The Art of Murder

Chapter 24

Brick Lane, Stepney, Saturday 'All right, Jack. Let's have an update.'

They were in the Super's office. Jill Hughes sat at one end of the leather sofa, Pendragon at the other. Hughes was nursing a cup of tea. The door was closed, keeping out the noise from the station. The clock on the desk told them it had just passed midday.

'Well, so far we've got a miscellaneous collection of facts. All useful, but none of it seems to fit together.'

'Explain.'

'First, we have the forensics and path reports. Turner and I had a thorough debriefing from Jones and Newman over at Lambeth this morning. Appears that both victims died from a massive heroin overdose. No,' Pendragon added quickly, seeing the Super's expression, 'I don't think either of them was an addict. The heroin was injected straight into their brains. That's what killed them. They also found Thursk's DNA in Berrick's remains.'

Hughes looked suitably surprised. 'So they were obviously well acquainted,' she said dryly. 'And Berrick's business partner, Mr Price, reckons that Berrick and Norman Hedridge were a couple at one time?'

'Yes.'

'So you're leaning towards this being a sexually motivated murder? A jealous ex-partner, perhaps?'

'No, I'm not. I don't think there's anything in that idea at all.'

'Why not?'

'The murders are all too elaborate, ma'am. Too staged. I think the killer is clearly warped, but my gut tells me this has nothing to do with sex.'

'The Surrealist link?'

'Yes.'

'Couldn't it be some sort of in-joke? A very black joke? Maybe the motive has something to do with the sexual relationships between these men, but they were each involved in the art world, remember.'

'Well, it's possible, but I'm a great believer in Occam's razor.'

'That the truest answer is always the one based on the fewest assumptions?'

Pendragon nodded.

'Okay. What else do we have? What other assumptions can we make?'

'Newman and Jones found some fibres of tarpaulin and some flecks of paint in two colurs, green and white. We're thinking a van or other motor vehicle for the white sample but the green…'

'The cherry-picker. I was shown the CCTV footage earlier. And the tarpaulin would have been used to wrap the flattened remains of Thursk. That's the cylindrical object you can see in the cage of the picker.'

'I think that's correct,' Pendragon said. 'The killer must have bumped off Thursk with the heroin jab, mutilated the body, then used the cherry-picker under cover of dark to get the remains to the tree and into position. One person could do it.'

'Dr Newman's hunch that the murders were carried out some distance from the place the bodies were found looks spot on. With Berrick's murder they used a wheelchair to transport the body through the gallery, and with Thursk they drove the cherry-picker. I don't suppose you've found any CCTV footage of a vehicle close to the gallery on Wednesday morning?'

'Afraid not. There're no cameras close by. Whoever committed the murders must have transported Berrick's body to the gallery in the early hours, but I don't think it would help much if we could get some footage. The person responsible for these crimes wouldn't let anything slip. The number plate would be obscured. They would be disguised.'

'So what about this Francis Arcade character?'

'Yes, him. I'm pretty convinced he knows a great deal about what's going on, but he shows no interest in sharing anything with us.'

'Could he be our killer?'

'I don't think so, ma'am, though he certainly hated the two victims. He's never disguised that fact. You've seen the podcast?'

'Yes. Pretty incriminating if you ask me.'

'He has an alibi.'

'And it checks out?'

'Unfortunately, yes.'

'In that case we'll have to let him go.'

'I know. I'll leave it to the last second, though. There is one other thing. I had a chat with Sammy Samson.'

'That old wreck? I don't understand why you bother with him.'

'Actually, he's been pretty useful before now,' Pendragon said defensively.

'Okay, Jack. I'll take your word for it. What golden nugget has he given you this time?'

Pendragon gave the Super a wan smile. 'He tells me our Mr Kingsley Berrick was involved with the local gangs.'

'And you believe him?'

Pendragon paused for a moment and took a deep breath. 'I think it's worth following up.'

Hughes looked intently at him and decided to concede the point. 'Yes, you're right, Jack. We can't leave any stone…' She was interrupted by a rap on the door. It was Turner. He looked excited.

'Sorry to interrupt, ma'am,' he said, looking directly at the Super. 'Just had a call. We've got another one.'