Knock, Knock, You're Dead!: A Hamish Macbeth Short Story by Beaton M. C

Author:Beaton, M. C. [Beaton, M. C.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Police Procedural, Short Story
ISBN: 9781455540587
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-02-09T06:00:00+00:00

After Hamish had made the phone call, he caught Mr. King by the sleeve of his jacket as that man was rushing out of the door. “A minute. Where can I find Harry French?”

“Day off.”

“Where does he live?”

“Ask Malkie at the desk.”

* * *

Harry French lived in a flat in a Victorian villa, which had been divided up into flats on the banks of the River Ness.

Hamish pressed the bell to Harry’s flat and waited. At first he thought the valuator might not be at home, but then the door opened and Harry French stood there. He turned white at the sight of Hamish.

“Can I come in?” asked Hamish.

“The place is a mess and—”

“I don’t think you’ll want what I have to say to be heard out on the street.”

Harry backed away. Hamish walked past him and into a cluttered living room. Empty beer bottles were lying on a low coffee table, and the remains of a pizza lay in its box.

Hamish decided to take a leaf out of Jimmy’s book and baffle the young man with science. “I will need a sample of your DNA,” he began.

“Why?” asked Harry. “I never went near that woman.”

Hamish took out a long Q-tip and a plastic bag. He prayed it looked like the real thing. “Open your mouth,” he ordered. “You left some hairs at the scene, and although you wore gloves, you sweated through them.”

Harry sank down on the sofa and buried his head in his hands.

Hamish sat next to him. “Out with it,” he said. “We’re going to get you with the forensics so you may as well come clean.”

In a muffled voice, Harry began to talk while Hamish rapidly made notes. He had gone to Morag’s cottage. There was no one at home. He had looked in the windows and, as he had looked in the parlour window, a shaft of sunlight had shone straight on to the chest of drawers. “It glowed like a jewel,” whispered Harry.

He took a tyre iron out of his car to jemmy the door but found it unlocked. He decided to steal the chest of drawers and sell it as his own. He needed money. He wanted to marry Fiona, the boss’s daughter.

He was just edging it out from the wall when a voice behind him demanded, “What are you doing?” He said this old woman had crept up behind him.

“I was just making a call,” he said.

Mrs. Harrison said, “I haven’t seen you around here before. Something fishy. I’m calling the police.” He shouted, “No, don’t!” and hit her hard with the tyre iron.

He thought he had just stunned her, but he had hit her harder than he had meant. He panicked and fled.

Hamish charged him with the murder of Mrs. Harrison and then phoned Inverness police.

Harry was now sobbing brokenly. Hamish had heard before that valuable antiques could drive people mad, but he’d never really believed it. Well, Morag would be able to go to Australia after all.

He heard police cars screech to a halt outside.

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.