Connections in Death (In Death 48)

“Seen her around now and again,” Grogan said, “even rousted her a few times for begging without a license. Popped her for possession last summer. She didn’t have much of a life, but they sure as hell crushed what she had out of her.”

“Yeah, they did.”

“It’s a violation of the neutral zone,” he added. “It comes out Dragons did this, we’re going to have a gang war.”

Considering, she turned, looked at him. “Is this the sort of thing the Dragons do?”

“It seems to me if she crossed some line and they decided to beat her to death, rape her with it, then they wouldn’t leave the body here. They’d dump it over in Banger territory. Leaving her here, in violation, messing her up this bad when everybody knows she’s a Banger Bitch? You’re asking for a war.”

Interesting, Eve thought, crouching and opening her kit.

She verified ID, recording the body in situ. “Evidence of rape, possibly multiple rapes. Victim has been beaten—face, torso, abdomen. Her left foot and ankle appear to be broken. She has no identification, no coat or shirt, no shoes. The tears on her earlobes indicate she’d been wearing earrings, and an assailant ripped them from her ears. Bruises on her throat indicate strangulation. Manual choking.”

Carefully, Eve ran her sealed hands over the blood-matted hair, around the back of the head. “Skull’s crushed. Pounded it into the ground,” she added. “That’s what they did.

“Lure her in here. Got some good stuff, payment for the job you did tonight. Start punching. She’s got deep bruises around her mouth. Hold a hand over her mouth so she can’t scream. It’ll be the same three who did Pickering. It’s going to be the same three.”

Three big males against one underweight female. Brave bastards, a credit to their gang.

Fuckers.

“Beat, kick, rape. Take turns there. Choke her. Beat her head against the concrete. Take her coat, her boots. Her shirt’s going to be ripped most likely, why take her shirt? Take her ’link if she has one, anything else, rip the fucking earrings out of her ears, and leave her.”

She took out her gauge, checked for time of death.

“Just before twenty-two-thirty. About the time we got to Banger HQ. She’s already here getting the shit beat out of her when we’re talking to Slice.”

“Are you thinking Slice ordered this, Lieutenant?”

She pushed to her feet. “You don’t?”

“Well, you’re Homicide, but…”

“But you work this area.”

“I sure do.”

“So, tell me why you don’t think Slice ordered this.”

“I don’t see him wanting a gang war, not this way. He wants more turf, sure.”

“Turf’s pride,” Eve put in. “It’s power and money.”

“That’s right. But you’re asking for just what you’ve got this way. A bunch of cops asking all kinds of questions. Like I said, leaving her here is a violation. I’m not saying he’s a humanitarian, but if he’d ordered her hit, it’d be cleaner.”

He swiped a finger across his throat. “He likes the sharps. Beating and raping her takes time. He’d want it quick and done. Dump her somewhere, maybe in the river. Looks more like a sex deal gone wrong, a mugging, wh

atever. Keep away from his turf. Cops’ll ask questions, but not like we will now, and not a spit away from his HQ.”

His take ran on the same track as hers.

“You’ve got points, Grogan. Right down the line. I need you and your partner to do a canvass. TOD is just before twenty-two-thirty, but it wasn’t quick. We’re looking for anything from twenty-one to twenty-three. Do you know if she had any friends?”

“I don’t know much about her, Lieutenant. She had some crazy in her—not, you know, benign like Nancy Nuts. A mean streak of crazy. I can’t remember seeing her hang out with anyone much. She struck me as more a hanger-on than part of the inner circle, if you get me.”

“I get you. Stay with the body,” she ordered the droids, and called for the sweepers and the dead wagon.

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