15
MARK
Ida calledbefore I found the words to try and dissuade Eva from her plan on goading the killer to come for her. I don’t actually think words like that exist, but I’m going to have to find some anyway. She’s too vulnerable for stunts like that, she and our child both are.
For the third time this week, we’re in the cold, life-less basement of the morgue, looking down at the dead body of Ana Kobe. I’ll have nightmares about it tonight, I already know I will.
Ida’s long hair is all bunched up under the shower cap she’s wearing, making her head appear huge. She has uncovered Ana’s body down to the waist and is pointing at tiny scratches near the gaping wound which killed her.
“These are what could be called hesitation marks,” she says. “In fact, it’s what Dr. Marolt classified them as in her report.”
“But a killer this versed and practiced wouldn’t hesitate,” Eva says, clearly thinking the same thing I am.
Hesitation marks most often occur because the killer is unsure they want to do what they’re about to, which is plunge a blade through their victim’s heart in this case. But this killer strikes with true precision, delivering death in a single stab.
Ida looks up at us and nods. “I don’t think they’re hesitation marks. I think they occur when the killer is searching for the right spot to pierce the skin to hit the heart. Looking for the soft spot, to put it more crudely.”
I need a moment to wrap my mind around the idea. “So these have been noticed in the other cases as well?”
Ida nods and moves over to the adjacent stainless steel table which is covered with files, some with yellowed, upturned and ripped edges.
“Almost all the autopsy reports from other cases you asked me to look into contain mentions of hesitation marks near the wound,” she says. “But more as an afterthought, usually.”
“Yet a lot of crimes were deemed crimes of necessity and passion,” Eva says.
“I see these as very deliberate stabbings,” Ida says. “Done methodically and executed in just the right spot. I also think each of them was done from the back with the killer holding the victim with their left arm and wielding the knife with the right.”
“So most likely a male attacker,” I say. “Someone strong enough to overpower a man as well as a woman.”
“I think that’s safe to assume, yes,” Ida says.
“And given the precision of the stab wounds, it could also mean a doctor,” I say.
Both Lap and Kline are medical doctors with a specialization in psychiatry. They would know all about the human anatomy. Maybe Sojer is barking up the right tree.
Ida shrugs. “Yes, it could mean that. I honestly don’t know why no pathologist made note of the similarities of the wounds inflicted in these cases. I didn’t have time to properly look at the files until this afternoon, since I’ve been tied up in court for the last two days, but as soon as I laid the images of the wounds side by side, I saw it.”
“The same thing happened to me when I gained access to the crime scene photos,” Eva says. “All the victims were also found in near identical poses.”
“I think it’s because of how long passes between each murder,” Ida says. “Different people work on the cases and the previous one is usually solved before the next body is found.”
Ida covers the body. “If you come through, I can show you how I think the crimes are committed.”
She leads the way towards one of the two side doors in this cavernous room. It leads into a laboratory with a row of microscopes along one of the three long tables. The rest of the space is filled with lots of other gadgets forensic techs use to sift through evidence.
Ida heads for a life sized, anatomically correct dummy of a man. It’s the kind that can be opened up to reveal all the organs and bones if need be, but this one is intact. She rolls it to an open area between the door and the first row of tables and stands behind it, with both of them facing us.
She pulls a pen from the pocket of her lab coat. “I think the killer approaches the victim from behind and wraps their left arm around them like so…” She performs the action on the dummy. “And with their right hand, they bring in the knife like so…”
She’s demonstrating with the pen in place of a knife. “And the hesitation marks occur because of this…”
She makes a few swipes at the area of the chest where the heart is. “And as soon as the right spot is detected, they plunge the knife in.”
She demonstrates that too, the tip of the pen bending the fake skin of the dummy inwards.
“The knife must be very sharp, which explains the clearly visible hesitation marks and the clean wounds,” she adds.
I walk to the dummy and perform the same hold on it that she just showed us.