When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster

Author:Neil Lancaster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2025-03-20T17:50:00+00:00

43

Hamish Michael Anderson stared straight into the eyes of the attractive blonde custody officer who had introduced herself as Sergeant Cotton. She avoided his gaze as she went through the booking-in procedure in a perfunctory and efficient manner. An older, hard-faced and bearded sergeant sat next to her and stared at him with eyes that seemed to blaze with anger. The cop who’d arrested him, PC Lennox, stood to one side of Anderson, wordless after he’d delivered the verbal account to the custody officer. Another cop, more morose-looking, stood behind them both as security, silent but glaring at Anderson.

Anderson’s face was a mess, and his broken nose was covered with a gauze bandage that was spotted with blood. Dark circles were already forming below his eyes. His nose throbbed wickedly, despite the analgesics that the surly custody nurse had handed him.

Anderson answered the questions monosyllabically, never once removing his gaze from Sergeant Cotton, his face impassive.

‘Do you want a solicitor, Mr Anderson?’ the sergeant said, her dove-grey eyes looking straight at him. He held her gaze unblinkingly, feeling the familiar cold grip on his stomach. The bitch would never entertain him if he tried to speak to her in a bar, but now she feared him. Now she respected him, even if she visibly loathed him. He could smell her fear like a cheap, sickly perfume. Fear was tangible, and fear was intoxicating.

A smile played on his lips, and he moved his tongue across their dry, chapped surface. He chuckled, a harsh sound that came from the back of his throat.

‘That’s enough of that. Answer the custody officer’s bloody question,’ said the other sergeant, his eyes hard.

The female sergeant looked to her colleague, her face registering disapproval. ‘It’s okay, Ed, I’ve got this,’ she said, as she turned back to face him. ‘Mr Anderson, a solicitor?’

‘Yes,’ he said, in little more than a whisper. She almost flinched at his words, her eyes widening. It was remarkable how much hate he conveyed in that one word: so much loathing and frustration at a life spent in the margins.

‘Y-e-e-s,’ he repeated, drawing the vowel sound out further than necessary.

He’d spent his life being invisible, especially to women. It used to bother him, make him angry that he was constantly rejected by the stuck-up bitches, beginning with his slut of an aunt.

Well, they were noticing him now. His smiled widened, and he chuckled, amazed that he felt no fear. Not a trace.

They were all terrified of him.

‘That’s enough of that, man,’ said the cop who’d arrested him. The stupid dumb bastard had barely looked at his old warrant card when he’d flashed it in the hospital.

Anderson turned to stare at the white-faced PC Lennox, who had a suggestion of a tremble in his bottom lip. He stared at the other cop, his expression flat and unemotional. Anderson looked beyond them to see half a dozen others, all in plainclothes, watching the proceedings, all probably members of the MIT team that were going to be dealing with him.

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