Page 22 of Absent Remorse

The coroner went to a safe in one corner, opened it, and took out three knives in a single evidence bag. He took them from the bag, setting them out on the desk.

“We’ve already checked them for fingerprints and DNA,” the coroner said. “They’re clean. Whoever did this was meticulous about making sure that he left no trace of himself.”

Meticulous. That sounded like a good word to describe the man who had designed the puzzle that Amber still held. She found herself leaning in to look at the knives more closely. Simon was doing the same, examining them with the professional interest of someone who knew weapons.

“Stilettos,” he said. “Probably custom made, given the work on the hilts.”

That was what caught Amber’s eye. The knives were slender but had elaborately scrolled handles whose designs reminded her a little of the puzzle. The same lines, the same sense of a language that Amber simply didn’t know. Each of the knives appeared to be unique, the designs differing from the others. Amber wondered if that was significant.

“Is it possible that these are a part of the puzzle?” Amber wondered aloud.

“You think they might be?” Simon asked.

“The hilts look the same,” Amber said. “I can’t help feeling that they might be a part of it somehow. Can we take them with us?”

The coroner nodded. “I was going to send them over to you anyway.”

Amber felt a little guilty about her sudden spark of excitement at the prospect of the knives helping, because each one represented someone who had been killed, rather than just an extra piece of information.

“Was there anything else by the bodies?” Simon asked. “Anything else that might help us?”

Amber could hear a hint of frustration there in his voice. He was obviously hoping for more.

The coroner shook his head. “That’s all there is. Just the knives and the three victims.”

“Then we should get going,” Simon said, picking up the knives. He was obviously eager to try to look for answers elsewhere.

“I’ll show you out.”

The coroner started to lead them out through the mortuary, back into the cold of it. Amber could see some of Simon’s disappointment with the little that they’d learned, but maybe the knives would prove useful in opening the puzzle.

Thinking about it made her look down at the puzzle in her hands, and she happened to glance at the cover that was the only part she’d managed to remove so far. Would she be able to get into the rest before any more women died? Could she find a way to outthink the puzzle’s designer?

She would. She had to.

As Amber thought about that, she noticed something about the cover. There was a marking there on the interior surface, something that she was sure hadn’t been there before: a number 3.

“Wait!” Amber said, stopping and staring at it.

“What is it?” Simon asked. He came across, following her gaze and looking down at the puzzle. “Wait, was that there before?”

Amber shook her head. “No, I think … I think it must be something to do with the cold. The other side reacted to heat, so maybe this side reveals its answer in the cold?”

“But three?” Simon asked. “What does ‘three’ mean? Three victims? Is this his way of telling us that he only intends to kill three women?”

“Maybe, or maybe this part is meant to be revealed after three victims?” Amber suggested. “Maybe he doesn’t think we’ll get any further until more die?”

“So, we have to wait for more women to be murdered to get further with the puzzle?” Simon asked.

Not if Amber had anything to do with it. She was determined to find the answer, to get to the heart of the puzzle before anyone else could die.

“Maybe it’s not that,” Amber said. “Maybe it has something to do with the puzzle.”

“What, though?” Simon asked. “Three on its own doesn’t make any sense, unless it’s saying that all the watches on the second layer should be set to three o’clock?”

Amber tried it, but even as she did so, she knew that it wouldn’t be something so straightforward, not from this killer. There was no response from the cube.

“Nothing,” Simon said. “Maybe we need to get back to the office and—”

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