Deadly Obsession Read online

  ‘She must have been killed somewhere else. This could be a secondary crime scene,’ Lexie said to Brad.

  Brad turned to Kim.

  ‘You said no one has touched her?’

  Kim opened her mouth to speak but Lisa cut her off.

  ‘No. The women who found her thought she was drunk or asleep. They didn’t even think to check if she was breathing.’

  Lisa shook her head as though she couldn’t believe their stupidity.

  ‘It wasn’t until we got here that we realised it was a suspicious death.’

  ‘What time did the ladies locate the body?’ Brad asked, directing the question at Kim as he readied his notebook.

  Lisa intercepted again.

  ‘Around 6.15 am. We got here pretty fast. I called it in at 6.35 am. I’ve notified the forensic pathologist as well.’

  Oh shut up. Lexie’s hackles rose at the arrogance of this girl. The way she was talking it was as if she had done everything single-handedly.

  ‘So, Kim,’ Brad asked her, pointedly, ‘what’s been done prior to our arrival?’

  Lisa again tried to jump in before Kim could open her mouth. This time Brad politely put the girl in her place.

  ‘No offence, Lisa, I applaud your enthusiasm, but Kim is the senior officer here; she was in charge of this crime scene prior to our arrival. It’s in your best interests to let her do the talking while you observe and obey directions. There is a fine line between being keen and being downright insolent.’

  Lisa’s face dropped momentarily. She then turned on her heel and walked away.

  Lexie shot him a sneaky grin. Brad rolled his eyes.

  Waiting until Lisa was out of earshot, Brad murmured, ‘Sorry Kim. I don’t usually like to pull young cops’ noses in front of others, but she was being painful . . . and disrespectful to you.’

  ‘Don’t be sorry,’ Kim smiled. ‘I’m glad you said something. She’s a pain in the arse. Doesn’t listen to a word I say. Though, if I had a penis I’m sure it would be a different story.’

  Brad and Lexie exchanged a glance. After a moment, Brad spoke once more.

  ‘There doesn’t seem to be any sign of a struggle or sexual assault but this death is definitely suspicious. I’m wondering if it was a drug overdose. Maybe she overdosed somewhere else and whoever she was with panicked and just wanted to get rid of the body.’

  ‘Then why has the rose been placed on her body?’ Lexie queried.

  ‘Maybe someone thinks it’s romantic,’ Brad shrugged, tossing ideas around. ‘Perhaps it’s someone’s bodged attempt at making it look like a suicide.’

  Lexie shook her head.

  ‘This is no suicide.’

  It didn’t take a genius, or a big city detective to figure out this girl had not died by her own hand, or as a result of some sort of misadventure. This scene was not only suspicious but also disturbingly sinister. Lexie could almost feel a veil of violent energy surrounding her. It was as if an evil entity lingering unnoticed, unable or unwilling to leave the scene of the crime.

  Lexie turned suddenly, searching the trees and shrubs behind her. She had the feeling she was being watched. A chill whispered across her skin as if a ghost had brushed past her and she flinched. She felt her heartbeat accelerate and forced herself to take a deep breath.

  Keep it together.

  The wind whipped strands of blonde hair across Lexie’s face. Impatiently she tucked them behind her ears and tightened her coat against the chill invading her bones.

  ‘Okay, Lex, this one’s yours.’

  Lexie heard Brad’s voice but didn’t fully register his words.

  ‘No worries,’ she replied, plucking her notebook from the pocket of her coat. Glancing at her watch, she noted the time, 7.46 am, and started jotting down details: time, date, location, weather conditions, police present. It wasn’t until she noticed the silence, the lack of any further conversation, that Lexie gave Brad a questioning glance.

  Brad shrugged his large shoulders as Kim’s glance darted between them.

  ‘I’m waiting for you,’ he told Lexie, with a smirk. ‘This case is yours. You’re in charge, so go for it. Do your thing. Impress me.’

  It took a slow second for Lexie to regain her power of speech. She gave him a look that said, seriously?

  ‘You really want me to . . . ?’

