Authors: J.F. Penn
“Glad you made it out,” he said, smiling. “Sounds like you almost didn’t.”
His vivid blue eyes were intense and filled with concern. Jamie lifted a hand to touch his face, his jawline now smoothly clean shaven so he looked much younger. His eyes darkened and he leaned into her palm. She felt a connection with him, he had experienced horror and known loss and she didn’t have to explain herself with him. Blake had seen her vulnerability and it was a relief to know that he saw the truth.
“Jamie, I …” Blake started to speak but Jamie heard an edge of emotion she couldn’t face right now. His kindness would break her into pieces.
“What have you heard about the fire?” She interrupted him, wheezing a little.
“Only what’s on the news,” Blake said, and she saw understanding of the evasion in his expression. “Fire in a chemical lab spreads to the Hellfire Caves, sparking all kinds of rumors about what was actually going on that night. But the police say further investigations are needed before they reveal any more.” He raised an interested eyebrow. “So tell me the gory details, because they’ve taken all your personal effects so I can’t read them.”
Before Jamie could reply, the door opened and Missinghall entered, his face a picture of concern.
Blake stood up. “I’ll leave you two to talk,” he said. “You know where to find me when you’re ready, Jamie.”
He turned and walked to the door, nodding in acknowledgment at Missinghall, whose look of guarded interest made Jamie wonder what the two of them had talked about in the waiting area.
Missinghall sat down by the bed.
“I know you’re a senior officer and everything, but seriously, Jamie, what in hell were you thinking? Going in there alone was idiotic. You could have been killed.”
Jamie couldn’t help but smile at his concern, and the effort made her face ache. Her body felt so beaten up, and exhaustion sapped her strength.
“They had Polly’s body, Al, and I knew that the team wouldn’t get the evidence processed in time for the Lyceum’s meeting.” She thought of Esther Neville’s savaged body in the lab and Polly’s remains in the morgue below. “So what happened? Did you find anything left down there?”
“It’s all a big mess, and the Commissioner is trying to keep a lid on everything.” Missinghall shook his head. “But we found Esther Neville’s body ripped to pieces, and the remains of Edward Mascuria and several other men in the morgue downstairs. There were other body parts too, none recognizable, as well as a teenager’s skeleton, mostly burned to ashes.”
Tears welled in Jamie’s eyes and she took a deep breath.
“That’s Polly,” she whispered. “That’s my daughter.”
Missinghall closed his eyes for a second and then let out a long exhalation. “Oh Jamie, I’m so sorry. Her remains are being looked after, and once the investigation is over, I’m sure they’ll be released to you for burial.”
Jamie felt a kind of relief that Polly’s physical body had been committed to the flames, her Viking princess sent onward through the fire.
“What about the caves?” she asked, her voice cracking with the memory. “They murdered Rowan Day-Conti down there, Al.”
Missinghall nodded. “There were several bodies in the caves, badly burned, but we were able to ID Christopher Neville and parts of Day-Conti. That’s what we’re trying to keep a lid on, because he had only just been released from police custody when he disappeared again, presumably abducted by the Lyceum. There are also some pretty senior people in hospital with smoke inhalation, picked up by officers in the village as they emerged from the caves. Did you see any of the others involved?”
Jamie thought back to the swirling smoke and hallucinogenic nightmare of blades and blood. Had she really seen Detective Superintendent Dale Cameron amongst the Lyceum members, or was that some mirage fabricated by her own mind?
“I might be able to identify some of them,” she said, frowning. “But I was under the influence of drugs and, given the involvement of Polly’s body, I was emotionally distraught. I’m not exactly a reliable witness.”
Missinghall’s shoulders sagged with disappointment. “Oh well, Cameron’s assigned two officers to keep you safe until we wind up the investigation, just in case. They’re outside the door right now.” Jamie felt a prickle of concern. If Cameron had really been down in the caves, he would want to make sure that she didn’t identify him. Was she safe even now, she wondered, or were her suspicions just a result of the trauma? Missinghall continued. “And of course, the investigation into the Nevilles has been blown right open.”
“But they’re all dead,” Jamie said softly. “The Lyceum has no purpose now that it has claimed the lives of the whole family.”
“But the pharmaceutical company can go on without them, so that’s been kicked up into a bigger investigation. For the murder case, it’s just tying up the loose ends now, and of course, the dreaded paperwork.” Missinghall snorted with laughter. “Guess you’ll skip that this time.”
“And what are they saying about me, Al?”
Missinghall sighed, his eyes darting away as he spoke with reticence. “Of course, your actions are being debated and some are calling for your dismissal. You committed offenses Jamie: breaking and entering, concealing evidence which amounts to obstruction.” He shook his head. “Although, of course, it was understandable given the circumstances and Polly’s disappearance. You also managed to find the evidence that led to the Lyceum, even though it sounds as if you used some dubious methods.” Missinghall’s eyes flicked back to the door where Blake had left. “Despite everything, Cameron is campaigning for your return. But with everything that’s happened, do you even want to come back?”
