Red Widow (Vivian Xu, Book 1) by Nathan Wilson

in this
autopsy room.
    Now he could stand before Jezebel with
an unflinching demeanor as she unlocked rib cages with pruning
shears. At least he thought he could. This killer was beginning to
test that wall of indifference he had worked so diligently to
construct.
    “ As you can see, our victim
suffered extensive head injuries prior to death,” Jezebel said,
indicating the area. Fracture lines spider webbed along the
lambdoidal suture at the base of the skull, suggesting all manner
of gruesome scenarios for Nikolai’s imagination. He could envision
the crushing blow that rained down on her head, rending axons and
tearing white matter.
    “ An acute subdural hematoma
is present in the left temporal lobe, where blood coagulated below
the dura mater and above the arachnoid membrane. The coagulum was
compressing the left cerebral hemisphere. Tearing and widespread
hemorrhaging was also noted in the corpus callosum.”
    Nikolai remembered watching her shave
Krista’s head in search of other bruises left by her assailant. It
struck him as surreal watching the glamorous tangles of blonde hair
fall to the floor, drenched in blood like a hair dying appointment
gone disastrously awry. She had sewn the skull shut after
extracting the brain and dumping it in a bucket of formaldehyde
solution. After a week of preservation, Jezebel would mount the
tissue slices on slides and scan the cells for signs of drug
abuse.
    “ Estimated time of
death?”
    “ Within the last
twenty-four hours. A histological analysis of the hematoma will
tell me exactly when she was attacked.”
    Jezebel clipped another film revealing
a pelvis invaded with hooks.
    “ Under most circumstances,
tearing in the vaginal wall would suggest forced intercourse, but I
find that scenario unlikely. Vaginal swabs didn’t reveal any
presence of semen. The genital trauma was induced by microfilament
wires and hooks.”
    “ Were there any other
fractures besides the skull?” Nikolai asked, in no mood to dwell on
the sexual aspects.
    “ No. He seems quite adept
at subduing his victims.” Indeed he was. He must have ambushed
Krista from behind and stunned her with a blunt object, at which
point she became an unwilling participant in his torture
escapade.
    “ May I ask you a question,
Nikolai?” Jezebel chirped, jolting him from his
thoughts.
    “ Yes?”
    “ What did you see when you
arrived at the crime scene?” The absurdity of the question evoked a
scoff from Nikolai.
    “ I saw a terrified girl
barely old enough to live on her own, hanging from the ceiling by
butcher hooks. I saw premeditation, sadism, and a level of cruelty
that defies human conscience.”
    Jezebel’s lips curved into a supremely
wicked smile.
    “ Always stating the
obvious. I thought you might miss it.” She paced across the morgue
with cat-like grace, savoring hidden knowledge. “The killer
positioned the victim like a cross, possibly symbolic of punishing
her for her sins.”
    “ What sins?”
    “ Only the killer knows.”
Silence festered in the autopsy room. Nikolai dipped his gaze
toward the body and studied her ghostly expression. What horrible secrets lie behind that face? he wondered. What did you
do to deserve this?
    “ See if you can find any
fingerprints or fibers…” he murmured.
    “ Before you leave, I
uncovered something else at the crime scene.”
    “ What?”
    “ The message ‘You cannot
hurt me anymore.’ It doesn’t match the blood of the victim.” The
implications silenced Nikolai. Was the killer keeping another
victim alive? But for what purpose?
    He had a sickening feeling he would
find out soon enough.
     
    * * *
     
    Vivian clutched the balcony rail and
squeezed her eyes shut. The image flashed into her mind like an
ebbing and flowing tide.
    She could picture a gigantic spider
cocooning a woman in its twisted fantasy, rigging the hooks just so
on pipes, tenderly sliding the twine on the fixing
points.
    Like a puppet he could
control.
    Perhaps he was