Wolfsheim finally set free a sigh, took the cup of black coffee Vincent Hue offered him, shook off his momentary lapse of objectivity and smiled at her.
They knew what had killed Raymond Handley.
And this one was a beaut.
It wasn’t what killed Raymond Handley but in what order. Handley’s homicide was a masterpiece of misdirection, leaving a conundrum that Cody and his crew would ultimately have to pull out every stop to unravel. Why had this killer resorted to such deviltry murdering Handley when killing him straight out could have been so much simpler?
That was Cody’s problem. But Wolfsheim wasn’t ready to spring that question. He had his own method of briefing the members of the TAZ. Briefing was, he liked to say, a continuous educational process. So he began by reviewing what the squad already knew.
Wolfsheim sipped his coffee. Then he began his lecture, his build-up to the autopsy findings.
“Micah and Bergman did a great job on entry,” Wolf said. “That was great tracking. And Annie followed up sweeping the whole scene. What we can ascertain for sure is that this was a prepared crime scene. The killer came in first, probably with a key supplied by Handley, and set up the scene of the crime in the library.
“I think we will also assume from the tracks in the carpeting that Handley came in, went straight to his bedroom, undressed, and then walked barefooted to the library where the killer was waiting. Handley walked with the killer to the chair and willingly permitted the killer to handcuff his hands and feet to the arms and legs of the chair. This is when it gets dicey.
“As you know,” he went on, “we try to ascertain the initial cause of death and the last event prior to death and if there is a time lapse between the two. For instance, let’s say a woman is hit by a car. She is rushed to the hospital where it is determined she has catastrophic blunt trauma. Also internal bleeding. Examination shows a broken rib has pierced the heart and she is bleeding internally. Loss of blood has been severe. The rib is removed and the heart is sewn up but the woman dies. Initial cause of death was blunt trauma. The last event prior to death was shock caused by internal bleeding. The time lapse was continuous so the final ruling would be that the cause of death was trauma from the automobile accident.
“In this case, the initial cause of death appeared to be a stabbing or piercing of the throat which was a catastrophic wound. It was a slash from left to right which cut the jugular, all other blood vessels and the windpipe. However, the absence of blood puts the initial cause of death in doubt. Further examination of the body revealed a small puncture wound in the left carotid artery, similar to that left by the insertion of an IV. We also know that approximately two liters of blood were drawn from the body using the IV as a siphon. That’s almost half of the body’s blood supply and would have resulted in extreme trauma to the heart. The result would be a lowering of blood to the brain, shock to the heart. Ultimately lethal.”
“Where did the blood go?” Winters asked.
“Don’t rush me,” Wolfsheim snapped back without looking at her.
“Sorry.”
“That’s okay, you’ll learn,” he answered with a wisp of a smile. “Continuing. There’s another wrinkle. We completed an examination of the blood which shows us it contained toxic levels of both nitroglycerine and yohimbine. Point three milliliters of nitroglycerine and ten milliliters of yohimbine, which you probably know as Yohimbe, a fast-acting aphrodisiac when administered orally. Yohimbine is an alpha-2 adrenergic block agent. A dose of yohimbine this high has numerous side effects, including rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, overstimulation, and seizures.
“The two drugs are additive and would cause an almost immediate and deadly drop in the blood pressure.”
He paused for another sip of coffee while the TAZ squad waited impatiently for the big kahuna to continue.
“The question is, which came first? Based on the condition of the heart and brain, it is my conclusion that the Yohimbe was administered first. I’m sure he took it willingly and chased it down with the drink on the table which was bourbon. The killer then began to masturbate Handley. Then he was given a second drink which contained the nitro tablet, and the killer began to service him orally. Handley was approaching a state of ecstasy and it was easy to slip the handball into his mouth and tie it in with the towel. That stifled any screaming. With the introduction of the nitro, Handley was brought to orgasm-and probably suffered extreme pain similar to angina. Then the killer injected the needle and began the exsanguination. Handley’s blood pressure already had dropped dangerously low with the administration of the drugs, and with the loss of blood he was probably brain dead within five minutes followed shortly thereafter by a fatal heart attack.
“We found no DNA so I guess the killer swallowed,” Rizzo snickered, drawing a piercing stare from Annie.
Wolfsheim ignored the interruption. “The killer then withdrew the IV, the remaining blood had settled by gravity to the lower part of the body and there was no blood when the killer cut Handley’s throat.”
“Why go to the trouble of draining the blood when the nitro-Yohimbe dose would have killed Handley?” Bergman asked.
“Good question,” Wolfsheim said.
Bergman took a cautious guess. “No blood stains on the killer or in the room to mess things up?”
“Possibly, but I doubt it,” Wolfsheim answered.
“Make sure he died if by some miracle the nitro and Yohimbe didn’t kill him?” Hue guessed.
“I like that better,” said Wolfsheim.
Then Annie threw in a question: “Why cut his throat after all that?”
“Why indeed,” Wolfsheim muttered again.
“Now may I ask what happened to the blood?” Kate Winters asked cautiously.
“Sure,” said Wolfsheim. “Annie, you want to take that one?”
“Okay,” she said. “There were a few fibers at the death scene. They were on the floor next to the chair where Handley was killed. We’re checking them but we feel fairly certain they came from the towel around Handley’s neck. We’re guessing that towel was put on the floor and the blood drained into something fairly portable resting on the towel.”
“Like a hot water bottle,” Wolfsheim added. “Then it was dumped into the toilet in the guest bathroom.”
“Did you guess that?” Cody asked. “Is that why you took him out sitting up?”
“Educated guess. The blood had to be somewhere. All the killer had to do was drain half his blood supply, two-point-seven liters, to kill him. So I assumed the rest of it had settled in his lower body. Had we tilted him over it would have run out of his mouth, ears, the slit in his throat. All over the place. So, I decided to haul him out the way he was. Also the neighbors wouldn’t notice.”
Rothschild picked it up. She was excited. “The bourbon most likely came from Handley’s wet bar in the library,” she said. “The knife that slashed his throat had a serrated blade so we think it was one of the knives in a holder in the kitchen. Also washed clean in the toilet. We brought it in to test it.”
“Which still doesn’t answer, “Why make the kill so complicated?’” Hue said.
“Also it had to be somebody Handley knew,” Bergman offered. “Perhaps someone who had been there before to case the place.”
Cody had been listening to the word play. Now he joined in. “Well,” he said, “I agree he may have known Handley before that night, but it’s not a certainty. Handley could have described the layout. We have to assume Handley was discreet. He knew the only potential witness was the masseuse across the hall, who was usually asleep by eleven-thirty. So Handley would have been comfortable going to his place.”
“So would the killer,” said Bergman. “I mean, up the stairs and in the door. Hell, entry in a minute, exit in a minute. Somebody spots you going in, you abort the job. Only risk is a minute to get out.”