[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.‘We’ve got this man down with nevus flammeus.’Reynolds could not recall the term.‘Remind me.’‘Port-wine facial markings.They’re formed at birth.’‘Then you’ve got the wrong man, haven’t you?’‘No, I don’t think we have.I need to get a tissue sample.’ Kershaw took a closer look.Pellew had not been taking care of himself.His nails were split, the cuticles bitten and torn.A cracked front tooth, bad skin due to a poor diet, worn-out underclothes, worn-over trainers.And deep in his hairline, minuscule red specks.Kershaw withdrew tweezers and lifted the dots into a small plastic pouch, but he could already identify the substance by its odour: lipstick.Pellew had applied the so-called birthmark with artificial colouring.Why? Was it due to some mental aberration, a form of tribal disguise, part of the ritual of killing? Or could there be a stranger reason that added method to his madness?This case isn’t over, he thought.It looks like the real work is only just beginning.33* * *CONSPIRACYThey met on the bridge, always on Waterloo Bridge, because the light was sharper here, because the sky was high and wide, because for them it gave the greatest view of London.In all the years they had been meeting above the river, the northern horizon had never changed as quickly as it was changing now.Instead of the barges and blackened warehouses, the working cranes and silhouetted derricks, glass balconies protruded from blank pastel walls like boxes at the theatre.The Thames itself had been transformed from a pulsing aquatic artery to an empty scenic backdrop provided for the amusement of shore-dwellers, a cosmetic alteration that in Arthur Bryant’s opinion mainly benefited the rich in their penthouse flats.What else would be provided for them, he wondered, the kind of gaudy floating pageants that had been staged in the presence of le roi soleil? Fireworks and hot-air balloons? But of course the mayor, following in the great tradition of London mayors, was already providing them with such distractions.To be the Lord Mayor of London was to accept the city’s poisoned chalice, and always be hated by at least half the capital’s residents.In his younger days, Bryant had passionately supported marches, rallies and protests through the capital, even though as a public servant he was required to be non-partisan.His partner had managed to avoid taking sides, simply because he felt that the science of investigation should be considered away from distracting influences, and he regarded himself as an impartial technician.However, this stance had lately been eroded by the continued efforts of the Home Office, whose attempts to close the unit had become tiresome and predictable, just another obstacle to factor into any protracted investigation.Bryant leaned against the balustrade of Waterloo Bridge and looked across at the graceful glass span connecting St Paul’s to the Tate Modern.The new bridge had drawn attention away from mere stone river-crossings like Waterloo.‘I hate small-mindedness,’ he suddenly announced after several minutes of contemplative silence.‘The notices everywhere warning us not to trip over or turn left or take our dogs off leads.That annoying recorded voice in the post office telling you which counter is free.I bought some peas in the supermarket last week and do you know what it said on the packet? “Does not contain nuts.” I hate the endless admonishments of a nanny state that lives in fear of its lawyers.While colonies of dim-witted traffic wardens swarm about looking for minor parking infringements, nobody seems to notice that our very social fabric is falling apart.’‘What’s brought this on?’ asked May, puzzled.‘Have you got another court summons over your car?’‘Several, in fact, but that’s not the point.’ Bryant poked his pipe between his lips and lit up.‘Once our children played on bombsites and collected unexploded shells.Now they’re driven to school by paranoid parents in armoured cars.The determination of dullards can always be counted upon to challenge the merits of innovators.’ He noisily sucked on his pipe until the bowl’s embers sparkled against the cloud-grey waters.‘To be popular in this city you have to be average.Our unorthodox approach to the attainment of excellence won’t allow us to survive.’‘No one else can handle something like this,’ said May.‘We’ll be here so long as there are such crimes.’‘I don’t think so.Have a chocolate banana.’ Bryant pulled the pocket fluff from a sweet and passed it over.He felt guilty having a smoke without giving May a sweet.‘I bet Raymond can’t wait to slam the lid on the Pellew investigation.He’ll be able to let Faraday know that there’s no more danger lurking in the capital’s public places.’‘Kershaw reckons he’s got a couple of skin flakes from two of the women, but I suppose it’ll take a while to see if there’s a DNA match with Pellew’s tissue samples.We don’t rank very highly in the queue for equipment use these days.You’re not in any doubt about him, are you?’