Facelifter begins when Detective Sergeant Kelly Ross is charged with discovering who dumped a mutilated body in the woods opposite the golf course. Along with her detective constable – Jordan Sparrow – she finds herself drawn into a mystery with so many unknowns and so many false leads that it’s impossible to sort the facts from the fiction. It’s particularly unhelpful when her own senior officers seem intent on making the enquiry more difficult.
When another mutilated body turns up, it leads to Kelly and Jordan reopening a large-scale murder enquiry which had been finalised eight years previously. The man responsible for the killings was still in jail and wasn’t pleading his innocence. Yet Kelly discovers absolute evidence that it couldn’t have been him. Unfortunately, in prison, he claims to be transgender, dresses in baby’s nappies and insists on being spoon fed baby food.
Jordan discovers that, in addition to the ‘Facelifter’ murders, young women are disappearing from all over the county. Could the two things be linked? You’ll only know by reading ‘Facelifter’.
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MISSION: MURDER
Another glance into Brian Daniels’ eyes to make sure the man understood. No question he did, and he knew where this was going. Steve took his scalpel and enlarged the mouth on both sides, cutting from the corners of the lips, through the cheeks, right up to the man’s ears. “There you are. See what I’ve done, Brian? I’ve turned you into the big mouth that you are.” He cocked his head and laughed. “Fuck me, you look like that Australian actor. What was his name? Heath Ledger. Him that played The Joker in the Dark Knight trilogy. Yes, would you believe it – you’ve become The Joker.” Another laugh. “But the joke’s on you, my loud-mouthed friend. Because now, I’m going to close your mouth forever.” He reached for the packet that he’d pulled from his pocket along with the scalpel. Inside was a long, thick, curved, needle which he’d pre-threaded. He held it up for his victim to see. “Upholstery sewing needle, Brian. Nice vicious curve so it will go in and come out. Tough as hell. Can sew through carpet, leather, or canvas.” He waggled the attached line. “Super strong fishing line. Eight strand multifilament. You could catch a fucking whale on this stuff. You see, my friend, how I have spared no expense for you.”
Steve dug the curved needle into the man’s cheek, where the new cut ended near his ear. He turned the needle a little and pushed it back out about half an inch away on the jaw at the bottom. He brought the needle up and repeated the process, starting high on the cheek and ending a little way away on the jaw. He knew that Brian Daniels could feel every indescribable stab of the needle as he forced it through the flesh and, on a couple of occasions, through the gums as well. But, despite the horrendous pain, the victim was quite unable to react. When he’d finished and the whole extended mouth had been sewn closed, Steve used his scalpel to cut off the excess line. He tucked the needle away in the polythene bag he’d brought it in.
“Nice,” he whispered to himself. He checked Daniels’ one last time. To take the nose or to leave it? On balance, it looked better left on. He’d got his message across, so no need to spoil a work of art. He leaned into the bushes and grabbed hold of the man’s shirt, using it to wipe small pools of blood from his eye sockets. “And now for the best bit,” he muttered, digging his fingers behind Brian Daniels’ eyeballs and popping them out, one at a time.
When he was done, in a quiet voice, Steve said, “I know you can still hear me, and I know, if your memory takes you back a few years, you’ll know exactly what’s coming next.” He laughed and forced each eyeball past Brian Daniels’ anal sphincter, pushing them as far as he could into his anus. Then he leaned back and sighed. So much pleasure in such a short time. He leaned forwards again and plunged his eager gloved hands into the man’s belly, deep into the open wound reaching for his entrails. He pulled out a handful of intestines and spread them across the gravel. “Now die like the vicious thug that you are,” he snarled, wiping his bloodied hands in his victim’s hair.