  Brad nodded with a smile.

  ‘That’s how you learn, Lex, by taking the ball and running with it.’

  Lexie was stunned. Did Brad trust her enough to give her the responsibility of running this job, a possible murder investigation? She felt her heart flutter as a myriad of emotions shot through her simultaneously. She felt honoured, exhilarated and terrified all at once. She was still very junior, only having been an operational detective for six months now, and the prospect of running such a serious investigation was almost overwhelming. Was she up to it?

  Her mind flashed back to her shooting. A sudden surge of panic rushed around her body, constricting her throat and making it hard to breathe.

  Stop. This is no time for a panic attack. You’re past that.

  Forcing herself to take a long calming breath, she swallowed her fear and fixed a smile on her face.

  ‘No worries, Boss. I think I can handle this,’ she said, hoping she sounded decidedly more confident than she felt.

  Brad gave her the nod, like a big brother proud of his little sis.

  ‘I’ll be your wing man, run off you and let you call the shots, but I’ll pull you up if you head in the wrong direction. My name will go down as the officer in charge, but you are going to do the work. Okay?’

  Lexie’s grin widened.

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ she replied. Turning towards Kim, she asked, ‘Do we know who our deceased is?’

  Kim had clearly zoned out and was staring off into the distance. Lexie followed her gaze to the pale white sand of the deserted beach lying before them. Lexie knew Clovelly well. She’d jogged this path too many times to remember. In the warmer months she often snorkelled in the protected passage of water nestled between two cliff faces and fortified by concrete platforms that made this safe little inlet a popular swimming hole for children and adults alike.

  Sadly, today this usually calm and peaceful part of Sydney had been corrupted with the stench of brutality. Something dreadful had happened here; Lexie could feel it in the core of her being. And her gut, her intuition, was rarely wrong. She wondered if Kim was contemplating the same thing.

  Then Lexie noticed what had trapped Kim’s gaze. Lisa was flirting with one of the forensic officers, interrupting him in his work. Kim shook her head in disgust.

  ‘Kim . . . ?’

  ‘Sorry,’ she said, flinching, and looked back at Lexie. ‘What did you . . . oh no, I didn’t want to disturb anything, didn’t want to stuff up any evidence, you know, but I did pat down the deceased to see if she had a wallet or phone on her.’

  Kim shook her head.

  ‘Though no such luck. I got some uniform guys to search around the immediate vicinity to see if a handbag had been dumped anywhere, but they found nothing. I’m afraid she’ll have to be booked into the morgue as a Jane Doe,’ Kim told them. ‘I suppose that’s going to make your job all that much harder.’

  Brad grumbled, ‘Probably. It would certainly be a lot easier if we knew who she was. Then we’d have somewhere to start.’

  He glanced down at the girl.

  ‘I wonder if she’s a missing person. We might have to look at fingerprints and dental records for a positive ID.’

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Lexie expectantly.

  ‘So where do we start, Lex?’

  She was ready for the question.

  ‘The Boss said she was calling the whole office in on this. I say get someone, one of those uniformed guys over there, to check if we can use the surf club as a command post. It’s located right next to the crime scene, so it’s practical since forensics won’t be finished here for hours.
Homicide need to be contacted immediately. They’ll also want to assess the scene when they arrive. In the meantime we should instigate a canvass of this area and the houses close by to see if anybody saw or heard anything.’

  Lexie looked up and saw dark clouds closing ranks across the sky, threatening rain at any moment. Ironically, the weather seemed to fit her mood of late – unpredictable, suddenly gloomy and threatening downpours with fleeting moments of sunshine. She only hoped the rain would hold off long enough for them to finish their job. It was imperative to work swiftly, yet not miss any vital evidence. A washed out crime scene was just as useless as a contaminated one.

  ‘Should we organise some wet weather gear to protect the scene as much as possible?’

  Brad nodded. ‘Good idea.’

  ‘I’ll speak to the witnesses and then make some calls,’ he stated, moving out of earshot with his mobile phone already to his ear.

