Dead Beat & Kick Back by Val McDermid

Author:Val McDermid [McDermid, Val]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802146182
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

I cleared my throat and said, “People, if I could have your attention for a moment?” The murmur of conversation triggered off by Maggie’s arrival ended as abruptly as if I’d pushed the mute button on their remote control. Jackson turned towards me and leaned against a marble topped pier table.

“You all know about Kevin’s arrest, and I expect that most of you think that it’s only a matter of time till he’s charged with Moira’s murder. But then, you already thought that about Maggie when she was arrested. However, I was hired to find a killer, and I suspect that most of you think that’s exactly what I’ve done. But until I’ve cleared up some loose ends that are still remaining, I’m afraid I can’t regard the case as being closed. That’s why I’ve asked you all together. There are some inconsistencies in the stories I’ve been told, and I thought the best way to deal with them was to have you all together. It’s a shame Kevin can’t be here, but we’ll just have to work around that.” I looked around at their expressions, some hostile, some fascinated.

I took a deep breath and continued. “I hadn’t been working the case for very long when I discovered that someone in this house had already been trying to get rid of Moira.

“Gloria, who is a diabetic, had noticed syringes going missing from her room. It was only a matter of time before she got round to telling Jett, who at the very least would have confronted Moira and accused her of returning to her old habits. But not content with that, the person who stole the syringes also purchased some heroin. According to Maggie, every few days some heroin and a syringe would appear in Moira’s room, facing her with a temptation that most people in her shoes would have found it impossible to resist.

“But she did resist, and so the first thing I had to ask myself was if the killer was the same person who’d been trying to get rid of her earlier. But you weren’t the killer, were you, Tamar?”

Tamar was on her feet. “You poisonous bitch,” she screeched at me. “You poisonous, lying bitch!” Then she whirled round to face Jett, whose face was as cold as a marble statue. “She’s lying, Jett, I swear she’s lying.”

“I can prove what I’m saying,” I replied coldly. “The pusher who sold you the heroin identified your picture. You might have tried to get rid of Moira, but I’m satisfied you didn’t kill her. There’s a big difference between offering someone the option of death and actually facing up to your victim and caving her head in.”

Tamar clutched Jett’s arm and fell to her knees in a histrionic show of supplication. He shrugged her arm off roughly and hissed, “Get away from me, slag.”

She collapsed on the floor and began to sob noisily. Micky moved across to her and jerked her to her feet. “For fuck’s sake, get a grip,” he shouted angrily, dragging her away and thrusting her into an armchair.

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.