Killing Ways

31

Ren was in Safe Streets by seven thirty, applying makeup in the alarming light of the locker room.

Minimal improvement.

At seven forty-five, child forensic interviewer Sylvie Ross appeared in the doorway of the bullpen, bright-eyed and eager, a clipboard pressed to her chest. She was dressed in a razor-sharp gray pencil skirt, and a white sleeveless blouse. Her shiny brown hair was twisted and piled up at the back of her head. She was wearing thick-rimmed glasses and red lipstick.

Well, you are not sartorially aiming at children today, that’s for sure.

‘You all remember Sylvie,’ said Gary.

Sylvie, who is currently dressed to stand over a naked man for cash, call him names, and bury her stiletto into his—

‘Ren,’ said Sylvie, walking over, shaking her hand. ‘Lovely to see you again.’

God, I hate sleeveless blouses. ‘You too,’ said Ren.

‘Right,’ said Gary, before he left them, abruptly, to go back to his office.

Nice, Gary. Smooth.

‘How have you been?’ said Sylvie. Her smile was warm. ‘You look great.’

‘I look like a piece of shit.’

Sylvie’s eyes widened.

Alcohol is evil. ‘I had a bad night’s sleep.’

‘Well, it’s not showing.’

‘How did the interview with Tyler Raine go?’ said Ren. ‘The whole thing is beyond horrific.’

Sylvie wandered over to the noticeboards, flashing a whole lot of her muscular, marathon-running legs with a slit in her skirt that went halfway up her thigh.

You wear it well, Sylvie Ross. And I’m not sure if that’s a compliment.

Everett caught Ren looking and smiled at her. Ren smiled back. He shook his head and mouthed ‘Bad girl’. Ren mouthed back, and pointed. ‘Me or her?’

Sylvie turned around. ‘This guy is some piece of work.’

‘Oh, he is,’ said Ren.

Sylvie walked around the room, jotting notes with a stylish pencil — sharp, black with gold lettering.

‘How was the little boy?’ said Ren.

‘That kind of trauma has profound effects on a brain that age,’ said Sylvie. ‘It was some tough work. The father... that was possibly one of the most difficult moments of my career. He had to sit in with Tyler, and to see the man trying to hold it together was...’ She shook her head. ‘I spoke with him alone first — the little guy was with his grandmother. I have never seen a man so utterly devastated in my life.’ She walked over to Ren’s desk, holding her clipboard to her chest.

Ren read the gold lettering on the pencil.

Take your mind away from the horror. Hay-Adams Hotel, Washington D.C. Swish.

‘Will he be able to block out that memory?’ said Ren. ‘Or is it with him for life?’

‘Well, blocking out is not the healthy way to deal with anything, really,’ said Sylvie.

Ren sat back in her chair. ‘Now, that’s where I’ve been going wrong all these years.’ She turned to Everett. ‘Who are you, again?’

They laughed. Sylvie tried to.

‘So,’ said Ren, ‘are you ready to do your thing?’

‘Yes,’ said Sylvie. ‘Thanks, Ren.’

There is something different in your attitude toward me, Miss Ross. What could it possibly be?

The conference room slowly filled with the task force. When everyone had gathered, Ren introduced Sylvie, and dissolved into the crowd.

‘OK,’ said Sylvie. ‘Here’s what I’ve put together based on my interviews with Carly Raine’s three-year-old son. So I’m talking you through this from how I see it going down, not in his words. If you want to read how I came to these conclusions based on a combination of the evidence and what Tyler Raine told me, please read the report.’ She laid a manicured hand on top of the document.

‘OK,’ she said, ‘Carly Raine was in the back garden hanging washing on the line. The UNSUB came into the house, unbeknownst to her. The back of the house contains the kitchen — which has a window and door onto the garden — and the living/dining area — which has a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling glass window. The kitchen can be closed off from the living/dining area by a partition, which the UNSUB closed when he arrived, leaving Tyler in the living/dining room, looking out the window. Then, Carly Raine was naked, the UNSUB was with her, and then they were both gone.

‘I think what happened after the attack was that the UNSUB came back into the house alone, took Tyler and locked him in the downstairs bathroom under the stairs. He then carried Carly Raine from where he left her in that wooded area, through her back yard and into the dining area where we found her.’

Ren felt empty inside, listening to this.

Sylvie continued. ‘The Raines’ bathroom door is one of those that locks on one side, but has a safety lock on the other that you can open with a coin or anything that fits in the slot. The father had mounted it the opposite way, so that the kids couldn’t lock the bathroom while they were in there, but that adults could if they were using the bathroom. The father said the little guy had seen him unlock it before, so he must have known where the coin was and how to use it.

The terror he must have felt, the desperation.

‘As you’ve seen from the crime scene,’ said Sylvie, ‘when he got himself out of the bathroom, Tyler found his mother in a devastating state, and made every attempt to awaken her. It looks like he may have been alone with her for several hours. He said that the baby was upstairs asleep in her crib. The little guy went to check she was OK, eventually, and it was only then that she woke up. Tyler was unable to give me any description of the UNSUB, just that he was taller than his mom. But his mom was only five four, so that doesn’t give us a lot.’

Afterwards, when Sylvie was gone, Ren and Janine were in the ladies’ room together.

‘So, how’s Ben?’ said Janine.

‘I don’t know — it’s really claustrophobic when he’s here,’ said Ren. ‘There is one bedroom. There is nowhere to go. When he is here, he is here.’

‘Just a question,’ said Janine, ‘but when he used to come to Annie’s, didn’t you spend most of your time in the same room together, regardless of how many rooms were in the house?’

‘Yes, but... it’s...’

‘Psychological maybe?’

‘Maybe...’ She paused. ‘But, it’s like I feel he’s just watching me the whole time.’

‘Looking at you adoringly, you mean.’

‘Hmm, I’m not sure.’

‘Really? Why?’ said Janine.

‘I don’t know — just a feeling.’ That I can’t shake.

They went back into the bullpen. Gary was standing in the center, his hands on his hips.

‘I think Sylvie’s going to talk to the kid again, see if she can get some more information from him,’ he said.

‘Hmm,’ said Ren. ‘It’s not likely, is it?’

‘Why?’ said Gary. Terse.

‘He was locked into a room, the attack happened mainly out of his line of vision — thank God — and he’s three years old — what else can he know?’ said Ren.

‘What you heard from Sylvie is what she’s been able to report for now—’

‘Give the poor family a break,’ said Ren. ‘Sylvie said that the husband is distraught, and really had to get his shit together not to fall apart during—’

‘I know that,’ said Gary. ‘But—’

‘Look, it’s not likely Tyler will have heard “Hey, Mrs Raine, my name is XYZ and I’m going to—”’

Gary glared at her. ‘Ren, can I see you in my office, please?’

Sweet. Jesus.