Page 45 of Nothing Hiding

He'd been talking about ancient landmarks, explaining why the pharaohs had been placed within the pyramids. But was this killer doing the same, symbolically at least?

All three women had been carefully dressed. According to where they were placed. The ambassador's daughter in the fashion expo had worn a jeweled gown, which Juliette was sure had been stolen from one of the displays. Then Sophie Elder, on the bench in Hyde Park, had been dressed in sporting gear, tracksuit pants, a sports top, and trainers. And now, Tanya Jewell, at the bus stop, had worn tourist clothing. Jeans, sandals, a pretty top, a jacket, and even a mini backpack. He'd paid attention to every detail, not just the faces themselves, although each face had been very carefully prepared and covered in that wax layer and that signature eyeshadow.

Juliette shook her head as she walked, trying to focus on the task ahead of her. She needed to figure out why the killer was doing this.

Was he trying to make a statement about immortality? Was he trying to preserve these women in some way? Or was he simply enjoying the power he held over them, the ability to leave their bodies in plain sight and still not be caught?

As she passed a store window, something caught her eye. A display of mannequins, each one carefully posed in a different position. They were all faceless, featureless, and yet somehow still compelling. She stopped in front of the window, staring at the mannequins.

Could it be that simple? Was the killer trying to turn his victims into something like mannequins, preserving their beauty forever in wax and carefully posed positions? Was he trying to create a living museum of sorts? She shuddered at the thought.

Ahead of her was the police station, where the others had driven and were now hard at work inside. She'd thought that her walk would give her some ideas, but it hadn't. She felt as confused as ever about why he was doing this, and whether there was any logic or pattern in the placements of these bodies.

"Forever," she muttered. "That's what I keep coming back to."

She headed inside the police station, which was bustling with a sense of urgency about it. After a quick introduction at the front desk, the officer pointed her to a side room where the two Scotland Yard detectives were at work with Wyatt and Sierra.

Harris looked around when she walked in.

“Unfortunately, nobody nearby saw anything,” he said. “All busy with the Sunday morning shopping rush.” He shrugged.

"Anything else?" she asked.

Wyatt shook his head. "Not yet. But we've got a lead on the bus stop."

Harris pointed to a screen. "The CCTV footage shows a small, white van pulling up and parking there for a good fifteen minutes before driving off. The license plate is covered, but we're working on it. Unfortunately, the van's windows are tinted, and it parked in between the camera and the bus stop. It's not authorized to be there. He must have gotten in and out without catching the traffic police's attention."

Clever,Juliette thought. Using the van itself as camouflage. And one small, white van among many was ubiquitous. By their nature, small delivery vehicles were one of the most common cars that were found in central London. A quick trip in and out, and all they knew was that a white van, one of thousands, was involved.

"Any identifying features?"

"None that we can see. It's standard. Might even be a rental that's had the plates covered. We're seeing if any other cameras gave a clearer picture of the van or the license disk."

Sierra looked up. "I have some image enhancing software that I'm hoping might work, but the problem is we do need an image for it, and we haven't found one yet."

Juliette thought that was a great idea, but she wasn't holding out hope for it. This killer knew London well, that was clear. He would have planned his route carefully. So far, he'd planned with thoroughness and care. If they were going to get him, she wasn't putting her faith in logistics but rather in another way.

What could he possibly be using to decide on the placements? What was his starting point?

"Sierra," she asked, "when you're done with enhancing that footage, I want to work with you on something."

"What do you want to look at?" Sierra asked.

"I want to plot the places where the three bodies have been dumped so far. Maybe there's a pattern that we might see if we looked."

"A pattern?" Harris sounded incredulous at the concept, and she could tell he was a hard evidence man, who wanted to track the killer through his physical traces, rather than through his thought processes.

“Don’t you think we should focus on chasing down the evidence first?” he said with criticism audible in his tone.

“There are a lot of streets to look through and a lot of camera footage to be scanned. We should all be doing that,” Black added disapprovingly.

Juliette nodded. “I’ll help with that as soon as I’ve plotted these. It shouldn’t take long.”

But again, there was a dark cloud of disapproval and distrust now looming between the two teams. Feeling annoyed by it, Juliette was determined to stand her ground. She was working with them, not for them. And she was drawing on her own experience and intuition to guide her. Outthinking this killer could be as valuable as hard evidence.

“Your theory had better take this case forward,” Harris threatened. “Because if it doesn’t, then I think we’ll need to go our separate ways again.”

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

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