Chapter 7 #4
“A timeline.” Awe colored Griffin’s voice, and Bel tried not to smile. Eamon just might win her boss over in the end. “A visual map of his victims, start to finish.”
“This is good. Thank you.” Lina jerked to a stand, only half acknowledging Eamon as she directed agents to help her tag the victims by tattoo quality.
“The man who knows everything.” Bel hooked her pinky finger around his, not missing his subtle smile at their connection. “So you were an artist in another life?”
“Me hovering that close to open wounds? Because that’s what tattoos are.” Eamon tugged her hand until she met his gaze. “What do you think?”
“Then how do you know all this?”
“The blue dress I got you. The one you wore on the island and for your birthday. Its designer had an incredibly talented friend who was stuck working for a predatory boss. He couldn’t get out of his contract, nor could he afford to start his own business.
She asked me if I would help him like I’d helped her, so I bought the artist’s contract and set him up with his own shop.
Like every company or entrepreneur I invest in, I remain a silent partner to keep people from noticing I don’t age, but in the process of launching the business, I learned a lot about the art. It’s fascinating.”
“Why didn’t you get one?” Bel asked, allowing herself to fantasize about a very tattooed and very naked Eamon Stone for ten seconds to grant her brain a brief reprieve from the overwhelming death at her feet.
“I heal too quickly,” he explained. “The artist would notice. Plus, I’m not sure how my body would handle the ink. Human immune systems can’t purge it, but mine might be able to. I’ve never bothered trying.”
“Makes sense, but you would look so hot with full sleeves.” She directed her eyes to his unfortunately clothed biceps.
“I could always test it if you really like the idea.”
“You don’t have to.” She bumped his biceps with her shoulder, and he released her finger to capture her hand, audience be damned.
“I just think a well-designed sleeve would look amazing on you…” Bel instantly sobered.
“The more recent scales tattoos are so beautiful. They’re truly works of art, but I have this sick feeling they weren’t consensual.
I think he made his victims sit bare and afraid while he mutilated them, and that mental image destroys the beauty.
It’s a perversion of the art form. I don’t even want to picture it because he tattooed everything—every inch of their lower half.
What breed of monster are we dealing with that he could violate them so disturbingly?
Because you were the Impaler, yet you’re appalled. ”
“Don’t let your love for me blind you, Detective. I wasn’t a good man. I’m barely a good man now.”
“You—”
“Mr. Stone.” Barry interrupted them with an extended hand, the FBI agent unfazed by the man’s illegal presence at a crime scene.
It wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed the man barge uninvited into police spaces, and it seemed, like Griffin, Barry had accepted the fact that wherever Detective Isobel Emerson went, the millionaire followed.
“Dr. Thum told me your tattoo theory,” the agent continued when Eamon shook his hand.
“So, one guy tattooed all these girls.” He crossed his arms over his chest to mimic Eamon’s stance, but standing side by side in their FBI jackets, Eamon’s towering size stole all the authority from the man truly in charge.
“Every inch of skin from their hips to their toes. That would’ve taken a long time.
They’re also distinct and memorable. It should be easy to find the shop responsible. ”
“I doubt these were done in a shop,” Bel said. “Like you said, distinct and memorable. People would notice if every client who commissioned this tattoo went missing.”
“Right.” Barry wiped his forehead, the summer heat unrelenting despite the sunset. “So, these were done in a private setting. The question is, was the killer a professional, or an amateur teaching himself?”
“Either? Both?” Bel shrugged.
“His earlier victims show signs of multiple mistakes,” Eamon said. “But his later works are beautiful. Maybe he was an apprentice when he started killing and is a professional now. The amount of tattooed skin these girls wear… that’s hundreds of hours worth of work.”
“An apprentice too eager to master his skill?” Barry said.
“I don’t think so,” Bel said. “The mermaids, the lake, the scales. Bettering his career might have been a welcomed side effect, but these deaths had a purpose. They were his ritual.”
“And we’re assuming he’s a he?” Barry asked.
“I believe so,” Bel said. “The nudity. The vulnerability and humiliation of such young women. The forced mutilation. We’re looking for a man.”
