What Have You Done(24)

Gerri picked up each photograph, studied it, and placed it back with the rest. “What exactly were the mutilations?” she asked. “All I see here is a big mess.”

“The victim was two months pregnant. According to the autopsy, she was hanged, her head was shaved, and her stomach was slit with her placental sack being pierced, not necessarily in that order.”

“Were there signs of healed wounds or bruises that were fading?”

“I’d have to check with the medical examiner. Why do you ask?”

“At first blush, I’d say the fact that she was pregnant and the nature of the injuries all point to spousal abuse. The extreme measures that were carried out at the hotel paint a picture of ongoing abuse reaching its final breaking point. I’d look into a boyfriend or spouse.”

“She wasn’t married.”

“How about a boyfriend?”

Liam’s face reddened. “None that we know about, but we’re still looking into it.”

Gerri picked up another picture. “The way I see it, this woman had a significant other who was a control freak. Power over women can be very enticing, very addictive to someone like this. I hesitate calling him a sociopath because this could be anything from a psychotic break to a serial killer and everything in between. We just don’t know yet.

“I’d envision him beating her or ruling over her, always the one needing to be in control, always secretly scared to death that he may lose that control. The hanging could be simply the suspect’s need to scare the victim, to hold her in suspense until he kills her. Again, this all stems from the killer having the power and controlling what takes place next.

“Perhaps the pregnancy was unplanned, unexpected. She told the man about the baby, and that represented his loss of control. He killed her by hanging her and then slit her stomach in both an attempt to scar her as well as to make sure the baby was dead. He was going to be the one who controlled life and death. Him killing her made the unplanned loss of control go away. Him killing her made everything all right again.”

Liam looked at the pictures on the table. He’d never tried to control anything about Kerri. In fact, it was her loose spirit that had made her so attractive. They’d had a few superficial arguments, but he’d never touched her. The person Gerri was describing was not a person Liam could ever be. “What about the hair?” he asked. “What does that tell you?”

Gerri took a picture that showed a close-up of Kerri’s shaved head. She studied it for a few minutes. “What’s the one thing that makes or breaks a woman in our society?”

“I don’t know.”

“Beauty. Our makeup, our bodies, our nails, our eyebrows, our figures, and our hair. Hair is probably the greatest self-defining, first-impression characteristic both women and men have, but for women its significance is much greater. Our hair defines us, like it or not. I hate the fact that society makes us obsess about our hair and all these other things, but we do, all of us.

“Shaving the head is this guy’s way of making the victim ugly in his mind. He’s using his power to take away her beauty. That’s what he’s trying to do here. It’s all about the power. The killer and his power.” She handed the pictures back. “What was the victim’s name?”

“Kerri Miller.”

Gerri took a pen from her breast pocket and jotted the name on a notepad. “If you get me her social security number, I’ll do a search to see if she was ever admitted to an ER for something that would indicate abuse.”

“That would be great.”

“You should also do an off-line search through NCIC to see if there have been any other murders with these trademarks. The slashing of the stomach. The hair. The hanging. A combination of the three. As I said, I don’t know what we’re dealing with here. Wouldn’t hurt to tap NCIC.”

“Will do.” Liam took the photographs and opened the folder. As he began to drop them into the file, he stopped. “Let me ask you something. Is it possible for someone to commit a crime like this and not remember it? I mean, not have the faintest idea they were ever near a hotel, let alone do all this. Is it possible to forget everything?”

“Absolutely. If this guy had a psychotic break, his mind could shut down, and at that point he becomes a machine, his body just going through the motions with his subconscious leading the way. He then would repress the memory, and he could wake up the next day and not remember anything. Not even the tiniest little detail. He could forget it all. Repression is a defense mechanism. Women who’ve been raped have been known to repress so deeply that they’ll pass a lie detector test. They have no recollection of the rape ever taking place.”

“Really?”

“In a psychotic break, the memories are usually triggered as time goes on. Could take days or years, but the memories surface after a while. Why do you ask?”

“I was reading a case study the other day. Guy committed murder and had no memory of it. I thought it was strange.”

“It’s more common than you think.”

Liam slid the folder into his briefcase and climbed off the couch. “Thanks, Doc. This helps a lot.”

“And we didn’t need Nancy Drew after all.”

“I told you.”

Gerri walked Liam to the door. “Don’t be a stranger,” she said. “Call me, and we’ll do lunch. And keep going strong with Vanessa. I know you’ll be fine.”