Invisible Green by John Sladek

Author:John Sladek [Sladek, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, __ab_ed
ISBN: 9780802730206
Google: _TD0GwAACAAJ
Publisher: Walker Publ.
Published: 1979-09-15T17:15:57+00:00

Sergeant Bevis of the local CID stood on the front steps to address the crowd of witnesses waiting on the gravel below. “Now you’ve all told your stories to me or to one of my men. I’ll have to ask some of you to remain for further questioning.” He stood aside to let two ambulance men come out carrying a plastic coffin.

“The following people may go home now: Mr and Mrs Gall, Mr Patel, Mrs Nelson. Thank you for your help.” He stood aside again as two men carried out Danby’s armchair, swathed in polythene. A uniformed policeman came next, leading a large, toothy Alsatian dog. The policeman’s heavy gloves were torn. The dog came reluctantly, snapping at its chain.

“So this is the dog, is it?” asked Bevis unnecessarily.

“Yes, sir. You must have heard the row she kicked up when I went in for her. Had to give her a tranquillizer.”

In the crowd, Phin turned back to his conversation with a large woman wearing pink hair curlers. “This is most enlightening, Mrs Gall. You’re absolutely sure?”

“Well, I saw her with my own eyes .. .”

Phin and the other detained witnesses were asked to drive to the station in Brogham, a town fourteen miles away. When they got there, it was only to be kept waiting for another two hours, until the people from Scotland Yard were ready to speak to them. The interrogations went on for hours, and it was after dark when Thackeray Phin was finally called in to face Chief Inspector Gaylord.

“Sit down, Phin. I hope you know the local lads are annoyed with you. This Sergeant Bevis wanted to charge you with being a damn nuisance and hindering the police.”

Phin took a chair, folded his hands over the handle of his green umbrella, and rested his chin on them. “I haven’t hindered anyone. If anything, I’ve been speeding up the investigation.”

Gaylord unwrapped a cigar and ran it beneath his hawk-beak nose. “Oh, solved it all, have you? Then maybe you’d condescend to tell us the answer.”

“The answer?” Phin looked blank. “Oh, who killed him, you mean? That’s your department, Chief. I wouldn’t dream of interfering. No, I’ve been trying to answer a few other questions: Why, for instance, did the killer take such a terrible risk? I mean, there were so many people there, going in and out of that room at odd times—it was very chancy.”

“So I thought. Seems to me the killer was very desperate, willing to take any risk, rather than let Danby live. The trouble is …”

“The trouble is, you can’t find any suspect with such a desperate motive, I imagine. Neither can I, Chief, neither can I. And in that case, it could be a successful murder. The killer achieved his object.”

Gaylord lit his cigar and chewed at it a moment. “I don’t believe in successful murders, do you? Someone in your little mob has a connection with Danby, and I mean to find out that connection. Now, what I want from you is your opinion of the suspects.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.