The Habit Of Murder by Brian L. Porter

Author:Brian L. Porter [Porter, Brian L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gumshoe Books - A Next Chapter Imprint
Published: 2019-10-20T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Drake's Theory

On arrival at St. Emma's, Ross and Gable were surprised to find DC Derek McLennan waiting to greet them.

“Derek,” Ross said with a quick smile, “What are you doing here?”

McLennan smiled in return.

“I was at the morgue when the call came through and I thought I might be useful here.”

As usual, Ross was impressed by McLennan's commitment and professionalism. He had a question though.

“What were you doing at the morgue, Derek?”

“Well, sir, I'd have been giving you a call soon enough. Doctor Nugent had been looking into unidentified remains discovered from the time of the original Brother Bernárd's disappearance. He called me an hour ago to say he'd found a couple of prospects that might fit the bill. I was just getting the information from him when Sergeant Drake's call was redirected to the him and so, here I am.”

“As soon as we see what's what here, you can tell me what the doc's found. Now, I take it he's with Sergeant Drake?”

“And Ginger Devenish sir, yes. Follow me.”

McLennan led the way and a couple of minutes later they arrived at the barn, where the voice of William Nugent, pathologist extraordinaire, could be heard before they entered the murder site.

“No, no, Francis! I want close-ups from every angle. For God's sake man, have you no' worked with me long enough to know that?”

The strong Glaswegian accent was the clue that told Ross Nugent was in a bad mood. He'd lived in Liverpool long enough to have lost most of his accent but it had a habit of making itself known whenever he was angry or worked up about something. Ross had never previously heard him angry with Francis Lees, his cadaverous assistant, however, however.

“Best tread carefully, people,” Ross ordered Sam and Derek. “Sounds like the beast has a thorn in his paw.”

“Nice analogy, sir,” McLennan commented and then fell silent as he and Sam Gable walked two steps behind Ross into the barn.

“That's grotesque,” Sam Gable exclaimed as she took in the scene before them.

“Ah, here at last, are you?” Nugent said, and Ross, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, simply replied, “Hello Doc.”

“Aye, well, as you see, we've already started work here.”

“And what can you tell us?” Ross risked a simple question as he joined Gable and McLennan in gazing at the body.

“A simple but bloody case, Inspector,” Nugent was decisive. “Yon laddie was stabbed twice with the hay fork.”

He indicated what he knew to be the first stab wound.

“The killer attacked from the front, stabbing the victim in the lower abdomen, hence the amount of blood you see that's pooled under the body. The second, immediately fatal wound was directed as you see, into the upper chest cavity and, either by luck or design, penetrated the heart, ending the man's life and stopping further blood flow.”

“Because the heart stops pumping at the moment of death, right Doctor?”

“Exactly, DC Gable,” he responded. “I can tell you something else. Your victim fell to the ground

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