The Skin Collector Read Online Free PDF Page A

He’d always believed it was just a matter of time before somebody used the place as a killing zone.
    ‘Sexual assault?’
    ‘No, Amelia,’ Sellitto said. ‘The perp’sa tattoo artist, seems. And from what the respondings said a pretty fucking good one. He gave her a tat. Only he didn’t use ink. He used poison.’
    Rhyme had been a forensic scientist for many years; his mind often made accurate deductions from scant preliminary details. But inferences work only when the facts presented echo those from the past. This information was unique in Rhyme’s memory anddidn’t become a springboard for any theories whatsoever.
    ‘What was the toxin he used?’
    ‘They don’t know. This just happened, I was saying. We’re holding the scene.’
    ‘More, Lon. The design? That he tattooed on her?’
    ‘It was some words, they said.’
    The intrigue factor swelled. ‘Do you know what they were?’
    ‘The respondings didn’t say. But they told me it looked like only part of a sentence.And you can guess what that means.’
    ‘He’s going to need more victims,’ Rhyme said, glancing Sachs’s way. ‘So he can send the rest of his message.’

CHAPTER 4
    Sellitto was explaining:
    ‘Her name was Chloe Moore, twenty-six. Part-time actress – had a few roles in commercials and some walk-ons in thrillers. Working in the boutique to pay the bills.’
    Sachs asked the standard questions: Boyfriend trouble, husband trouble, triangle troubles?
    ‘Naw, none of the above that we could tell. I just started uniforms canvassing around the area but theprelim from the clerks in the store and her roommate is that she hung with a good crowd. Was pretty conservative. No boyfriend presently and no bad breakups.’
    Rhyme was curious. ‘Any tattoos, other than the one he killed her with?’
    ‘I dunno. First responders scooted as soon as the ME’s team declared DCDS.’
    Deceased, declared dead at scene. The official pronouncement by the city’s medical examinerthat got the crime scene clock running and started all kinds of procedures. Once DCDS was called, there was no reason for anybody to remain on the scene; Rhyme insisted that responders get the hell out to avoid contamination. ‘Good,’ he told Sellitto. He realized he was fully in View of Death Number One mode.
    ‘All right, Sachs. Where are we with the city worker?’ A glance at the City Hall report.

    ‘I’d say it’s done. Still awaiting customer records about people who bought that brand of knife. But I’m betting the perp didn’t use his credit card or fill out a questionnaire about customer service. Not much else to do.’
    ‘Agreed. Okay, Lon, we’ll take it. Though I can’t help but note you didn’t really ask. You just drew a straw on my behalf and stomped slush in here, assuming I’d get on board.’

    ‘What the fuck else’d you be doing, Linc? Cross-country skiing through Central Park?’
    Rhyme liked it when people didn’t shrink from his condition, when they weren’t afraid to make jokes like Sellitto’s. He grew furious when people treated him like a broken doll.
    There, there, poor you …
    Sellitto said, ‘I’ve called Crime Scene in Queens. There’s an RRV en route. They’ll let you take the lead,Amelia.’
    ‘On my way.’ She pulled on a wool scarf and gloves. She picked another leather jacket from the hook, longer, mid-thigh. In all their years together Rhyme had never seen her wear a full overcoat. Leather jackets or sport, that was about it. Rarely a windbreaker, either, unless she was undercover or on a tac op.
    The wind again blasted the ancient windows, rattling the frames, and Rhymenearly told Sachs to drive carefully – she piloted a classic rear-wheel-drive muscle car that behaved badly on ice – but telling Sachs to be cautious was like telling Rhyme to be patient; it just wasn’t going to happen.
    ‘You want help?’ Pulaski asked.
    Rhyme debated. He asked Sachs, ‘You need him?’
    ‘Don’t know. Probably not. Single