Jamie wondered at Cameron’s actions to protect her from dismissal. Was he keeping her in debt to him because of what she had seen? Part of her wanted to just turn away and never go back, but what did she have in her life now? She thought of the sleeping pills in her bathroom cabinet, the emptiness of her flat and the hole in her heart. Life without Polly was unthinkable, but without her job, there would be no meaning at all.
“I want to come back,” she said. “I need to be busy, Al.”
Missinghall nodded. “But for now, you need some rest. I’ll visit again tomorrow, keep you up to speed on the gossip.”
He rose and walked to the door, then with a smile and a wave he was gone. Jamie turned her head to look out at the grey London sky, her thoughts only of Polly. As the wind whipped dry leaves past the window, she imagined her little girl out there, her soul soaring, finally free from the constraints of her physical pain. Jamie would always be a mother, but there would never be another Polly. The child born of her flesh and blood was no more and grief was like a solid bowling ball in Jamie’s gut. But her every breath was a decision to live and perhaps she would dance again, in Polly’s memory.
Thanks for joining Jamie and Blake in Desecration.
They will be returning soon in Delirium.
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Author’s Note
This book is rooted in my own fascination with how the physical body defines us in life as well as after death. Here are some of the factual details behind the story, but of course, it is fictionalized and any mistakes are my own. You can find pictures of my research at:
http://www.pinterest.com/jfpenn/desecration/
Hunterian Museum, Dissection and Teratology
You can find the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons in the heart of London and I based most of my initial research around the facts of John Hunter and 18
th
century medical dissections. When I first visited the Hunterian, I was physically overcome with weakness and nausea at some of the specimens I saw. This visceral reaction to human body parts fascinated me and that feeling is part of what I have tried to capture in the book. Despite my initial horror, I have been back to the Museum many times and consider it a privilege to examine the specimens that have given so much to science. If you’d like to read more, I recommend The Knife Man by Wendy Moore.
For this story, I embellished the collection at the Hunterian with artifacts from other teratological collections in museums around the world. My other sources included the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, the Wellcome Collection in Euston, the fantastic Morbid Anatomy blog and a brilliant exhibition at the Museum of London on Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men.
Teratology is the study of abnormalities in physiological development and it is truly a disturbing field to investigate.
Corpse art, body modification and Torture Garden
The use of corpses for art was inspired by my visit to the Von Hagens Bodies exhibition in New York, where plastinated sculptures are displayed in the exploded way described. In all my research, I couldn’t find a definitive answer on the legality of using donated bodies for art. The offense of stealing or abuse of a corpse differs by jurisdiction but if there is no ‘ownership’ of the corpse then the lines seem blurred. So I have taken fictional liberties with Rowan Day-Conti’s artwork.
Body modification by choice is an extreme form of self-expression that has a vibrant sub-culture. Torture Garden is a real fetish club in London where modification, as well as other forms of expression, are embraced. The inspiration for O’s character was a painting of a man with a large octopus tattoo at the National Gallery and I’ll be writing her complete story in another book as she keeps returning to my thoughts.
Psychic reading of objects/ psychometry
My obsession with the supernatural continues to be a theme in my writing. When I visited the Hunterian, one of the first things I saw was a wooden table with one of the earliest dissections of blood vessels. I imagined the person who had lain there, the rest of their flesh dissected away and that’s when I wondered what it would be like to read objects as Blake does.
Police procedure
Although I have used books and expert readers to help me with the police procedural aspect of the book, I have taken creative liberties with Jamie’s role. The story is less about police procedure and more about Jamie’s journey and the exploration of deeper themes, so all mistakes are purely my own. The use of psychics by the Police is fictionalized.
Tango
I have always wanted to dance tango and the scene of Jamie dancing was inspired by the book Twelve Minutes of Love. A Tango Story by Kapka Kassabova. I dare you to read it and not want to head straight for a milonga.
Mengele and vivisection
Josef Mengele used human vivisection in the Nazi camps and was particularly interested in twins and genetic abnormalities. There are reports that he indeed conjoined a pair of Roma twins. The notebook and anatomical Venus are fictionalized, although there are many specimens of the latter in collections around the world.
Hell Fire Caves, West Wycombe
The Hell Fire Caves are real and you can visit to read the rumors of what went on down there in the dark nights, which I have taken the liberty of expanding into something more dramatic for modern times.
A word on spelling
US spelling has been used within this book, but as I’m an English author, some of the language may have a British slant. I’ve used several editors and beta readers, but I hope you’ll forgive the idiosyncrasies if you find them.
About J.F.Penn
Joanna Penn has a Master’s degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
She lives in London, England but spent 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. Joanna worked for 13 years as an international business consultant within the IT industry but is now a full-time author-entrepreneur. She is the author of the ARKANE series as well as other standalone books.
Joanna is a PADI Divemaster and enjoys traveling as often as possible. She is obsessed with religion and psychology and loves to read, drink pinot noir and soak up European culture through art, architecture and food.
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