Removal by Peter Murphy Read Free Book Online Page B

flecks of premature white, but this did not prevent him from looking young for his rank. He smiled at her.
    ‘Jeff was the one who called me, Agent Smith, so I’m going to let him tell you all about it. Go ahead, Jeff.’
    ‘Yes, Sir. Agent, we have a female, probably mid-thirties, shot once in the back of the head, execution style. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were tied together.’
    Morris pointed to the bed, where the naked body lay on its stomach, a pool of blood and brains splashed liberally over the bed and on the wall behind the head.
    ‘The coroner says she’s been dead about three hours, and she’d had recent sexual intercourse. There is semen on her body and on the sheets. That’s all subject to the test results, of course, but there doesn’t seem much doubt about it.’
    ‘Do we know who she is?’ Kelly asked.
    Lieutenant Morris picked up a plastic evidence bag which contained a black purse.
    ‘This was on the dresser. Inside we found two passports, one U.S. and one Lebanese. Both are in the name of a Lucia Benoni. The photos seem to match the body. She also had a New York driver’s licence, which gives an address in Manhattan. NYPD is checking it out, but we haven’t heard back from them yet.’
    ‘Do you have anything on her?’
    ‘No criminal record. But she was carrying a little over $5,000 in cash.’
    ‘Anything else?’
    ‘A set of keys.’
    ‘Car keys?’
    ‘No, for a building. Not this one. Could be her place in New York.’
    ‘What else?’
    ‘Just the usual make-up items, perfume, lipstick, a small pack of tissues, and some Advil.’
    Kelly walked over and looked at the body for a few moments.
    ‘Well, apparently it wasn’t a robbery, since the money is still there. So, you figure, what? A Mob hit, a sexual affair that went bad, a drug deal?’
    ‘Those would all be possibilities. The sex doesn’t suggest a Mob deal to me, but you guys are the experts in that field. And if it was a drug deal, I wouldn’t expect to find the money still there, either.’
    ‘I agree,’ Kelly said. ‘Where are her clothes?’
    ‘Neatly hung up in the closet. That suggested to me that the sex was consensual. Let me show you.’
    Smiling, Morris led Kelly to the spacious walk-in closet.
    ‘You’re way more qualified to look at these than I am.’
    ‘So this is why you had to get me out of bed at three in the morning?’
    Kelly followed Morris into the closet. It was empty apart from Lucia Benoni’s clothes. She turned to Morris questioningly.
    ‘Yes, I noticed that too. There’s nothing in the whole place. No evidence that anyone lives here at all. We’re checking with the building management. What do you think of the clothes?’
    ‘Have the scenes-of-crimes people finished with them?’
    ‘Yes. They’re all yours.’
    Kelly examined the labels on the jacket of the black two-piece suit and the white blouse. A real pearl pendant was pinned to the lapel of the jacket.
    ‘These are Gianni Versace,’ she said, holding them up for Morris to inspect.
    ‘Translation?’
    ‘European,’ she said. ‘Originals. Very expensive. I didn’t get a good look at the purse, but I would bet it’s in the same league.’
    She bent down on one knee, and picked up a black pump.
    ‘The shoes are, too. Fendi. Top of the line. Black stockings, and an old-fashioned garter belt. That’s something you don’t see every day.’
    ‘Sexy,’ Morris said.
    ‘I wouldn’t know,’ Kelly grinned. ‘What brand of perfume was she carrying?’
    ‘Chanel. Even I know that one.’
    Kelly stood back up.
    ‘Well, it all supports the identification in the passports. If she’s not European, she certainly spent some time in Europe. Milan, most likely, judging by the clothes and accessories. What stamps does she have in the passports?’
    ‘Quite a few between Italy and the States, some for Lebanon, one or two for other European countries, France mostly.’
    They walked slowly back out of the