got?’ he asked Elvis, Marie and Kees.
‘Nada,’ Elvis said. ‘Absolutely zilch. Not a single eyeball on our man. Nobody heard the back door being forced. I mean, Christ! Nobody saw someone dragging a double mattress over a fence. I can’t even see how it’s possible to get a mattress from the street into the back of that house. Our guy must be a damned magician.’
‘Unless I was wrong, and the mattress was already in situ,’ van den Bergen said.
Kees shuffled out of his bright red anorak and draped it over his chair. Ruffled his mousy, thinning mop. Rolled his white shirt sleeves above his brown jumper, as though he were about to reveal something breathtaking. ‘About my hunch…’
Van den Bergen sighed. Rubbed the tiny remnants of scabbing on his knuckles, which had given way to new skin beneath. ‘Go on. Let’s hear it.’
‘I think the builder’s our man.’ Kees smiled triumphantly, treating the team to an eyeful of his jutting tombstone teeth. ‘Well, one of our men. Old Iwan.’
It was all the chief inspector could do to stifle a groan. ‘Do tell us, Mr Leeuwenhoek! Why is, “Old Iwan” our man?’
Kees folded his arms; his smile gone, now. Clearly not the reception he had been expecting. ‘He’s got access to the building,’ he began, counting the facts off on his fingers. ‘He pukes all over the crime scene, meaning his DNA is everywhere anyway. So chances are, if we find his DNA on the mattress, it’s inadmissible in court. The perp uses builders’ tools in the film. His mate’s got a van. And there was something about the guy. I dunno. He’s got one of those tattooed sleeves down his arm. Pentangles and skulls and shit. My detective’s intuition is just screaming that we should look into him.’
‘Bollocks!’ Elvis said, rocking back on his chair. ‘Poor guy was shaking like a leaf. He was genuine.’
‘Kees, you’re such a dick,’ Marie said, shaking her head. ‘We’re looking for someone who can wield a scalpel, not a pickaxe.’
Van den Bergen pushed his chair out from the table. Drummed his pad with his Biro and bounced his right foot on his left knee. ‘No. Kees has got a point. It’s far-fetched, but we do need to check into the Poles’ alibis. That building site is simply not accessible from the back. You’ve got two parallel rows of terraces with no alleyway between. The gardens are all fenced off and overlooked. How did that mattress get in there? One of the builders might be covering for someone. Kees, it’s your hunch. You get on it.’
Van den Bergen caught sight of Marie rolling her eyes, but opted not to challenge her. ‘Marie. Footage?’
She jumped. A flush of red crawling up her neck. ‘I’ve examined it in detail, boss,’ she said, toying with her pearls. ‘It’s not a film of a murder.’
‘What absolute crap!’ Elvis said.
Holding up his hand, van den Bergen silenced his scoffing sidekick. ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a porno flick,’ Marie said. ‘Shot on a quality camera. Professionally edited. Only thing that’s missing is the bum-chicka-wow-wow soundtrack. All that gore you can see…’ She smiled wryly and sipped from her plastic cup of coffee, as though she were savouring the undivided attention of the men. ‘It’s special effects. The footage on the camera’s memory disc is basically a kinky slasher movie.’
‘You certain?’ van den Bergen asked, recalling the horrific scenes that had appeared so convincing.
‘Yep,’ Marie said. ‘If anyone knows the difference between genuine snuff and horror CGI, it’s me. I love horror films.’
Though it was done surreptitiously, van den Bergen noticed Kees nudge Elvis.
‘The blonde’s an actress,’ Marie clarified. ‘She’s probably walking round the supermarket right now, doing her shopping. Fit and healthy with a fat wad of cash in her back pocket, while old perverts all over Europe are tugging themselves senseless over her on-screen demise.’ She turned to Kees. ‘I saw that! I have got the gift of sight, you know.’
Kees said nothing. Pulled the wide-eyed face of the innocent.
Van den Bergen nodded. Clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth repeatedly, while he absorbed this revelation. ‘Do you know who she is? The actress.’
Marie shrugged. ‘Never seen her before. Never seen porn this violent before that wasn’t actual snuff.’ She handed a small disc to him. ‘I made copies and filed the original with the other evidence.’
Opening his laptop, van den Bergen loaded the film up. Watched with utter absorption as the blonde filled the much larger screen. Paused it, once the actress was spread-eagled and naked on the bed. Pointed to the undersides of her ample breasts with the chewed bottom of his Biro. ‘See that?’
The others leaned in closer, their breath on the back of his head.
‘What?’ Elvis asked.
‘I saw this scarring on the mortuary slab with my own eyes. It’s not like the scarring you normally see from shoddy boob jobs. It’s too distinctive not to be from the same surgeon’s hand. I’d put money on it that this actress is our second Jane Doe.’
‘I’m ill, Paul,’ she said through the half-open letterbox. ‘Just leave me be!’
Van den Bergen took a step backwards on the landing and examined Marianne de Koninck’s eyes through the rectangular gap. They were red and puffy.
‘Please open the door. We need to talk.’ He thrust the tulips closer to the door, so that she could inspect his gift. As though this were some kind of entry code to her apartment.
The flap of the head pathologist’s letterbox clattered shut. He heard her sigh behind the door. A chain being removed and a bolt being drawn back. The door opened about six inches. He could see she was wearing a fleecy all-in-one with a dressing gown on top. Furry slippers on her feet. He had imagined she would wear elegant lace-trimmed silk to bed. Perhaps that was wishful thinking.
‘I’m contagious,’ she said. Her short hair was dishevelled. Split on one side, as though she had slept in the same position for several days without washing it.
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ van den Bergen said, pressing the tulips into her hands and stepping inside.
At the breakfast bar of her expansive kitchen island, he warmed his hands on a cup of espresso that she had fixed him using a shining steel coffee machine. It was a sleek place, all right. Aubergine gloss cupboard fronts; the worktops, some sort of glittering man-made composite. He ran his fingertips along the edge, as though a grand piano’s keys were embedded into it. A dining area with Perspex table and chairs to seat eight flowed into the adjacent austere and fashionable living area. This was the sort of pad a man like him should own. Uncluttered. Full of gadgetry. Somewhere to entertain. But then, van den Bergen liked his vintage thrift-market tat and bookshelves full of old vinyl. And, he realised, that not only was Marianne full of surprises, but she didn’t have to pay maintenance to an ex. What he had noticed on entry, however, was that only women’s shoes sat in a rack on the polished parquet.
‘Nice place,’ he said.
‘Cake?’
She offered him a slice of apple cake that had been all but eaten. There was an empty plate on the kitchen island, bearing telltale crumbs. A used fork next to it. Comfort eating, van den Bergen assessed.
‘Where’s your boyfriend?’ The dimpling in Marianne’s chin told him everything he needed to know. ‘You and Jasper split up? That what all