Chapter 8
The road they drove through was an exact copy of the crime scene that morning. The house number 8 had been cordoned off with barrier tape. Three police cars, an ambulance and a civil police vehicle had been parked in front of it. The blinking lights on all cars dipped the whole street line in coldblue light. They were too late.
With John on his coats-tail Sherlock entered the house. He could see the victim's husband in the living room sitting on the couch. The man had his face buried in his hands and sobbed. On the table stood a forgotten cup of tea and beside him Sergeant Donovan was waiting. She tried to take his statement, but at the moment Mr. Kyle was incapable of saying a word.
"Sherlock, up here," Lestrade waved from the landing on the first floor. "The crime scene is in the bedroom."
"The victim is Mrs. Evelyn Kyle, aged 35. After the first examination, I would assume that the woman died of blood loss. Multiple stab wounds to the chest. She has been dead for two hours," Anderson explained his first results to the Detective Inspector just as Sherlock walked into the bedroom.
The victim was lying in bed on her back. Her hands had been folded neatly on her belly. Her long brown hair was draped on the white linen. A large patch of blood had formed on the fabric of her jacket above her breast. Sherlock scanned the room and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. Besides the door a blue box with toys was stored. Next to it stood a dresser which was decorated with some family photos and a bowl of jewelry. With his magnifying glass Sherlock examined the photos. Then he turned around and took a closer look at the corpse. From the background he could hear Anderson complaining. Sherlock shut out the whining. With a firm grip he turned the body on one side, inspected the sheets below and let the body slid back into its original position. He opened the jacket of the woman and looked at the visible stab wounds in her chest. Anderson bleated louder now. He wanted to prevent John to walk into the bedroom. "This is a crime scene. If this bloke contaminates it, I give no guarantee for valuable results." Sherlock gritted his teeth and rose quickly. He stepped into the hall, whispering to John, "Please wait for me here. I'll be right back with you." After a few seconds of hesitation, John stepped back and tried no more to pass the door.
On his way back to the bedroom Sherlock addressed the forensic expert coldly: "Anderson, honestly, how often did your mother let you fall on your head as a baby? This woman over there is dead more than two hours; blood loss is definitely not the cause of death. There is not enough blood underneath her." He snorted and bent back down to the body.
"Why do you suppose she is dead longer than two hours?" Lestrade appeared in the obligatory blue overall in the door frame. Anderson had gone further back into the hallway and was sulking. He was obviously guarding John, ready to hold him back, if he should dare to follow Sherlock.
Sherlock sighed. "It's simple. The body was dressed by her husband. Look at the composition of her clothes. She wears a blue mini skirt with red tights and a yellow hooded jacket. And now take a look around the bedroom. Bedrooms are always decorated by women. Such a combination of colors she would never have chosen. This room is almost colorless. Beige carpet, white walls. Even the linen is white. And it is meticulously tidy. Just over there is the wardrobe door slightly ajar. The victim would wear colorful clothes only very rarely and when only one colorful garment at a time, which is confirmed by a look at the family photos over here." He pointed to the row of photographs on the dresser. "No, I'm sure the husband has clothed her after he found her. Go and ask him. He will tell you, that he was ashamed. He didn't want the police to see his wife naked. He took the first available clothing that he could find in the closet. Dressing his wife should have taken quite a while. The tights had cost him an eternity. Mrs. Kyle is dead at least three hours and she was naked, when the murderer was finished with her. The patterns of the stab wounds in her chest and the blood scheme on her jacket doesn't allow any other conclusion."
Lestrade pulled a face. "And what do you think caused her death, Sherlock?"
"One stab direct into the heart. That is the only wound that has bled enough. After her death, the murderer has stabbed her a few times, but these wounds have only bled a little. No wonder since the heart didn't pump any more blood. The other wounds should only confuse us." Sherlock stood up and took another look around the bedroom. In front of the box with toys he bent down and examined the content more closely. "Ah!"
"What? What is it?" Lestrade stood beside him. With pointed fingers Sherlock removed a small rectangular piece of plastic from the box. He turned it in his hand. On this side a flower was visible. It was a Mahjong stone. He examined it closely.
"This stone is not made of plastic. I think the laboratory examination will reveal that the stone was carved from bone and is very old." Sherlock said after some time. "I saw this Mahjong stone in the blue box in one of the photographs in your case files. At all crime scenes a toy-box had been found in the parents' bedroom. Small children between the ages of three to five years belong to every household. Every night the worried parents take the dangerous toys and store them along. They want to ensure that the children are not left alone and play with them without parental supervision." Sherlock opened the first drawer on the dresser and examined the contents. He felt that Lestrade was getting impatiently behind him. "But how did you get the idea that the burglar would actually be a murderer? And more importantly, how did you come up with the theory that the burglary victim Number 2 would be the first murder victim?"
Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the DI. "Obvious, isn't it? At each crime scene there is a toy box, a toy box in which an added Mahjong stone wouldn't be suspicious. Let this fact be checked by your officers at the other crime scenes. The murderer has chosen the series of flowers from the Mahjong. He has added something to each of the crime scenes, a flower as a gift to the women. And he has taken something from each of the crime scenes, the jewelry as an anticipated trophy for the planned murder. So, the series of flowers in the Mahjong has a sequence: plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. He has set the first stone of the plum to the second burglary victim Mrs. Kyle; ergo the killer had planned her as the first murder victim." Sherlock turned to go. "When you have the results from the other houses, let me know. And I would recommend the remaining three ladies be put under police protection. Considering the time-schedule of the break-ins the killer will not take too long to strike again."
In the hallway Sherlock got rid of the latex gloves. He had seen enough. Now he just needed to find out what connection existed between the victims. There had to be a connection between the women, a tiny connection that would lead to the murderer. He would have to talk to the husband in the living room below. "John, you are done waiting. Thank you. Now to the living room, come with me, please." Followed by Lestrade and John Sherlock led the mini-procession downstairs.