Chapter 11 " The Third Murder"

Saturday, seven in the morning, my sister and I were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast.

-Do you want me to make you some coffee? -said my sister.

-Yes, thank you.

-I've got a weird feeling.

-Rose, I can't think of a weirder day than yesterday. -Ashley managed to say before her phone rang.

-Who is it?

-It's Silvio.

-If Silvio's calling at 7:00 a.m., you know there's been a murder somewhere.

-Good morning...Come on...Can you send me the address?...Okay, we'll be there soon. -She disconnected the call and put the phone on the table.

-What's going on? Who got killed?

-You're not gonna believe this. Linswand was found.

-Or rather, his body's been found, am I right?

-Yeah, you were right when you said that if we found him, he'd be dead.

-I'm a little psychic. I should have bet you something.

-By the way, if I'm not mistaken, Mum said we had a fortune-teller in our family.

-Why was that? Auntie Dorothea is still alive, she's 85 years old and she still reads tarot.

-That's right, how could I forget?

-How could you forget? All right, we've got to get ready to leave.

We finished getting ready and left the house and got in my car.

-What's the address?

-Via Archimede 23.

-We'll drive half an hour or so.

We arrived at our destination after about 25 minutes and parked the car near a five-storey building and went into the entrance.

-What floor are we on?

-Third.

We climbed the stairs to the third floor and found the right flat (the doors were open and the voices of our colleagues were coming from inside the flat) and entered the room where the murder had taken place.

-Good morning. -Ashley said.

-Good morning, if I may say so. -I said as I walked into the living room where the body of a man I had recently spoken to about our mutual acquaintance was lying on the floor.

-Good morning. -said Dante, Silvio and Alice.

And by the way, he told me that Linswand had gone goddamn far away. He lied?

-Alice, let's start examining the body. -I said, putting medical gloves on my hands.

My assistant and I walked over to the body and squatted down next to the victim. There was a blade sticking out of Linswand's heart and a strangulation groove on his neck. The method of killing was identical to Fabbri and Salvione.

-The murder method is exactly the same as the first two murders.

-Did anyone doubt it?

-Look, I think the method of murder means something. -said I, turning to my colleagues who were searching the flat at the time.

-What do you mean? -Dante asked me a question.

-Remember that sacrifice we interrupted when we arrested Linswand?

-Yeah.

-Linswand was gonna stab that guy in the heart. Just like our killer stabs his victims in the heart. Linswand also really wanted the rings.

-And our killer dips his victims' rings in their own blood. -Dante added to what I was saying.

-It's revenge, most likely a death for death.

-But why strangle his victims before stabbing them in the heart?

-So the killer couldn't contain his hatred, so he attacked his victims. Strangling them and then stabbing them in the heart.

-By the way, did you find the ring yet?

-Yes, here it is. -Silvio handed me a gripper with the bloody evidence on it.

-Great. Alice, the corpse is all clear, we can take it to the morgue.

-Good.

-And here's another blade, put it with the other evidence.

-You're not giving up hope that there are any fingerprints?

-We've got to hope for the best at least.

-Rose, your phone's ringing. -Dante said and handed me my bag.

-Thank you. -I thanked Dante for handing me my bag.

I took my phone out of my bag and saw that an unfamiliar number was calling. 'I like this so much every time,' I thought, either it's a harassment call or it's a life threatening call. Going out into the corridor, I answered the phone.

-If you're going to threaten me again, I'll tell you right away your killer is sitting in the station with a shot shoulder.

-It's an original greeting, though, Rosie. -It was him on the phone this time.

-And it's you. Well, I got one greeting for you. Go to hell.

-Rough.

- Accept me for who I am. -I heard him chuckle when I said it.

-I do. Oh, and congratulations.

-Congratulations on what? Wait, you're never gonna be in my life again? This is a real celebration.

-Don't get your hopes up. Congratulations on you and your colleagues finding the missing Linswand.

