Chapter 18

‘You thinking that was Katie's motive?' Bryant asked as they got out of the car at Russells Hall Hospital.

‘Well, Judith did say that if the daughter wanted to heal, the relationship had to be forcefully and permanently ended, with no further contact possible. That's a given now. Whatever the relationship between Katie and her mum, it was complex enough that she was seeking advice on how to deal with it. Think about Katie's home, well, where she lived – it was hardly the space of someone well rounded and stable. It's almost like she was waiting to develop into the person she's going to be.'

‘And only murdering her mother could accomplish it?' Bryant asked doubtfully.

‘It's a theory,' she said as they entered the hospital.

‘You really want to know why, eh, guv?'

‘Me and a jury of twelve,' she answered. Despite the evidence, a conviction of a woman in her mid-twenties for such a brutal murder was a tough sell if they couldn't explain why.

‘Okay, Keats, this had better be good,' Kim said as they entered the morgue anteroom.

Jimmy was wheeling the body of Sheryl Hawne back to cold storage, and Keats was cleaning down.

‘Well, if someone from your team had been here to witness the process, you'd have had the information immediately.'

Kim leaned against the counter and folded her arms. ‘Keats, did you get enough attention as a boy?'

He offered a sideways glance.

She continued. ‘I know you enjoy performing for Penn, whose fascination perplexes me, but it was unnecessary. We know the where, the who, the how, and all we're missing is the why.'

‘And you think there's nothing I can offer to assist in answering that last question?' he asked, shaking his hands before pulling paper towels from the dispenser.

‘Is that a trick question?' Kim asked. Never before had Keats had any involvement in establishing the why. ‘And to be fair, it wasn't long ago that you weren't sure you could establish the "if" at the crime scene.'

Bryant hid his chuckle behind a cough.

Keats pinned her with his best haughty stare. ‘Is that the last? Are we done?'

Fine, he'd suffered long enough. ‘We're done.'

‘Okay, follow me,' he said, shaking his head.

He held open the door into the autopsy room and strode to the small desk he kept in the corner. Despite the fact the procedure was now finished, the smell of death hung in the air. He passed her the form he'd completed ahead of the full report and began speaking even as she read.

‘Our victim was in perfect health. Her weight and BMI were within healthy parameters. Her internal organs were strong and functioning well. No signs of smoking or excessive drinking. No obvious surgeries or major health conditions and no reason for her not to live well into old age.'

Kim handed the sheet back to him. ‘So she took care of herself. How does that help us?'

‘It doesn't. I'm just giving you background.'

‘Keats,' she warned, looking pointedly at her watch. Her time would be much better spent talking to the doctors at Bushey Fields to establish when they could have another crack at Katie.

With an early confirmation of her well-being from a mental-health professional, she could have this case wrapped up by suppertime, which was fast approaching, she realised.

‘Oh, Stone, I remember when you were more fun than this,' Keats said, reaching for an evidence bag.

‘Liar, I was never—Jesus Christ, what the hell is that?' she asked, taking the bag.

Inside was what looked like an upper denture, a full bridge of bright white teeth but in miniature.

‘Lodged in her throat,' Keats explained, enjoying her bewilderment.

‘It couldn't have been hers,' Bryant said, stating the obvious.

‘It's called a flipper,' Keats said, nodding towards his computer, indicating that was where he'd found the information. ‘Fake teeth used for performing arts and pageants to hide any break or defect in someone's smile. They're used to hide missing teeth or to cover up marks. Gives any kid the perfect smile.'

‘Where is it from?' Kim asked, looking at it from every angle.

‘They're custom made and the cost depends on the material used. This is a good one and would have cost a few hundred.'

Kim tried to picture the item being forced into someone's throat. She found herself swallowing in response.

‘Okay, Freud, give us the why,' she said, handing the piece back to him.

‘Obvious, even to you. Katie Hawne is resentful of the pageants and is angry. Maybe she was forced into doing them and the presence of the flipper is symbolic. It's been rammed down her mother's throat.'

All that from the pathologist without the added insight from Judith, which totally backed up his theory.

‘Okay, thanks, Keats,' she said, heading for the door.

His assessment did mirror her own thoughts and did answer some of her questions. It was already clear that pageants had played a huge part in Katie's childhood, but only now were they discovering the negative impact that might have had. The flipper being forced down the throat was a powerful message, but Katie had left the pageant world years ago.

So now they knew the why, but they also needed to know the ‘why right now'.