Clio told her boss what she’d discovered: the delicate threads linking Eleanor Bruton and an embroidery fragment to the Institute of Manuscript Studies at St. Andrews. DI Tim Keenan had his best poker face on as she did. She admired how he never made snapjudgments, preferring to consider things carefully before making up his mind. As Lillian said: He swivels the jar and looks at a specimen from all angles before classifying it.
When Clio had finished her story and shown Tim a photo of Eleanor’s poem, he said, “If these were different times, I’d greenlight this, because I can smell trouble here the same as you can, but I need everyone on Operation Platinum.”
Clio nodded. She knew. She watched him carefully, still mindful of Lillian’s warning, but he wasn’t reacting any differently from usual. He said, “But why don’t you liaise with the officer who made the inquiry. Let them know we think she’s been deliberately posed as St. Katherine and tell them everything you’ve just told me.”
“Will do.”
She composed the email, laying everything out carefully, and paused before hitting send. She added a cheeky request to see the crime-scene report, justifying it by suggesting her department might have more useful expertise to add. The reply came promptly.
To: Clio Spicer
From: Izzy Adefope
Re: Operation Saint
Date: September 18, 2024
Hi Clio,
Thanks so much for your team’s prompt input. Much appreciated. As you can see, it arrived in time to inspire the name of our operation.
Below is a list of personal items found at the scene. ID was straightforward. A bag left beside her body contained her wallet and driver’s license. Whoever did this made no attempt to disguise her identity.
Lack of blood or any other evidence around the body leads us to assume that she was killed elsewhere and moved to the location where she was found. Cause of death is a single bullet wound to the back of the neck. Bullet exited through the forehead. Either the shooter got lucky, or they knew what they were doing. We’re leaning toward it being a professional hit.
For obvious reasons we have a strong working theory that the death was intended as a message. Your info strengthens that hypothesis. The location of the body dovetails with the St. Katherine theme. The park where she was found is on Butcher Lane in Limehouse, next door to an organization called the Royal Foundation of St. Catherine. (FYI: Spellings of Saint Katherine of Alexandria’s name are interchangeable. Whether it’s with akor ac,it’s the same saint so the location where this body has been left is unlikely to be a coincidence given your theory on the costume and the pose.)
We have no idea yet who this symbolic message might be for or from, and we’re holding off publicizing any details for as long as we can, to give us space to make inquiries before the internet gets hold of it and speculation goes through the roof.
What we’ve established so far is that Professor Cornish worked for the Institute of Manuscript Studies in St. Andrews, Scotland. We haven’t located any next of kin yet. If we can’t identify anyone soon, we’ll contact the Institute to inform her colleagues and see if they can assist with that.
If you or your team have more thoughts, I’d love to hear them. None of us has expertise in the art or rare book world. We’re all Philistines, basically. Thanks for your assistance to date.
Izzy
DC Izzy Adefope
Murder Squad
LIST OF PERSONAL ITEMS FOUND AT THE SCENE
Bra
Knickers
Dress (possibly from a costume)
Headscarf (possibly from a costume)
Handbag
Bag contents:
iPhone
Sewing kit
Wallet including bank cards, Oyster card, and library card
