The Sign of the Devil by Oscar de Muriel

Author:Oscar de Muriel [Muriel, Oscar de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409187721
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2022-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

26

‘What!’ McGray shouted, a combination of anger, astonishment and elation on his face.

My mind, too, was reeling. I pulled back for a moment, while Eustace’s stare went nervously from McGray to me.

‘Pratt, you said?’ I asked, and Eustace nodded. ‘Do you know if that could be a son – or a relation of – George Pratt? The procurator?’

Eustace frowned. ‘I – I think so. He does like to boast that his father works at the courts.’

‘Makes perfect sense!’ McGray cried. He was about to punch the wall, but the hard tiles made him think twice. ‘That’s why he came to threaten us! He must ken it wouldnae take us long to track his brat!’

‘Indeed,’ I said, and then turned to Eustace. ‘Is Martin Pratt one of the students in charge of receiving specimens?’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t know if he receives them. But I do know he is in charge of cleaning them sometimes. And he is a favourite of Professor Grimshaw.’

I let out a sigh, not of triumph, but of relief. ‘Good. We are getting there. Eustace, would you be prepared to state this in court?’

The young man would not have a chance to answer, for just then a booming voice shouted behind our backs.

‘Get out!’

It was Professor Grimshaw, as if summoned by the mere mention of his name. He was panting with anger, his face red and his pigtail tied as tightly as the strings of a fiddle. A couple of tall, brawny students stood behind him.

‘Are ye stupid?’ McGray yelled back. ‘We’re the fucking police!’

They argued on, and as they shouted, I traced a line in my head: Grimshaw ordering the bodies, Martin Pratt and his late accomplice sourcing them wherever they could; one of his contacts being Dr Harland at the asylum … How convenient it would be, for all of them, if the blame were to fall on McGray’s sister.

‘I must protect my students,’ Grimshaw snarled. ‘Even the sad dimwits like Murray here.’

Eustace looked at his professor with sheer panic. I gathered his books and handed them to him.

‘There’s a cab waiting for us by the main gate. Tell the driver Nine-Nails McGray asked you to wait for us there.’

Eustace attempted to put on a brave face, which only made me feel sorrier for him. Grimshaw cast him a sneering look, and the two students shoved him and hissed slurs into his ears as he passed between them.

Once he was gone, Grimshaw put his fists on his hips, his chest swollen with authority.

‘You need to ask questions, you come to me. Do you under—?’

‘Piss off!’ McGray barked. ‘Who the blazing hell d’ye think yer talking to?’

Professor Grimshaw smiled insolently. ‘To the mad inspector who randomly points his gun at women and children.’

McGray and I opened our mouths in almost perfect synchrony. That had happened less than an hour ago! How fast gossip can spread. More effectively than an infection.

I’d not finished the thought when McGray moved like the wind and threw Grimshaw a mighty punch, all his frustration and rage condensed into that one blow.

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