Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus by M. J. Trow

Author:M. J. Trow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BLKDOG Publishing
Published: 2022-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Seven

‘T

he shot came from where?’ Lestrade peered under the window sash.

‘We presumed’, Holinshed told him, ‘that alleyway there, next to the statue of Lord Kitchener.’

The ex-detective nodded with difficulty. There was no shattered glass, no rip in the green-striped awning.

‘Has anything been touched?’ he asked.

‘Nothing,’ Holinshed assured him.

‘Whose idea was that?’

‘Mine,’ Holinshed said. ‘Isn’t that what you police chappies insist upon? Nothing to be disturbed?’

‘Indeed,’ smiled Lestrade. It was rare for anyone to be that informed. Jack Holinshed was one in a million. The mortal remains of Clifford Hanger lay sprawled on the bed, his head lying in a dark pillow of brown blood. The heavy flies of Cairo droned in the room, buzzing off every now and then, only to re-land on their grisly banquet when Lestrade’s back was turned.

‘God,’ Holinshed hissed.

‘Not exactly sweetness and light, is it?’ Lestrade peered at the dead man’s face. ‘Norroy, light that lamp, will you? How long has it been? Since he died, I mean?’

‘Er . . . let’s see.’ Holinshed was glad of a chance to move away to check his wristwatch by the corridor light. ‘Nearly twenty hours. They brought you back at twelve thirty. That’s when we heard the shot.’

Macclesfield blew out the match and the oil lamp’s flare lit the room.

‘Is this wise, guv?’ he asked. ‘If there’s a sniper out there . . .’

‘Get the blind.’ Lestrade ordered. He could barely see the alleyway now, beyond the alabaster bulk of Kitchener. The tropic night was falling fast. ‘Though with Zagloul in the building, I doubt we’ll have any more of it. They’ll be afraid of retaliation if they fire again. Why was his window open?’

‘What?’ Holinshed asked.

Lestrade glanced back and forth. ‘From the angle he’s lying on the bed, he must have been standing by it, facing the window, looking out. If the bullet came from out there, it would have had to have smashed the glass. Unless it was open.’

‘Fresh air?’ Holinshed suggested.

‘Would you risk that, knowing there was an untold number of natives out there with rifles trained on you?’

‘No,’ Holinshed conceded, ‘But then, I’m not in advertising. You must admit, Hanger was a little strange towards the end.’

‘He was a little strange towards the beginning,’ Lestrade observed. He crouched over the body. It was only a minute before the blasted head began to blur and swim in his vision and Norroy Macclesfield only just caught him before he slumped forward.

‘Better sit yourself down, guv.’ he said, although, what with his sling, it was rather a case of the blind leading the blind. ‘He really shouldn’t wander the streets of Cairo at night, you know,’ he whispered to Holinshed. ‘Not at his age.’

‘I heard that,’ Lestrade snapped. ‘Besides, it was nothing to an afternoon stroll in the Jago or the Nichol when I was your age. Hoxton would make Zagloul’s lads look like a Sunday School outing any day of the week.’ His eyes focused again on the dead man. One of his braces had slipped off his shoulder and his tie was at half-mast.

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