  Lexie noticed Kim wrap her jacket more firmly around herself and re-adjust her cap against the wind as the forensic pathologist suddenly appeared. He was a large man with a protruding belly and bad toupee that looked at risk of blowing away. He introduced himself formally, with a nod of his head, as Doctor Marchmen.

  Lexie automatically moved out of his way, giving the doctor space. She hadn’t encountered this man before but she’d never met a forensic pathologist who wasn’t eccentric or slightly unusual in some way. She watched from a distance as he fastidiously examined his silent witness with gloved hands, searching for clues.

  Placing the rose on the ground, Marchmen carefully lifted one stiff arm and pulled up the deceased’s sleeve, then, did the same to the other arm mumbling to himself about no track marks being visible.

  ‘Not a drug user,’ he said aloud. ‘And she hasn’t been dead for long. Rigor is starting to occur.’

  Lexie had learned since being a cop that rigor mortis – the stiffening of the muscles in the body – started in humans approximately three to four hours after death. Depending on the temperature and other conditions it could last up to seventy-two hours.

  If the victim was not a drug-user they could rule out her having been lured here by the promise of drugs, Lexie mused. She turned towards the doctor.

  ‘How many hours would you say she has been dead?’

  Marchmen adjusted the victim’s clothing and studied the skin. Without moving his head away from his examination, he replied, ‘I’d say four to five hours, possibly less in this environment.’

  Lexie knew that temperature also played a large role in the rate of decomposition of a body. This morning’s chilly conditions would have slowed the process considerably.

  Lexie jotted down everything he said in her notebook. If she was going to run the investigation, she was determined to get all the facts right and do the most thorough, professional job possible. It was crucial; her reputation would be riding on it. She would build the best brief of evidence ever. This was her chance to shine.

  ‘What have we got here?’ Marchmen mumbled to himself, as he pulled something from the pocket of the girl’s jacket.

  He held up an empty blister pack of pills and examined it closely, tut-tutting as he read the wording on the back.

  ‘OxyContin: hillbilly heroin. This drug is a real nuisance. This is a pack of ten and they are all empty.’

  Kim glanced at Lexie. She looked embarrassed.

  ‘Sorry; I didn’t feel the tablets when I patted her down,’ she said, quietly.

  Lexie automatically glanced over towards Brad. He was sitting on a wooden bench. The women who had discovered the body were sitting on either side of him while he took details. No doubt he had calmed them. He had the knack of dealing with people.

  ‘Do you think she overdosed?’ Kim asked Marchmen.

  ‘Time will tell, I suppose, but why keep an empty packet of prescription medication in your pocket?’ he replied. ‘Why not just throw it away? And why would she be clutching a rose?’

  Why indeed?

  ‘So we know nothing about this woman?’ Marchmen asked, still studying the girl.

  Kim shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘Unfortunately we don’t. I’m sorry,’ she said with a guilty grimace. ‘I wish I had more. I have no idea who this poor girl is.’

  Finding it hard to drag her eyes away from the dead girl, Lexie felt a shiver tap-dance along her spine. She became aware of a niggling thought gnawing at the back of her mind just beyond her awareness. It was a warning, an alarm that she was missing something. The all-too-familiar feeling stiffened her backbone. What was it?

  The forensic pathologist continued his examination of the body. As he turned the deceased’s head to the left, brown hair fell away from her face exposing the skin on the right side of her neck. He bent over the body, moving in for a closer look.

  Marchmen let out a surprised gasp.

  ‘There is a very recent injection site here. She has been jabbed in the neck with a needle.’

  Lexie crouched down as Marchmen pointed out the small red dot at the base of her neck.

  ‘I must say, that is a very strange place for a person to inject themselves,’ he pronounced. ‘Most unusual.’

  Lexie’s stomach jumped.

  ‘Could she have been given a hot-shot?’

  A lethal injection of a narcotic is an easy option if you want to kill someone, especially if they are already a drug addict. An increased amount of a user’s normal dose would do the trick. But this girl did not look like a drug addict.

