“When he was already down?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus. Go on.”
“There are defensive wounds on the backs of his hands, and some of the knuckles have been shattered, as if he held them over his face to protect himself.”
“Is the arrangement of the body natural?”
“Seems that way to me,” said Burns. “You’re thinking of the cross shape, did someone arrange it that way?”
“Yes.”
“I doubt it. I think when he gave up the ghost he just let his arms fall naturally the way they did. A posed body would appear far more symmetrical. This doesn’t. See how crooked the right arm is? It’s broken, by the way.”
“Weapon?”
Burns jerked his head back toward the room. “The SOCOs have it.
A cricket bat.” He gave a harsh laugh. “And from what I could tell, a cricket bat signed by the entire England team that won back the Ashes in 2005. Read what you will into that.”
Annie didn’t want to read anything into it yet. Perhaps the cricket bat had just been lying around, the handiest weapon available? Or perhaps the killer had brought it with him? An angry Australian fan?
Premeditated. That would be determined later. “What about the other wounds . . . you know . . . ,” Annie said. “Between his legs?”
“On a cursory examination I’d say they were also done with the cricket bat, and that the blood you see there was transferred from the head wounds.”
A L L T H E C O L O R S O F D A R K N E S S
3 5
“So that happened
“Well, he may have still been clinging on to some vestiges of life, but it was done
“Sex crime?”
“That’s for you to decide. I’d certainly say that the evidence points that way. Otherwise, why attack the genitals after the head?”
“A hate crime, perhaps? Antigay?”
“Again, it’s possible,” said Burns. “Or it could simply be a jealous lover. Such things aren’t unknown, and the element of overkill points in that direction, too. Whatever it is, you’re certainly dealing with some high-octane emotions here. I’ve never seen such rage.”
You can say that again, thought Annie. “Was there any sexual in-terference?”
“As far as I can tell, there was no anal or oral penetration, and there are no obvious signs of semen on or around the body. As you can see, though, it’s rather a mess in there, very hard to be certain of such things, so again I’d suggest you wait for the full SOCO report and Dr.
Glendenning’s postmortem before forming any conclusions.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” said Annie. “I will.”
And with that, Dr. Burns marched off down the stairs.
Annie was just about to follow him when Stefan Nowak came over, a small leather-bound book in his gloved hand. “Thought you might find this useful,” he said. “It was on the desk.”
Annie took the book from him and looked inside. It was an address book. There didn’t seem to be many entries, but there were two that interested her in particular: Mark Hardcastle on Branwell Court, and one written simply as “Mother,” with a phone number and address in Longborough, Gloucestershire. “Thanks, Stefan,” said Annie. “I’ll inform the locals and make sure someone goes out there to break the news.” Annie also remembered Maria Wolsey saying something about Silbert’s mother being wealthy, which was something to follow up on, in addition to his bank accounts. Money was always a good motive for murder.
Annie bagged the book and watched the SOCOs at work for a few minutes, then she went in the same direction Dr. Burns and Doug 3 6 P E T E R
R O B I N S O N
Wilson had gone. She needed some fresh air, and they wouldn’t be finished up here for a while. In the back garden, she found Wilson sipping water and talking to Detective Superintendent Gervaise, who had just arrived. To Annie’s surprise, Chief Constable Reginald Murray was also there.
“Ma’am, sir,” said Annie.
“DI Cabbot,” said Gervaise. “The chief constable is here because he was a friend of the victim’s.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say ‘friend,’ ” said Murray, fingering his collar.
“But I knew Laurence from the golf club. We played a few holes now and then, met at some club functions. A murder on the Heights. This is a terrible business, DI Cabbot, terrible. It needs to be settled as soon as possible. I assume DCI Banks has been informed?”
“He’s on his way, sir,” said Annie.
“Good,” said Murray. “Good. I know ACC McLaughlin thinks highly of him. The quicker we get to the bottom of
