Part 47: Kiss Goodbye - Part 3

The four bodies:



As we go, I'll fill you in on the equivalent case from four years ago.






This fellow's been knifed int' back, look.

Yes, and it seems the blade was laced with poison.



I've not heard of the Barbane Street Stabbing before, Prof. What happened there then?

A woman's body was found on a quiet street one night. She'd been stabbed in the back with a poisoned knife.

Just like this fellow.



That's why they're called the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings, eh?

Precisely. In fact, that case was the first one.

The start of so many...

Mmm. Anyway, that's all you need to know right now about that case.

Let's continue with our investigations here.



Ee, my mam always told me not to sit too close to the telly.



What's that then, Prof?

It happened in a very run-down block of flats on an inner-city estate.

A man was found in a room that had been completely ransacked. He'd been strangled, and after he was dead, a television set had been smashed over his head.

Who's do summat like that? And why?

I have no idea.

The only logical explanation at the time was that it had been done in anger. But there was no evidence pointing to the culprit whatsoever at the scene of the crime.



Another one, eh?

In fact, thinking about it, that was the second of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings.

And they're still going on now, by the looks of things.

Mmm. Anyway, that's all you need to know right now about that case.

I suggest we carry on with our investigations here.



This is Fassi's body, eh?



Alfendi makes it sound like a sightseeing attraction or the start of an antique appraisal.

Ee, the Stiffin Abattoir Murder? That's sounding grim already.

Yes. The abattoir doesn't exist any more, but at the time, it was one of the largest in the area.

One morning an employee there discovered the body of a woman in one of the refrigerators.

A frozen body, eh? Nasty.

Actually, it wasn't a freezer, so the body wasn't frozen. But that's irrelevant.

The victim had been strangled and then deliberately moved into the refrigerator.



It's like the killer were making it into some sort of game. Very disturbing.

That was the third of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings.

Anyway, now I've filled you in on that, let's get back to the case at hand.



Urgh, this poor fellow's all charred.



What's St. Florian's?

A hospital. Or rather, it was. When the murder happened, it had already been decommissioned.

They found a charred body in the disused building. The post-mortem revealed the victim had been doused in petrol and set alight while he was still alive.

Did it also reveal the numbers 17121 in his chest?

Urgh...



Investigations showed that the culprit almost certainly watched the victim burn to death.

..........

Are you alright, Lucy?

I just can't fathom how anyone could do summat like that. Summat so morbid.

No. Neither can I.



This is quite interesting.

Eh?

Never mind.

This was the fourth of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings.

So, now I've filled you in on that, let's get back to our investigations here, shall we?

Aye, let's.

So, that's all of the victim's bodies examined.

I can't believe all these gruesome murders have been going on with the public knowing nowt about it.

I'm sorry to say that these four are on the mild side.



Horrible.

In fact, the sole link between all of the cases was the jigsaw puzzle piece left at each crime scene.

Can you imagine what would have happened if news of such random killings had got out?

I see. There were no common thread at all, then. Just the puzzle pieces, eh?

Oh, I've got it! You could make any murder look like it were part of the serial killings, just by leaving a puzzle piece there!

Quite. The perfect way to disguise a totally unrelated crime.

That's why it were kept all hush-hush, eh?

And then...

Aye?

No, never mind.

More importantly, one of the bodies here is particularly troubling.

They all seem pretty troubling to me, Prof.

What I mean is, although these are all copycats of previous Puzzle Piece Killings...