  The forensic pathologist looked up and gave Lexie a long look before replying, ‘Could be.’ He then turned back to the task at hand.

  As Marchmen turned the girl’s head to the right, to inspect the other side of her neck, her hair fell away, revealing a tattoo of a bluebird. Lexie gasped as her brain at last kicked into gear. She knew now why she’d experienced the weird mental niggle earlier.

  Lexie had met this woman only a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it had not been a pleasant experience. Digging her hand into the pocket of her coat, Lexie pulled out her mobile phone. Her fingers were frozen and for a moment they paused over the buttons.

  Kim was watching her, her expression questioning.

  ‘I think I might know somebody who can help us identify this girl,’ Lexie said, already dreading having to make the call.

  This was good, she told herself. She had the heads-up on an identification of the deceased. Now all she had to do was swallow her pride and make the call . . .

  CHAPTER 3

  Lexie walked away from the crime scene and headed towards a cluster of tall trees on the southern side of Clovelly Beach. She hoped they would provide protection from the wild wind and also give her some privacy.

  Ignoring the smashing of her heart against her ribs, Lexie made the call. He picked up on the fourth ring.

  ‘Zack Rogers.’

  She took a deep breath.

  ‘Hi, Zack. It’s Lexie here.’

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

  ‘Oh . . . Hi, Lexie.’

  He sounded as shocked as she’d expected.

  ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m fine, Zack. Where are you at the moment?’ Lexie asked, keeping her tone official. She didn’t want him to think this was a social call.

  ‘I’m working, just between jobs. Is everything all right?’

  ‘Yes, but I need to speak to you. It is important.’

  ‘I’m at the loading bay at the Prince of Wales Hospital. I’m just about to do a patient transfer. What’s wrong?’

  From the sound of the wind howling down the line, it was as blowy at the hospital as it was where she was standing. But even with the weather conditions crackling interference down the phone line, Lexie couldn’t miss the unmistakable sound of Zack inhaling deeply on a cigarette.

  Was he for real?

  ‘You’re smoking?’

  Lexie didn’t bother to hide the disgust in her voice.

  ‘Are you crazy? You’re a pa
ramedic now. I can’t believe you’re still smoking.’

  She imagined Zack huddled behind the ambulance, flicking his dirty blond hair out of his eyes and puffing away on a gasper. When they had been together he’d always tried to hide his smoking from her. But she had repeatedly caught him out. Now he didn’t have to hide his habit.

  ‘Do you know the damage you are doing to your body?’

  Lexie caught herself before going any further with the lecture. One of Zack’s personality traits was to ignore things he didn’t want to acknowledge, such as the consequences of his smoking, drinking binges and penchant for fast, greasy food. But she had not called to reprimand him. Besides, it was none of her concern what he did anymore.

  ‘I don’t think you called just to have a dig at me about smoking,’ he said, sarcastically.

  Lexie had almost forgotten what a bastard he could be sometimes. She was grateful for the reminder.

  ‘I’ll get to the point, then. The girl you were with at the Royal Hotel the other week, what was her name?’

  ‘What? What girl? What the hell are you talking about?’

  ‘Do you remember bumping into me at the pub recently? You were pretty wasted. Maybe you don’t remember . . .’

  ‘I remember,’ Zack snapped back. ‘Of course I remember seeing you.’

  Lexie had been dragged out of her self-imposed confinement by her friend Dani, who had insisted she get off the lounge, snap out of her desolate state if only for a few hours, and join her for a drink. They had gone to the Royal Hotel at Randwick, where they had run into Zack. He had been out with some workmates. Spotting Lexie and Dani almost as soon as they’d walked in, he’d come over to talk to them. While they were chatting, a girl sashayed over, possessively placing an arm around Zack’s shoulder and handing him a drink. Lexie remembered her for two reasons: the tacky tattoo on her neck and the catty comment she made.

  ‘While we were talking a girl gave you a drink. She was a real charmer; said something like, “You can do better than her; the anorexic look is so out right now.” Remember her? She had a bluebird tattoo on her neck.’

  The phone line sizzled as a gust of wind whipped around her.