Skin Like Silver by Chris Nickson

Author:Chris Nickson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780107363
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2015-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

Barbara Waite, Nellie Rider, Catherine Carr. The names jangled through his head. One to find, two who needed justice.

His head ached. The air was bad, sulphur and soot that made his eyes water. People passed, coughing, spitting into handkerchiefs or on the pavement. This was only October; by January things would be much worse. When he’d been on the beat, he was called out every winter to discover bodies. Killed by the weather. But even that was better than a knife in the Arches.

‘What are we doing today, sir?’ Ash asked as they stood outside Millgarth. Carts dodged between trams and omnibuses. Pedestrians pushed along, men carelessly crossing the road as if there were no traffic.

What could they do? Keep digging. They could find Peter Grady and get one crime off the books, at least. And it was possible he’d killed Katie Carr …

‘The Bank,’ he said. ‘Let’s go back and ask some more questions.’

The constable raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Going through St Peter’s Square, a voice called out and Harper turned.

‘Inspector.’ Patrick Martin, coming across the cobbles, a smile on his face, hand outstretched. The inspector shook it. ‘I owe you an apology.’

‘Do you?’ The remark took him by surprise. Those weren’t words he often heard.

‘After you questioned me, I wished you ill,’ the man admitted.

‘You’d hardly be the first,’ Harper told him with a chuckle.

‘It was wrong of me. I’m sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me.’

‘It’s nothing,’ Harper assured him. For God’s sake, the man should be angry. He’d practically accused him of murder.

‘Thank you.’ Martin smiled again. ‘I hear your wife spoke at a meeting last night.’

‘How did you know that?’ he asked sharply. ‘I didn’t see you outside.’

‘Someone told me,’ Martin replied vaguely. ‘I hope she was well received.’

‘Very.’

The man nodded briefly. ‘I’m pleased for her, even if I can’t approve of the cause. I hope you’ll pass her my best wishes.’ He tipped his hat and walked away.

‘Odd fish, isn’t he, sir?’ Ash said as they watched him leave.

‘He is that,’ Harper agreed. ‘There’s something about him I don’t like.’

‘I know what you mean.’ He thought for a moment. ‘He’s very oily, isn’t he?’

That was one word. Sanctimonious was another. Harper didn’t trust anyone who lived by his certainties. One thing he’d learned as a copper was that little was black or white. All too often the answer lay in the grey between them. Anyone who believed otherwise didn’t understand people at all.

‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘Come on, let’s see if we can find Peter Grady.’

They had some luck. On New Row, where the middens were piled against the houses, they found Grady’s cousin, a young woman with five small children around her. Four ran like hellions or clutched at her thin skirt, the other in her arms, grabbing tight to the threadbare shawl around her shoulders.

‘Is that what he’s done?’ she snorted when the inspector explained why he was looking for the man. ‘I’d not put it past him. He was always a wild one.

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