Headquarters and the Mayor’s Office, and the press were still sniffing around Blue Team.
Eddie came out and joined him. ‘Thanks for getting back. You heard?’
‘No, what is it?’
‘Another body, Harper.’
‘Is it Jewish?’
‘We don’t know yet.’ Eddie moved towards his car.
Harper took a look up to the sixth floor. ‘I ought to check in with Lafayette.’
‘No time,’ said Eddie. ‘Press will be at the crime scene before we know it.’
Harper followed Eddie to the car. They got in and Harper asked, ‘How did things go with the Nazi bullets and the typewriter?’
‘Very difficult to trace the Internet sales,’ said Eddie. ‘They’re often not identifiable, but we might get them through credit-card or PayPal details. There are relatively few agents dealing with this kind of memorabilia and we’re checking them all out. We’re starting by asking them about Martin Heming, seeing if he ever bought anything, but then we’re asking for their full records.’
‘What are the numbers like?’
‘In terms of clients, there are thousands,’ said Eddie. ‘The main problem is that the agents don’t want to get involved.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’s a closed world, isn’t it? They don’t want to be seen as Nazis or to be seen as outing their customer base.’
‘How did you get them to talk to you?’
‘I took your lead. I said I’d simply pass their names on to Erin Nash of the
‘Did it work?’
‘You bet. New York is a dangerous place to be if you’re seen to be against this investigation. This is a liberal city, Harper. They’d be hounded out.’
Harper stared out of the window. ‘Where are we heading?’
‘Midtown. Woman killed, found in an alleyway.’
Eddie threw the car into gear and pulled off at speed. They drove up to the crime scene and found the squad cars sitting outside an alleyway.
‘Anyone tell you anything about this one?’ Harper asked.
‘Not a thing,’ said Eddie.
‘Another alleyway — maybe there is a connection.’ said Harper.
‘Seems likely, doesn’t it?’
They pulled themselves out of the car and moved towards the scene.
‘What you got?’ asked Harper at the tape.
‘Two months and I move to Suffolk County,’ said the First Officer.
‘Yeah, well I hope the pay makes up for the company. Tell me about the body.’
‘It’s a woman halfway up.’
Harper walked under the tape and down the long black tunnel of the alleyway. ‘Let’s get thinking, Eddie.’
The alleyway was wide, with two dumpsters at the far end. They arrived at the corpse. Two other detectives were already there, sketching and taking notes.
‘How you doing?’ asked Garcia.
‘Not great,’ said Harper. ‘You found anything?’
‘We just got here.’
Harper turned to the body. The victim was propped up against the wall of the building. There was a cloth over her face. Harper moved in close. He lifted the cloth and saw the star-shaped wound on her forehead. ‘Why did no one tell me? It’s a gunshot wound to the forehead. Did Lafayette know this?’
‘Dispatch didn’t know what it was. First Officer said it was a rape murder.’
Harper shook his head. ‘Rape murder, my ass — this is the 88 Killer. Look around for his symbol.’ He lifted the cloth again. ‘It’s another small entrance wound, very similar to the others.’
‘Yeah, we saw the hole in her head, Harper,’ said Garcia with a laugh.
‘It’s shaped like a little six-pointed star,’ said Harper. ‘This is the fourth homicide with a point-blank gunshot wound to the head or neck. The killer’s made an error. Or he’s done this purposely.’
‘Why would he do that?’
‘They get decadent, they want more attention, they want people to know how they operate. He tried to hide at first; now he figures that we know it’s him, he wants to entertain us.’ Harper turned to Eddie. ‘He shot her point blank, Eddie. Point blank. With the muzzle tight against bone.’
‘Okay, man.’
‘You know what happens?’
‘Not sure, I’ve never been shot through the head — but please, Harper, enlighten me.’
‘The gases can’t escape so they get out through the skin. It’s pretty unmistakable. The gun was closer than it was on Capske and Esther Haeber, though.’
Harper knelt by her side and tried to get a closer look at her face. He moved her hair back. ‘She’s in her late thirties. Looks… worn out.’
‘She a whore?’ said someone from behind.
Harper ignored the comment and looked at the body. ‘Both shoes are missing.’
‘We got them, Harper. One over by the restaurant trash and one just to her side.’
‘No pantyhose. You find that?’
‘Yeah. We think. Tan pantyhose over here.’
Harper looked again at the body. The upper body was clothed but the victim was naked from the waist down. The pants were thrown to one side.
‘You find any underwear? You find that?’
‘No. Nothing else.’
Harper was letting the scene piece together. Was it a rape and execution this time? A change in MO? Or just something staged to look like that?
He stood up and looked round. ‘I need light.’
Three sets of flashlights flicked to his feet.
‘We’re looking for one bullet, one cartridge.’
The team of four detectives started scouring the scene. ‘Crime Scene will get this, Harper, why we doing their job for them?’
‘Because, Garcia, it might link this case with the Capske case.’
‘As much as it pains me, I think you might have something,’ said Garcia.
Harper moved back to the corpse. He took out his gun and held it in front of him. He looked again at the head wound. ‘The angle’s all wrong. She wasn’t here when he shot her.’
‘Where?’
‘Maybe further up the alleyway.’
The other cops spread out. No cartridge. He looked across at the wall, tried to work out the angles. He started to move along the wall, taking in a three-foot-high band and looking closely. He saw a tiny glint of metal; moved up close. The bullet-hole was there, but the bullet had been taken already. ‘I got the slug-hole, gentlemen. Anyone got the slug?’
‘No one’s touched a thing,’ said Garcia.
‘Then the killer did it. He’s reading our reports and taking the piece of evidence that links these things. Still, there are fragments in here. We’ll know if it’s iron.’ Harper watched the CSU detective remove the tiny fragments in the bullet-hole and bag them.
Harper was closely examining the walls but there was no 88 to be found. He went back to the body. ‘Our killer’s changing. This is designed to shock. Naked from the waist down and up against the wall.’ He moved in close, peered beneath her smart black jacket: her white blouse was bloodstained, the buttons were undone. ‘I’ve found
