Hitmen I Have Known by Bill James

Author:Bill James [Bill James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2018-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

On the whole, Harpur believed Iles did the killings, of course: the motive neatly there; Iles’s turn-on rages always at the ready. Now and then Harpur found himself watching the ACC’s hands and wondering whether they looked like a garrotter’s, which Harpur thought might be lean, spidery, unforgiving. In fact, Iles’s hands were stubby, a surprise on someone so slight. But he could probably adapt them to any kind of work as long as it interested him, and garrotting was the kind of work that would interest him. Iles’s interests were remarkably wide, not all of them destructive.

Because it was Iles – was almost certainly Iles who saw off the pair – there would be a stout, sweetly constructed wall against detection. It was not a matter of deliberately messing up the investigation, obstructing it as self-security, though Harpur realized some powerful figures believed this and might get intrusive and foully painstaking.

He could have told them, but didn’t, that attempts at detection foundered because Iles knew before he began how to make sure there was nothing for an investigation to fix on, feed on. After all, he was assistant chief constable (Operations). Almost mystical skill and ruthless drive shone in most of his operations, but several of his others lay in lovingly contrived, dense darkness. Although the doomed nature of the investigation itself offered evidence that this was an Ilesian job, it was not the kind of evidence leading to jail. ‘My lord, I present a case where the failure to convict is irresistible proof that the accused should be convicted.’

The Times and Daily Telegraph published reviews by their television critics of ‘The Forgotten Murders’, and later in the day the giveaway local Evening Bulletin had a report of the violence at The Monty. Harpur thought that between them the three gave a convincing sketch of things, and he wished they didn’t. ‘The Forgotten Murders’ itself was almost certain to create what might turn out to be unwanted Home Office nosiness. The press involvement was likely to increase and sharpen it.

Denise had run out of cigarettes and got up early to go to the corner shop. Also she wanted to see what the papers made of ‘The Forgotten Murders’ and she came back with copies of the two nationals. Their critics would have been given an advance showing of the programme.

Denise took off her jeans and got back into bed. Hazel and Jill must have heard her go out to the shop and came into the bedroom now with mugs of tea for her and Harpur. The girls sat on each side of the foot of the bed. Denise lit up a cigarette and took a couple of deep, soul-refreshing pulls. She placed the cigarette on the bedside ashtray, drank some tea, put the mug on the floor and opened the Telegraph to the critic’s column. She read silently for a couple of minutes. Then she said: ‘There’s someone called Prunella.’

‘Called what?’ Jill said.

Denise read aloud now: ‘“Last night’s drama

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.