Murder on the Short List by Peter Lovesey

Author:Peter Lovesey [Peter Lovesey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Published: 2012-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

SECOND STRINGS

Mr Small was Mr Big, and that was no joke. It isn’t wise to make fun of an underworld king.

“This is in confidence, right?”

“Goes without saying, Mr Small,” Bernie said. Bernie wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’d survived by being respectful of men of violence. He didn’t much care for blood and guts. Crime didn’t have to be messy. By nature he was a gatherer, rather than a hunter.

“I’ve got a job for you.”

“Thanks,” Bernie said, hoping it didn’t involve murder.

“You’ve still got that Transit Van, I hope.”

“Er, yes.” Maybe a bullion job, Bernie thought, looking steadily into Sly Small’s lizard eyes.

“I want you to collect something for me.”

“No problem, Mr Small.”

“You haven’t heard the rest. This is a sizeable item. I’d say it weighs as much as you or me and is about your height. What are you – six feet?”

“Just over six.” Oh, no, it’s a corpse, Bernie thought. He wants me to collect a stiff.

“It’s an instrument.”

Bernie’s mind switched to torture and his mouth went dry.

“A Horngacher.”

It sounded excruciating.

“A musical instrument.”

Now Bernie doubted if he was hearing right. What on earth would Sly Small – a man of brutal tastes – want with a musical instrument?

“You’re a man who likes music, aren’t you? I mean serious music. Beethoven and stuff.”

Bernie listened to Classic FM on the car radio sometimes. It was scary how much Sly Small knew. “I suppose.”

“This is in confidence,” Sly said for the second time. “I’m only telling you because of your high taste in music. I sent my boy Rocky to one of them posh schools thinking it would help him when he steps into my shoes. Cost me an arm and a leg and after ten years of it, he’s still pig ignorant. The only thing he can do is music. They sent him for an interview at the Royal College and he’s in.”

“Top result,” Bernie said.

“Are you being sarky?”

“No, Mr Small. No way.”

“If I thought you was being sarky I’d nail you to the wall.”

“And you’d be right to do it,” Bernie said.

Sly Small gave Bernie a long look. “I don’t want this to get around. Rocky is getting a Horngacher. From me.”

Bernie nodded.

“Don’t look as if you know what a Horngacher is, you thick berk. I didn’t know myself until a couple of days ago. It’s a harp, a bloody great harp. Have a good laugh. My son and heir plays the harp. That’s his instrument, okay?”

A harp. Bernie understood Sly Small’s problem now. The criminal world would fall about laughing if it learned that Sly’s son had turned into a harpist.

“He’s flesh and blood,” Sly said. “What can you do? If the boy had asked me for a Harley-Davidson I’d have given him one. He doesn’t want a Harley, he wants a Horngacher. There’s one called the Meisterharfe Horngacher. It’s the Harley-Davidson of harps he says, worth fifty grand, easy. Your job is to pick one up for me.”

“From a harp shop?” Bernie said.

“I didn’t say buy one.

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.