cut the girl’s skin away, and then he ate it.”
FIVE
Teddy drove back into the city with the windows open and the heat off. The digital temperature gauge on the dash pegged the night air at a crisp thirty-five degrees. It may have been cold, but Teddy couldn’t feel it.
He found a space in the garage at One Liberty Place, turned the ignition off, and sat for a while taking in the view of the concrete wall through his windshield. He listened to the silence, the stillness, the sound of his breathing. After a moment, he glanced at his watch. It was after seven and he thought he’d skip dinner tonight. He was numb, but he was also angry.
This was more than a favor for Barnett. More than shit duty.
He checked his cell phone and realized it was dead. Digging through his briefcase, he found a fresh battery and snapped it in. When he checked his messages, there were only two. The first was from Jill Sykes, his friend at