“I agree with that assessment,” Griffin chimed in.
“Are we sure these tattoos were forced?” Olivia asked. “They are massive. Mr. Stone, they would require multiple sessions to complete, right?”
“You’re correct,” Eamon said, and while he seemed unfazed by her use of his last name, the sound bothered Bel. The partners had made progress since Christmas, but it was becoming increasingly, if not upsettingly, obvious that they’d never reclaim the title of friends.
“So, if these girls required multiple sessions, they’d need to return to the artist and sit for hours. Plus, there’s a decent amount of healing time needed,” Olivia said. “I agree these weren’t done in a legitimate shop, but there’s a chance these tattoos were consensual.”
“I’m not so sure,” Bel argued. “Ariella Triton is Bajka’s only missing female, but if these were consensual tattoos, it would’ve taken weeks, meaning the people in these girls’ lives would’ve seen the ink.
It would’ve drawn attention, and the police always ask about tattoos and distinguishing marks when missing persons reports are filed.
Our killer wouldn’t have wanted his work publicized. ”
“You think these women were tattooed against their will?” Barry asked.
“Yes,” Bel and Eamon answered together, earning him a glare from Olivia.
“I could be wrong,” Bel continued, “but everything about this scene is specific and expertly designed. Clients often start tattoos and never finish them, and not everyone books their sessions regularly. He controlled every aspect of these mermaids’ deaths; I mean, look at where we found the bodies.
” She gestured behind them to the dark waters.
“This area is restricted, yet he discovered a safe way through the rocks and located a bare section large enough for his floating graveyard. This isn’t a man who leaves things to chance, and hoping women will voluntarily return for such a massive undertaking is risky.
He would’ve made sure these girls remained to finish their scales, and he would’ve made sure no one knew about them.
These girls didn’t come to him. He took them. ”
The group fell silent, offering the mermaids their horrified respect for what they must have endured in the days leading to their deaths.
“There are no signs of struggle present on the bodies,” Lina finally said. “So if he’d kidnapped them, he either drugged them or tattooed them under duress. How long would he have needed to complete the designs?” She directed her question to Eamon.
“Depends on skill and how heavy-handed he was,” he answered.
“The early mermaids? Weeks maybe. I noticed scarring among the many mistakes, meaning he probably beat up the skin, and you can’t tattoo the same area again until it heals.
He could’ve continued down the legs, even if the previous sections were raw, but it would’ve been excruciating.
Any touch-ups or detailing couldn’t have been added until the skin healed.
He also wouldn’t have killed them until the tattoos were fully healed as well. ”
“Why’s that?” Barry asked.
“You can’t go swimming or take a bath after a tattoo,” Eamon explained.
“Exterior skin heals in about two weeks, but full healing can take months. If you submerge the area immediately afterwards, you’ll get an infection.
Depending on how quickly he killed them after completion, that might not be an issue, but an open wound could still gather bacteria and cause rotting.
To preserve his mermaids, he probably took weeks to finish the tattoos and then let them heal for at least a month, if not more, before killing them.
All this effort just to sink them and never see his work again…
” Eamon met Bel’s gaze, and her stomach clenched at the darkness swirling in his black irises.
She wasn’t going to like the next words to leave his mouth.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t kill them right away.
I would keep them,” he continued. “You don’t spend this much time, effort, and money to perfect this art and display it on the most beautiful young women, and then forget they exist. I think he kept them.
I think he enjoyed watching his mermaids until the imperfect tattoos drove him to dispose of his mistakes and try again over and over until he created his masterpiece. ”
“Good god.” Griffin walked away from where the group had gathered around one such flawlessly designed mermaid and hovered in the darkness until he collected himself enough to return.
“It’s no surprise that we’re dealing with a terrifying individual.
” He gestured at the glass as he returned to the fold.
“But keeping them like this. Sometimes, I hate this job.”
“Me too,” Lina whispered.
“Is this why we haven’t found Ariella Triton?” Olivia asked. “Is she still being tattooed?”
“God, I hope not,” Bel whispered, and it didn’t surprise her that both Griffin and Barry spoke those same four words with her.