‘Me?’ asked Bryant.‘Didn’t you hear? Kershaw’s also got a complete thumb-print from one of the emptied plastic ampoules Pellew left in his room at the Clock House.A straight match.We just need to complete the link by making sure that the residue inside it has the same chemical composition as the drug we found in his victims’ bloodstreams.’ He tightened his collar against the early evening mist.‘No, it’s not his identity that bothers me now, there’s no question of that, it’s his motive I find troubling.I went over April’s background notes again.There’s a very peculiar disparity I find myself unable to account for.’‘Perhaps I can help.’Bryant raised his head to look May in the eye.‘What do we now know about Anthony Pellew? That he was a disturbed and lonely child, brought up in pubs by an alcoholic, unfaithful father and a mother who turned tricks when they were short of cash.As a kid I imagine he was probably left hanging about in the beery haze of the bar room while the girls flirted around his old man.Upon his father’s death, he and his mother settled into the Angerstein, and later, after she’d been kicked out for soliciting, they moved to the Clock House.Anthony hit adolescence only to find himself ignored and unable to talk to the opposite sex in any place other than the pub.’‘He also started drinking heavily.’‘So, after his mother was taken ill for the first time, he kidnapped a girl and kept her locked up in the basement of a boozer, staying with her, talking to her.Agreed so far?’‘I think so.’‘After his trial and incarceration Pellew supposedly underwent rehabilitation, and had frequent assessments.Somehow, we still don’t know how, he managed to secure an early release.But unbeknown to the doctors, his desire to re-create the small comforts of the past had twisted into something darker.He knew that if he kidnapped another girl, the authorities would come for him and take her away, so it seems he decided on a new method of fulfilling his dreams.He could keep these women with him for ever by fatally drugging them.They would simply fall asleep by his side in a place that made him happy.No sexual assault, no violence, just the everlasting companionship he craved, and found he could create by taking lives.’‘You think the women he picked reminded him of his mother?’‘I wondered about that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.‘We’ve got this man down with nevus flammeus.’Reynolds could not recall the term.‘Remind me.’‘Port-wine facial markings.They’re formed at birth.’‘Then you’ve got the wrong man, haven’t you?’‘No, I don’t think we have.I need to get a tissue sample.’ Kershaw took a closer look.Pellew had not been taking care of himself.His nails were split, the cuticles bitten and torn.A cracked front tooth, bad skin due to a poor diet, worn-out underclothes, worn-over trainers.And deep in his hairline, minuscule red specks.Kershaw withdrew tweezers and lifted the dots into a small plastic pouch, but he could already identify the substance by its odour: lipstick.Pellew had applied the so-called birthmark with artificial colouring.Why? Was it due to some mental aberration, a form of tribal disguise, part of the ritual of killing? Or could there be a stranger reason that added method to his madness?This case isn’t over, he thought.It looks like the real work is only just beginning.33* * *CONSPIRACYThey met on the bridge, always on Waterloo Bridge, because the light was sharper here, because the sky was high and wide, because for them it gave the greatest view of London.In all the years they had been meeting above the river, the northern horizon had never changed as quickly as it was changing now.Instead of the barges and blackened warehouses, the working cranes and silhouetted derricks, glass balconies protruded from blank pastel walls like boxes at the theatre.The Thames itself had been transformed from a pulsing aquatic artery to an empty scenic backdrop provided for the amusement of shore-dwellers, a cosmetic alteration that in Arthur Bryant’s opinion mainly benefited the rich in their penthouse flats.What else would be provided for them, he wondered, the kind of gaudy floating pageants that had been staged in the presence of le roi soleil? Fireworks and hot-air balloons? But of course the mayor, following in the great tradition of London mayors, was already providing them with such distractions.To be the Lord Mayor of London was to accept the city’s poisoned chalice, and always be hated by at least half the capital’s residents.In his younger days, Bryant had passionately supported marches, rallies and protests through the capital, even though as a public servant he was required to be non-partisan.His partner had managed to avoid taking sides, simply because he felt that the science of investigation should be considered away from distracting influences, and he regarded himself as an impartial technician.However, this stance had lately been eroded by the continued efforts of the Home Office, whose attempts to close the unit had become tiresome and predictable, just another obstacle to factor into any protracted investigation.Bryant leaned against the balustrade of Waterloo Bridge and looked across at the graceful glass span connecting St Paul’s to the Tate Modern.The new bridge had drawn attention away from mere stone river-crossings like Waterloo.