-Yeah, thanks.

-You're welcome.

-I have a question.

-You can ask it.

-You told me that Linswand had gone to the who knows where, and today he was found dead in our native Rome. Question: How did that happen?

-He must have returned to Rome when he realised he couldn't have the rings. I've given them to you magnanimously.

-Oh, you're so magnanimous. If I hadn't done the right thing, they'd think I stole the rings. Maybe you were just trying to set me up.

-No way, Rosie, how could you think that?

-Of course, how could I think that? You're the kindest, most selfless person in the world.

-It's so nice to hear you say that, especially from you.

-If I weren't standing a few metres away from my colleagues, I'd say such nice things about you that you'd be speechless.

-That's a pity you can't say that.

-That's a real pity.

-Rosie, could you tell me about that hitman with the shot in the shoulder you mentioned at the beginning of our lovely conversation?

-Of course not.

-Why not?

-Because it's none of your damn business.

-You're so secretive.

-Yeah. Well, I've got to go now, so goodbye and damn you. -I disconnected the call and went back to the murder scene.

We spent about an hour searching the crime scene, after which we spent another hour going round the neighbours and asking about the murdered man. As it turns out, the neighbours know absolutely nothing about the victim. Not who he was, nothing else. As for the search, the only thing we found out about the murderer is that according to the documents we found, Linswand bought the flat a year ago. Nothing else.

-So we're packing? -Ashley sighed heavily and looked out the living room window.

As soon as Ashley looked out the window, her expression changed. It was as if she'd seen a ghost walking among the passersby.

-Rose, Dante, come here, please.

-What happened already? -I asked and walked with Dante to the window.

-Does that guy look familiar to you?

-What guy?

I looked out the window and saw him, the stranger from the hotel where Monica Fabbri was killed.

-That's our escaped stranger. -Dante said, and the three of us looked at each other and ran out of the flat and into the street.

-I suggest we divide up. -Ashley shouted on the run.

Dante and I heard her and ran in different directions. The fleeing stranger spotted us and took off running. But I managed to keep him in sight, he was far enough away, but I was still able to catch up with him.

And when I was almost at his back I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him round to face me.

-Hello again, long time no see.

-Hands on your head. -Ashley's voice came from behind the guy, pointing a gun at him, and Dante came up to me.

-You have no right. -yelled the guy that we still didn't know.

-We have no right, and you have the right to lie in an interrogation?

-What interrogation?

-The one where you lied about hearing Monica Fabbri's screams and lied about your name. -Dante said as he handcuffed the detainee.

-Maybe you are the killer.

-No, I didn't. -The guy exclaimed instantly.

-We'll take you to the station and see if you're the killer or not. Maybe you're an accomplice.

-I'm telling you again, I didn't kill anyone.

-Really? We'll take your word for it and let you go. You're so trustworthy.

-What the hell kind of people are you?

-Just ordinary flesh-and-blood people.

We took the detainee to the entrance, where our colleagues were waiting for us.

-Did you get him?

-Caught him, he says he's not a murderer.

-He can say anything, we'll find out at the police station.

-And by the way, we've got a hit man at the police station.

-Yeah, maybe you hired the hit man. In case you didn't know, he's in the police station with a shot in his shoulder.

The detainee did not say anything to our words. We got into our cars and drove to the police station, we got there in half an hour (we were extremely lucky that there were no traffic jams). Unfortunately, the interrogation of our stranger had to be postponed until tomorrow, as well as the interrogation of the killer. Janine did an autopsy on Linswand's body, and the results were clean. Just like the previous murders. But there was one happy event. I found fingerprints on the blade, finally. It's like hitting the jackpot, but unfortunately the prints didn't match the database. Still, it's our most important piece of evidence. Once we catch the killer, we can prove that he committed the murders. The whole of the day went on as normal, forensics, autopsies and all my other duties were completed.