Ryker followed Green through the car park and past the hotel building. The smell of freshly cooked meat and vegetables came and went as they walked by the kitchen for the hotel’s bar and restaurant. Whatever was on the day’s menu, it smelled amazing. Perhaps that was why Cardo had chosen the place.
They walked by Cardo’s car. A police officer was standing next to it. The driver’s door was open. Ryker glanced inside as he and Green headed to where a low metal barrier separated the car park from a wilderness of rock and pine trees that dropped into the valley below.
As Ryker approached the edge, he saw a gaggle of uniformed policemen plus a team of forensics – dressed head to toe in white coveralls – gathering around a small white tent about thirty feet below. Ryker looked down at the scene, then around at the car park. At Cardo’s car.
‘He was pushed over the edge?’ Ryker asked.
‘I don’t think he was going for an early morning hike,’ Green replied.
Ryker noticed the blood spatters on the tarmac, leading from the car to the barrier. ‘He was attacked up here.’
‘Well done, Einstein. Let’s go and take a look. Before you burn out your little detective brain.’
Ryker didn’t react to Green’s taunt. He was too busy thinking. Green stepped over the barrier and then cautiously scrambled down the rocks to the tent. Ryker followed, noticing that a few of the policemen had turned their suspicious eyes onto him.
When they reached the scene, Green introduced Ryker to the policemen, but Ryker took little notice. He moved over to the tent and lifted the flap to peer inside. He didn’t flinch as he stared down at the twisted and bloody form of Inspector Cardo.
The body was pressed up against the stump of a tree. From the outside, Ryker had seen that beyond was an almost sheer drop at least another fifty feet. One of Cardo’s legs was bent awkwardly underneath him, clearly snapped. An arm too looked like it was dislocated. The fall down the rocks had caused quite some damage.
But it hadn’t killed him. No, it was a knife that killed him.
Cardo’s lifeless body was fully clothed but each of the three stab wounds he’d suffered were noticeable from the small rips in his shirt and the patches of thick blood around them. Two wounds were in his chest. One in his side.
‘I don't know if he was alive or dead when he was pushed over the edge,’ Green said, from behind Ryker, ‘but those wounds would have killed him either way.’
‘Yeah,’ Ryker said without turning to face Green. ‘That was the intention. Anything of interest found on him?’
‘His phone. Wallet. ID. Car keys were on his driver’s seat.’
‘Anything else in the car?
‘Nothing that stands out.’
‘His room?’
‘We haven’t got there yet. An officer is outside making sure it’s not touched.’
‘Let’s go then,’ Ryker said, turning around.
‘That’s it? You’re done down here?’
‘What else can we do here? He’s dead. And we just said how it happened.’
‘Did we? Perhaps take a step back for my benefit then. What exactly happened here?’
Ryker stopped and turned to face Green. ‘Cardo was going to his car. The killer grabbed him before he got in, probably taking him by surprise from behind. The three stab wounds were delivered in quick succession. The two to the chest first, each intended to puncture a lung. Two attempts to make doubly sure. There’s a lot of bone around there. Two lungs, two attempts. The third in the side was a kidney strike. Enough on its own to be fatal.’
Green nodded, apparently impressed with Ryker’s words. Or maybe just his confidence.
‘Why in that order?’ Green asked.
‘The knife was left in the third time. To limit blood loss. You catch the renal artery and blood leaks everywhere. Leaving the knife in helped to counter that. But it also made Cardo easier to move.’
‘You think he was still conscious at that point?’
‘Doesn’t matter. Either way, the knife in the side gave the killer some leverage to pull him along. The stab wounds were chosen deliberately, fatal blows that wouldn’t draw much blood immediately. The killer could have slit his throat and let him bleed out by the car.’
‘But there is still blood on the ground. That’s how he was found.’
‘I know. Unavoidable when you’re stabbing someone. The wounds were intended to be fatal but also relatively clean, to prevent mess on the killer’s clothes. The attack was out in the open, in daylight, in a hotel car park. It needed to be quick, clean. A few blood spots is fine. Blood spraying here there and everywhere, not so much.’
‘So what was the point in throwing Cardo over the edge then?’
‘Simply to make our job more difficult. Through bad luck or judgment, the body got stuck on that tree stump. Otherwise he’d have been nearly a hundred feet down that ravine. We’d have had a hell of a time getting down to him, if the body had been spotted at all. Good for us. Bad for the killer.’
‘Yet the blood trail was there and the door to his car was wide open. Pretty obvious he was around here somewhere.’
‘The body catching on the tree stump was a mistake. It sent her off track. Once she’d killed him and dumped the body, she chose to get the hell away rather than attempt to clean anything up. She’s good. And ballsy too, attacking someone – a policeman – in the open like that. But clearly she’s a bit out of practice.’
Green raised an eyebrow. ‘She? So you know who did this?’
‘I’m pretty sure, yeah.’
‘That old friend of yours? The Red Cobra.’
‘I think so.’
‘Why Cardo?’
‘Good question. Let’s go to his room.’
Ryker and Green hauled themselves back up the rocks to the car park.
By the time they reached the top, Ryker’s hands were scraped and aching, covered in thick dust, as were his clothes. Green had fared similarly and looked less than impressed.
They each dusted themselves down as best they could then headed over to the hotel.
They entered through the main entrance. Ryker turned round to Green who indicated he should keep going. They reached a staircase and walked up to the first floor where the hotel’s few rooms were located.
‘Room five,’ Green said.
Ryker had already guessed that. There was after all only one room with a uniformed police officer idling outside. The officer stood straight and held his ground when he saw Ryker and Green approaching. Green pushed in front of Ryker and did the talking necessary to get the two men inside. The policeman glared at Ryker as he stepped into the room. It seemed everyone could sense he was the outsider. Not one of them.
Cardo’s room was basic. The floor was covered in red terracotta tiles. There was a rickety old wardrobe and a mismatched set of drawers with an old portable TV on top. On the opposite side was a single bed and accompanying table and lamp. The room was clean, the bed made up. No sign of Cardo’s belongings anywhere.
‘He was already staying here?’ Ryker asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘And he hadn’t checked out?’
‘No. Put these on.’ Green handed Ryker some blue plastic gloves.
Ryker pulled on the gloves, then explored. ‘Was this guy anal or did he just not own anything?’