‘I hate small-mindedness,’ he suddenly announced after several minutes of contemplative silence.‘The notices everywhere warning us not to trip over or turn left or take our dogs off leads.That annoying recorded voice in the post office telling you which counter is free.I bought some peas in the supermarket last week and do you know what it said on the packet? “Does not contain nuts.” I hate the endless admonishments of a nanny state that lives in fear of its lawyers.While colonies of dim-witted traffic wardens swarm about looking for minor parking infringements, nobody seems to notice that our very social fabric is falling apart.’‘What’s brought this on?’ asked May, puzzled.‘Have you got another court summons over your car?’‘Several, in fact, but that’s not the point.’ Bryant poked his pipe between his lips and lit up.‘Once our children played on bombsites and collected unexploded shells.Now they’re driven to school by paranoid parents in armoured cars.The determination of dullards can always be counted upon to challenge the merits of innovators.’ He noisily sucked on his pipe until the bowl’s embers sparkled against the cloud-grey waters.‘To be popular in this city you have to be average.Our unorthodox approach to the attainment of excellence won’t allow us to survive.’‘No one else can handle something like this,’ said May.‘We’ll be here so long as there are such crimes.’‘I don’t think so.Have a chocolate banana.’ Bryant pulled the pocket fluff from a sweet and passed it over.He felt guilty having a smoke without giving May a sweet.‘I bet Raymond can’t wait to slam the lid on the Pellew investigation.He’ll be able to let Faraday know that there’s no more danger lurking in the capital’s public places.’‘Kershaw reckons he’s got a couple of skin flakes from two of the women, but I suppose it’ll take a while to see if there’s a DNA match with Pellew’s tissue samples.We don’t rank very highly in the queue for equipment use these days.You’re not in any doubt about him, are you?’‘Me?’ asked Bryant.‘Didn’t you hear? Kershaw’s also got a complete thumb-print from one of the emptied plastic ampoules Pellew left in his room at the Clock House.A straight match.We just need to complete the link by making sure that the residue inside it has the same chemical composition as the drug we found in his victims’ bloodstreams.’ He tightened his collar against the early evening mist.‘No, it’s not his identity that bothers me now, there’s no question of that, it’s his motive I find troubling.I went over April’s background notes again.There’s a very peculiar disparity I find myself unable to account for.’‘Perhaps I can help.’Bryant raised his head to look May in the eye.‘What do we now know about Anthony Pellew? That he was a disturbed and lonely child, brought up in pubs by an alcoholic, unfaithful father and a mother who turned tricks when they were short of cash.As a kid I imagine he was probably left hanging about in the beery haze of the bar room while the girls flirted around his old man.Upon his father’s death, he and his mother settled into the Angerstein, and later, after she’d been kicked out for soliciting, they moved to the Clock House.Anthony hit adolescence only to find himself ignored and unable to talk to the opposite sex in any place other than the pub.’‘He also started drinking heavily.’‘So, after his mother was taken ill for the first time, he kidnapped a girl and kept her locked up in the basement of a boozer, staying with her, talking to her.Agreed so far?’‘I think so.’‘After his trial and incarceration Pellew supposedly underwent rehabilitation, and had frequent assessments.Somehow, we still don’t know how, he managed to secure an early release.But unbeknown to the doctors, his desire to re-create the small comforts of the past had twisted into something darker.He knew that if he kidnapped another girl, the authorities would come for him and take her away, so it seems he decided on a new method of fulfilling his dreams.He could keep these women with him for ever by fatally drugging them.They would simply fall asleep by his side in a place that made him happy.No sexual assault, no violence, just the everlasting companionship he craved, and found he could create by taking lives.’‘You think the women he picked reminded him of his mother?’‘I wondered about that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]