Barbara took up the two photos that they were supposing featured Teo Bontempi at the door to her building, speaking to the visitors. In the second of these photos, the messenger bag appeared in the same position. In both of the CCTV photos, the figure was dressed in black. In both of the photos the figure wore something to cover the head. In this picture it was a baseball cap.
She said the obvious, “Right. Could be the same person. With a bag large enough to hold a head-bashing weapon. But if Hoodie’s the one who smashed Teo Bontempi’s skull, why never come out of the building once the deed is done?”
“There’s a fire exit,” Nkata pointed out. “Has to be one. Could be Hoodie left that way, which would’ve been used only from inside the place.”
“But whoever it is would’ve had to know where it is, right? The killer wouldn’t exactly wander round looking for it.”
“Nothing to suggest this person hadn’t been there before,” Nkata said.
“The messenger bag in two of the photos fits that possibility,” Lynley pointed out.
“Rosie?” Barb said.
“Could be. And now we know Rosie’s pregnant by her sister’s husband—”
“Have you pictures of him?” Barbara said. “He says he went to see her. He says he found her on the floor and he put her to bed. Is there corroboration? C’n I have a look through those?” She indicated the other photos, these from the stack that had been printed but rejected. She found one and slid it across the table to Lynley and Nkata. She said, “This looks like Ross Carver. Same height, same weight, same man bun, same—”
“Same what?” Lynley was wearing his reading specs and he looked over the top of them to her. “What is a man bun? Or am I unwise to ask.”
“Top knot,” Nkata told him. “Bloke’s with longer hair . . . ? Like sumo wrestlers?”
“Ah. Fascinating style choice,” Lynley commented. “Do we know what time he went there?” He reached for the photo of Messenger Bag entering the building in the company of those who’d held the door open. He compared them. “The time stamp has Messenger Bag entering the building seventy-four minutes before Ross Carver,” he said. “Not a great deal of time to get into Teo Bontempi’s flat, to distract her enough—with conversation? an argument? some kind of proposal?—to club her, and to leave. All prior to the arrival of Ross Carver, whom she or he—at least we can surmise—did not know was coming.”
“But why not finish the job before Carver got there? Only Teo knew he was coming. Her killer wouldn’t have known.”
“Panic?” Lynley said.
Barbara added, “One of those bloody-hell-what-have-I-done moments?”
“Which suggests that the job on Teo wasn’t finished because it wasn’t intended in the first place. The killer had gone there for conversation.”
“Sounds like Rosie to me,” Nkata said.
“But are you saying Rosie is our weapon wielder and she took said weapon with her just in case?” Barbara demanded.
“We got Hoodie with that messenger bag,” Nkata pointed out.
“At this point, we could have Colonel Mustard with the candlestick as well.”
Lynley set aside all the photos. “It could be the messenger bag actually means nothing, just something Hoodie habitually carries.”
“It could also be that both Hoodie and the messenger bag mean nothing,” Barbara said, and then added, “Have we got anything from the sculptures?”
“Forensics says tomorrow. But they’ve said that before.” Lynley glanced once again at the photos, saying to Nkata, “Do we have the sister on any of the CCTV recordings?”
“DCs’re not finished up there,” Nkata said. “We been looking at the days leading up to the incident. We’ll find her. She’s said she was there. It’ll help if digital forensics can improve what we gave ’em.”
“So,” Barbara said, “aside from Rosie we’ve got two unidentified people having a chat with Teo Bontempi out of doors. She doesn’t let them in, right?”
“Tha’s it, far ’s we can tell,” Nkata agreed.
“One of the two shows up again and enters with a group but then doesn’t leave. Seems, then, if Hoodie isn’t Rosie, we’re looking for someone who had an agenda in visiting her and a goal in having a natter with her.”
“Which takes us where if not to Rosie?” Nkata asked.