The Resurrected Man by Sean Williams Read Free Book Online

deep breath. “Sometimes the spider has difficulty distinguishing between different types of organic matter. That's why I alwaysexamine the body of a victim in person, even when a spider has been over it once, to check for evidence that might have been overlooked.” She wished she could see him; she couldn't tell from his voice alone whether she was being criticised or praised. “In this case, there was.”
    â€œCould you tell what sort of wounds they were?”
    â€œUnfortunately, no, sir; just that they were there.”
    â€œI'd like to see detailed images of the scars, then, on the off-chance they're the remains of bites or scratches. He might have removed similar identifying marks from other bodies the same way. Maybe this one died before the agents could finish their work.”
    â€œYou think he made a mistake?” asked Whitesmith.
    â€œNot really, but it's worth investigating. Tell Indira to look into it when they get the body up here.” Trevaskis cleared his throat. “Good work, Marylin. Odi, take the body apart again.”
    The body assumed its previous position, scattered in pieces on the floor of the d-mat booth. The positioning was haphazard, with no apparent juxtaposition of genitals, buttocks and breasts; blood splatter on the walls, plus the absence of footprints in the blood, indicated that the pieces had been thrown into the booth and left to lie where they fell. The woman's head, scalped and skinned after death, rested upside down in one corner not far from her toeless feet.
    This time, however, Whitesmith had selected the view seen when the spider had first entered the unit, rather than the one that showed the body. There was only one difference, but it was eye-catching.
    Resting on the remains of the woman, in the precise centre of the booth, was a piece of paper.
    â€œThe usual staging,” said Whitesmith. “Randomness of placement belies the planning required for disposal, intended to give us the impression that the killer is disorganised and wanted to get rid of the body as quickly as possible—”
    â€œUnless he genuinely doesn't care,” Marylin interrupted, “and it's the placement of the body as a whole that's significant.”
    â€œTrue. The jury's still out on that one.” Whitesmith shifted in his seat.
    â€œThe note?” Trevaskis prompted.
    â€œA cover of another WHOLE leaflet. One of the classics this time: Soul Pollution. The complete text is on file.”
    â€œNo special significance?”
    â€œJust the usual anti-KTI sentiments. No threats, explicit or otherwise.”
    â€œThe ‘Murdering Twinmaker’ strikes again.” Trevaskis sighed. “And the victim herself. Do we have a name, yet?”
    â€œNo. We've sent the samples to the home team; they'll let us know when they have an ID. Skull and bone structure, as well as skeletal height, suggests we have another match.”
    â€œThe odds were for it,” Trevaskis said.
    â€œAs far as other evidence goes, we have the usual list. No murder or torture weapons were found with the body, although at least six were used: the ice-pick, an axe, a cutting laser and three knives of different sizes, possibly scalpels. The victim was bound with packing tape and nylon rope; residues left on the skin will be examined later today. The spider took surface samples to check for any unusual deposits peculiar to the environment of the murder scene, but, again, we'll have to wait for results to come through on those. The killer left no fingerprints, no hairs, no skin, saliva or semen.” Whitesmith paused, obviously checking a mental inventory to see if he'd left anything out. “There's only one thing, really, that we can be sure of.”
    â€œWhich is?”
    â€œShe wasn't killed in McEwen's unit.”
    â€œThat's conclusive?”
    â€œAbsolutely. Apart from blood that leaked out of the d-mat booth, there's no evidence she was ever there.