Chapter 59

‘What the hell is that?' Kim asked, stepping into the squad room at 7a.m. After her visit with Ted the night before, she felt energised. She hadn't realised how heavily her own lack of emotional involvement with the case had been weighing her down. And while she knew she'd never be normal, the fact that she was behaving to type had put her mind at rest.

Bryant turned to face her with a ridiculous grin on his face. ‘It's my party piece, guv.'

‘It's a six-year-old's magic kit.'

‘Hey, it says for ages eight and up on the box,' he defended himself.

‘Splendid,' she said, putting her coffee down. ‘Go on then – amaze me.'

He picked up a deck of cards which looked tiny in his hands.

He splayed them out in a fan. ‘Pick a card, any card.'

She did so, and he shuffled. She watched as he started placing the cards down one by one on his desk. The rest of the team watched in silent anticipation.

He stopped and held up the next card. ‘Is this the card you chose?'

‘No,' she said flatly.

He waited.

‘It ain't the card,' she reiterated, picking up her drink.

‘It's gotta be,' he protested.

‘It's not the damn card.'

‘Okay, let me try again.'

‘Bryant, unless you can find me an eight-year-old who can actually perform these tricks, I suggest you use your little plastic wand to make yourself disappear.'

‘Aw, guv, that hurt.'

‘As will my ass when I go talk to Woody, but that's tomorrow's problem. All I can say for you lot is thank God the police force gave you a job.'

She took a sip of coffee, pushing aside the demon in her head wondering what she was going to tell her boss.

‘Okay, laser focus today, guys. Three victims in three days. Our killer is fired up, and until we know why they're killing pageant moms, we won't know if they're done. Let's do a quick recap on our victims. Stacey, everything we know about our first victim, Sheryl Hawne.'

Stacey looked to the whiteboard to prompt the information that was primarily in her head. ‘Sheryl was forty-eight years of age. One daughter, Katie, aged twenty-five. Katie's father is unclear and there's no other family. Several stab wounds sustained in her home and a pageant flipper forced into her throat, after death. By all accounts, she was not a warm and loving mother and quite ruthless on the circuit. Often belittled and humiliated Katie, who did reasonably well in local events but never entered the bigger ones. Sheryl was a stage mom on steroids, and the two of them didn't have a close relationship. In addition, we're pretty sure Katie sought advice from Judith Palmer.'

Kim nodded. That was a pretty good summary. She turned to her partner in crime. ‘Bryant, same again for victim two.'

‘Andrea Shaw was forty-seven years old and mother to twenty-two-year-old Toyah. Unlike Sheryl, she was divorced and mother to son Tony as well. Like Sheryl, she was attacked in her own home, but this time at night when Toyah was out. False eyelashes were forced into her throat. Andrea seemed to enjoy the pageants and so did Toyah, although the reasons for their exit are still unclear. Seems that Andrea had no enemies. It doesn't seem like she treated Toyah badly, and she wasn't rude to service people, but she was part of Sheryl's little group. There's no evidence to suggest Toyah had any contact with Judith Palmer.'

‘Nicely done,' Kim acknowledged. ‘And victim three, Sally-Ann Davis, was married and leaves behind twenty-six-year-old Lottie. Sally-Ann was killed out in the open, but despite the higher risk factor, our killer still took the time to force a sharp piece of tiara down her throat while she was still alive. Again, no current enemies that we know of; however we do know that she and her daughter were on a boundary break, most likely instigated by Judith Palmer. It's not clear whether Sally-Ann was a part of Sheryl's posse or not.'

‘There's nothing that applies to all three of them,' Bryant noted, and he was right. There was no commonality on marital status, career choice or friends. Nothing to link them outside the pageant circuit.

‘Anything at all on family members?' Kim asked.

Stacey shook her head. ‘Lottie has a second cousin who has done time for theft, but he's not known to the police for anything else.'

However short of suspects they were, theft to multiple murder was a bit of a stretch.

‘Okay, so we're absolutely sure it's pageant related. We've got that message loud and clear. It's safe to assume our killer is pretty angry about something, and given what we've learned this week about the pageant industry, it's pretty cutthroat. Excuse the pun, but the way I see it is, we're either looking for someone on the circuit who has been wronged in some way by all these women, or we're looking for a killer much closer to home.'

‘You think one of the girls did it and is killing other mothers to cover her tracks?' Bryant asked. ‘The reactions from all of them felt pretty genuine.'

She shrugged. ‘A wise man recently explained to me that your mum is your oracle, your diary. She's entwined in every notable event you can recall. What if those notable events do not make for happy memories?'

‘How is Ted these days?' Bryant asked, knowing exactly where she'd been.

‘All I'm saying is that I'm not ruling out a damn thing at the minute,' she replied. ‘Especially seeing as we found out yesterday that our affable dressmaker Kelvin Hobbs was pushed out of the industry by Sheryl and her buddies, although that doesn't explain why he's going on a murderous spree now. This happened over ten years ago after all.'

‘He's going out of business, boss,' Stacey said. ‘The lease on the shop is available from the end of next month.'

‘Flat above as well?' Kim asked, knowing that he lived above the premises.

Stacey nodded. ‘He loses the lot.'

‘Okay, that deserves another chat. Stacey, I want you to focus on the girls and what they were all doing, except Katie. We know where she was during the murder of Andrea Shaw.'

‘On it, boss.'

‘Dig a bit deeper on Judith Palmer as well. She has an awful lot to say for someone who doesn't actually offer advice. I want to know if she has any ties to the pageant world at all.'

‘Okay, boss.'

Kim turned to Penn. ‘How's your prisoner this morning?'

‘Doctor's report is in. Olivia's a bit undernourished and dehydrated. She has bruising to her stomach and back that she insists was sustained in the fall. There's no question she recently suffered a beating.'

‘Jesus,' Kim whispered.

‘Other than that she's fine for questioning. As a side note, she's taken advantage of every refreshment and meal she's been offered.'

‘Okay, good to know she's—' Kim stopped speaking as Bryant's desk phone rang.

Seeing the caller, he picked it up and handed it straight to her.

‘What's up, Jack?' she asked.

‘Got a lady down here wants to talk to you.'

‘About what?'

‘Make-up tips. How should I know? Won't give me her name and won't talk to anyone else.'

She sighed. ‘Okay, on my way,' she said before handing the phone back to Bryant.

‘Okay, kiddies, talk amongst yourselves for a bit, and if you want to solve this case in my absence, have at it.'

She headed for the door and took the stairs at speed. She was eager to get the day started by having a more honest chat with Kelvin Hobbs about his reasons for leaving the pageant circuit.

She unlocked the door into the reception to find a woman in a full-length rain mac, looking back out of the glass doors to the car park.

Kim coughed.

The woman turned, and Kim noted two things immediately.

There was something in her features that was vaguely familiar, and she had a port-wine-stain birthmark that covered a quarter of her face.

‘May I help you?' Kim asked, stepping forward.

‘Are you investigating the murder of the woman from that newspaper article by someone named Frost?'

She was referring to the piece on Sheryl Hawne and her daughter, Katie.

‘I am.'

‘Then there's something you need to know.'

‘Go on.'

‘I'm the real Katherine Hawne. Sheryl Hawne was my mother.'