‘Deserves to die,’ Ava said. ‘That’s all there is to it, really. They’d better hope it’s not me who finds them first.’
‘I was going to say, is dangerous in the extreme, although I can’t disagree with your sentiment, DCI Turner. There was no anger, no lack of control, no force used. It was seven days between this girl going missing and turning up again. That’s a long time for her killer to be with her, to watch her plead and cry. Hard then to cut her and leave her to die.’
‘That’s what psychopaths do,’ Callanach said.
‘This is a psychopath with an especially strong stomach and an iron will.’ Jonty stripped off his gloves and turned to go. ‘Take your time.’
Callanach waited until the pathologist was gone before turning to Ava. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘I’ve never heard you express the desire to kill anyone before.’
Ava peeled the sheet back from Zoey’s face. ‘Look at her,’ she said. ‘On the precipice between childhood and adulthood. She lived through violence, but had the strength to get out and seek help, even when her own mother failed to protect her. We know she doesn’t have a criminal record, so in spite of her childhood she kept herself from spiralling downwards. Moving into the shelter should have been the start of a new chapter. She should have been safe. And the cruellest factor in it all was that Zoey was kept alive for a whole week, unhurt. She would have had hope. No matter how dismal it seemed, there would have been a part of her that thought she would go free. Having survived so much, surely it wasn’t possible that she could die tied up and terrified. That’s what she’d have been thinking.’
‘You can’t make it personal,’ Callanach said. ‘We have to take a step back and look at this dispassionately. The stepfather has to be the best bet.’
‘It’s a hell of a jump from domestic violence, however long-term, to this,’ Ava said.
‘Maybe Zoey had decided to prosecute. Maybe the stepfather hated that she’d left and couldn’t handle it. The chances are that this was perpetrated by someone known to her,’ Callanach said.
Ava pulled the sheet further down to reveal Zoey’s abdomen. The layer of flesh below the missing skin shone greyish-pink in the bright electric lights.
‘It’s unreal,’ Ava said. ‘How do you start to conceive a torture so inhumane? Perhaps she did know the person who did this to her, and perhaps she didn’t, but this was personal. Zoey was chosen. It can’t be random because there’s a purpose to it in her murderer’s mind. Some twisted relevance.’
‘Do you want me to get straight over to the stepfather’s place now?’ Callanach asked.
‘Go to the shelter first,’Ava said. ‘It sounds as if Sandra Tilly, who identified the body, knew a lot about what Zoey had been through. Get everything you can out of her to arm yourself with. When you interview the stepfather I don’t want him to have any wiggle room at all. Speak to the other shelter residents. I want to know if she was still scared, if she thought she was being followed, or aware of any threat. Most of all, I want to know what sort of things the stepfather did to her. Then go through Zoey’s personal items. Communications, diaries, an email address might help.’
‘All right,’ Luc said.
‘Visit her stepfather, Christopher Myers, after that. Separate him from Zoey’s mother during questioning, if you can. We’ve already got enough for a search of the house. I want it inspected from top to bottom, including any loft space and the garage,’ Ava said.
‘What about Zoey’s mother?’ Luc asked.
‘I don’t know what to expect from a woman who failed to protect her child against long-term violence. She ought to be grieving. Take it easy on her. I don’t want any complaints jeopardising the investigation, but make sure she knows we have independent evidence about the violence. Perhaps suggest we might charge her with child cruelty,’ Ava said.
‘Wouldn’t work without Zoey alive to make the case,’ Callanach said.
‘We know that, she doesn’t. Scare the crap out of her off the record if you get the chance. She failed her daughter while she was alive. Perhaps now that Zoey’s dead, her mother can finally be a half-decent parent and tell the truth.’
‘You’re telling me to break the rules?’ Callanach asked.
Ava smiled tenderly at Zoey before covering her once more with the sheet. ‘I’m asking you to do whatever it takes to find the bastard who did this. When you do, I intend to put them in a prison cell and keep them there until their last breath. Even then, justice won’t have been done.’
‘Brought you a coffee, ma’am. I gather you’ve just got back from the mortuary. Thought you might need a pick-me-up.’ DS Lively walked into Ava’s office and deposited a steaming mug on her desk, closely followed by an unopened packet of rich tea biscuits. Ava inspected the gifts then studied Lively’s face.
‘For fuck’s sake, Lively, tell me you haven’t killed someone in police custody,’ she said.
Lively managed to look offended for a few seconds before smiling. ‘The job’s making you cynical. Can’t a lowly sergeant bring his chief inspector a hot drink without you assuming the worst?’
‘We’ve worked together how long now?’ Ava asked.
‘I believe it’s in the region of a decade, ma’am,’ Lively said, sitting down.
‘And in that time, how many hot drinks have you made me?’ Ava continued.
‘You’re overthinking it, boss. What’s the news on the girl you found out on Torduff?’ he asked.
‘Grim,’ Ava said, ripping open the biscuits. ‘Are you expecting me to share these, only you appear to have made yourself comfortable for no apparent reason.’
‘No, they’re all yours. I’ve been hiding them at the back of a drawer to stop the other thieving gits from nicking them.’
‘That’s enough. Tell me what you’ve done and how much shit you’ve got MIT in,’ Ava demanded.
Lively reached over and plucked a biscuit from the packet. ‘It’s Detective Constable Salter. I’m worried about her,’ he said, before stuffing the biscuit into his mouth whole.
‘Has something happened, only I wasn’t notified that there was an issue,’ Ava said.
‘Without wanting to sound like a paternalistic asshole, it’s too soon. Christie shouldn’t be back on duty yet.’ He looked longingly at the coffee. Ava moved it beyond his reach before he began dunking.
‘You got injured quite badly too, on a recent case. I seem to recall you being advised to get surgery on your left shoulder, not that you took any notice. When I questioned your decision to come back to work, you said you knew your own body better than anyone else.’
‘This is different and you know it. You can’t compare losing a baby to getting your arm into a fight with a crowbar,’ Lively muttered.
‘The doctor declared Salter fit for duty,’ Ava said. ‘I’ve spoken to her. She believes she’s ready and I trust her judgment. What is it you know that no one else does?’
Lively brushed crumbs from his lap onto the floor, frowning.
‘Come on, Sergeant, you came in here to say something to me. Get it over with.’
‘Christie Salter nearly died in my arms, ma’am, on a kitchen floor after some sick fuck had taken her hostage and a dotty old woman misjudged her target and stabbed her. If the paramedics hadn’t been on the scene, we’d have lost her. She was in surgery for hours. Her baby