Bled Dry by Abdelilah Hamdouchi

Author:Abdelilah Hamdouchi [Hamdouchi, Abdelilah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789774168482
Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press
Published: 2017-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

7

Detective Hanash had to make a quick transition from his night with Bushra to the challenges of getting to the crime scene—the traffic, the red lights, the impassable streets that were in need of repair. To make things worse, the crime scene was on a narrow downtown alley. There wasn’t space for the police cars, ambulances, and forensics vehicles, let alone anything else. Hanash had to park his car some distance away and navigate through a dense crowd that filled the alley and surrounding streets.

A police officer noticed him and ran toward him, gesturing forcefully to the curious bystanders to clear a path. He stopped a couple of feet away and gave the detective a fervent salute, bringing his heels together with a click that drew everyone’s attention.

“Sir!” he said, standing stiffly in salute, before leading him to the building.

The first thing that struck Hanash was how old the building was. It had damp, whitewashed walls. The windows looked out onto a dark alley that reeked of the acrid smell of urine, despite a sign that read “No Urinating” in coarse letters. He put his hand over his nose as he made his way inside. The alley was swarming with men, and as soon as they spotted Hanash, with his tall stature and bald head, they all straightened up and gave forceful salutes. They all knew that Hanash was a stickler for a proper salute. One of the officers rushed toward him and bowed his head in deference. He then led him toward the building’s rickety wooden door.

“Isn’t there any light?” asked Hanash loudly.

“No, sir. Should I get a flashlight?”

He received no answer. Once Hanash made it into the entryway leading to the stairs it became clear that his vision just needed to adjust. A bit of light snuck in from a side window.

The sounds of footsteps came from overhead, magnified by the wood flooring. When, with his usual confidence, he placed his foot on the first step to head upstairs, the sound made him fear that the whole building was going to fall on his head. He ascended gently, tiptoeing like a thief.

The apartment was teeming with so many officers that Hanash could hardly get in the door. The investigative team was hard at work, and the camera’s flash was constant. The forensics unit, which had recently been reorganized, was moving around arrogantly as if they were some expert team from the show CSI. For a second he felt no one had noticed him, and wondered if his late arrival allowed the others to feel like they could run the investigation without him.

The first thing that annoyed Hanash was the draft. Upon arriving at a crime scene, he always closed the windows, so he wouldn’t catch a cold. He stood in the doorframe as if he had the wrong address. He was astonished by the officers’ silence, and almost yelled at the lead officer.

Inspector Hamid noticed him and, surprised, approached him like a lightning bolt, offering his apologies. He gave a firm salute to draw everyone else’s attention to Detective Hanash.

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