A Study in Revenge by Kieran Shields

Author:Kieran Shields [Shields, Kieran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307985774
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2013-01-07T13:00:00+00:00

[ Chapter 32 ]

LEAN STOOD FACING THE DOOR OF THE SAME RUN-DOWN house on Vine Street where he’d examined the charred body of Frank Cosgrove. Events seemed to insist that he keep returning to this spot. Now he waited in silent contemplation of the door, a good portion of which was covered by a woolen blanket that a patrolman had nailed up.

At the sound of steps approaching on the uneven stones, Lean turned to face Perceval Grey. There had been other times when he’d seen Grey after a sleepless night devoted to some intriguing point of a case. But this morning was different; Grey looked exhausted—battered, even. Lean noticed him limping and saw the edge of a small bandage sneaking out from below the man’s hat, near his eye.

“You look like death, Grey. Rough night?”

“You could say that.”

“Well, sorry to rouse you so early in the morning, but I thought it best you see this immediately. It seems that someone has taken issue with your involvement in this case.”

Lean stepped up to the door and lifted the blanket. He exposed a painted figure: a rounded face, traced in dark red, topped with horns and staring back with vacant yet menacing eyes. Beneath the grim visage, also in red, was an inscription that Lean now announced.

“ ‘The Vengeance of Hell awaits you Percival Gray.’ ”

“It’s always rewarding to have one’s efforts noticed and appreciated. Spelled my name wrong in two places, however.”

“I don’t think you should take this lightly. This is a threat at the very least, maybe even a bounty of sorts. I’ve told you how badly Cosgrove’s dug-up and burned body rattled the city’s criminal circles. Who’s to say what ideas some of them are going to get when they hear about this?”

“Have it painted over and be done with it,” Grey said.

“If only it were so easy. Similar images were painted on Munjoy Hill, outside of Jimmy Farrell’s place, and another at Gorham’s Corner on a brick wall facing McGrath’s. Every miscreant in the city with a violent streak and an itch has already seen this or will hear about it soon enough.”

“When were the images first reported?”

“Patrolmen noticed the others between two and three this morning,” Lean said. “This one wasn’t found until five a.m.”

“You needn’t worry, then. This isn’t any sort of order for my head after all. It’s merely a diversion, an attempt to widen the pool of suspects to include the entire city.”

“Pool of suspects? For what?” Lean dropped the blanket back into place.

“An unidentified man tried to shoot me, then run me down last night—”

“What?” Lean’s voice was almost loud enough to further loosen the old building’s peeling paint. “Are you all right?”

“Nicks and bumps.” Grey flapped his left arm a bit. “But it happened shortly after midnight—hours ahead of these advertisements. Despite your opinion of my appearance this morning, the man failed. I suspect that these dire threats were then created in order to confuse the issue of the would-be assassin’s motive and identity.

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