The Killer Shadow Thieves_A compelling murder mystery full of twists you won’t see coming by J. F. Burgess

Author:J. F. Burgess [Burgess, J. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gripping Crime
Published: 2018-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 66

Two men in black overalls climbed out of the dark-blue unmarked transit van. The first and broader man walked around to the back of the vehicle, opened the doors and latched them. The second retrieved a key to number 32 from a disposable bin liner and glanced around the street to make sure nobody was watching.

He opened the front door wide and dropped the bag on the carpet. They both returned to the van and slid out a fully assembled wardrobe covered with protective bubble-wrap. Jostling it into the front room, they closed the door behind them without uttering a word. Before stepping any further, both donned silicone gloves, forensic body suits and booties over their shoes. Padding through into the sparse middle room, they scanned around. It was dominated by a dated-looking 80s-style cream leather sofa and armchair.

Jozef Simbala lay motionless in the armchair, head leaning towards his left shoulder. A handful of blowflies danced around a small gunshot wound an inch above his bulging eyes, staring towards the bullet entry hole in the back window as if they’d almost seen it coming. Which they both knew was impossible; bullets exceeded three thousand feet per second.

In sync the two men made the sign of the cross. The unofficial undertakers adopted catholic protocols and felt it was important to ask for God’s blessing.

‘Murder victims they may be, but everyone’s entitled to a blessing,’ said the broader man in a rough Scottish accent, through his paper mask.’

‘Wi’out doubt,’ said his brother in agreement.

Rituals over with, they peeled the corpse precariously from the chair and carefully heaved it into an open body bag laid out on the dank floral carpet. The only sound in the room was the bag’s long zip being drawn. Moving the body to one side they climbed the stairs.

The sinister cleaners had devised a devilishly simple but effective way of removing cadavers undetected. Their MO involved delivering a brand-new wardrobe and removing an old one, if indeed there was one. The older vessel acted as a coffin. In the absence of an old wardrobe they simply unwrapped the new one and used that instead. They took advantage of the fact that, unlike the old days, people living in ethnically diverse areas such as this often didn’t know their neighbours. Half the properties were landlord-owned with a high turnover of tenants, which meant vans moving furniture were a common sight and rarely raised an eyebrow.

They located a sturdy plywood wardrobe in the front bedroom, but on opening it were shocked to find an evil-looking shrine daubed in black paint built inside its interior. An old wooden fruit box covered in occult paraphernalia sat vertical upon a shelf spanning the middle. On top of it a devil’s head sat in the centre of two animal skulls, staring at them with its tongue hanging out. A crucifix hung from the end. Two six inch skeletons swung on chains below the ominously smirking figure of Lucifer.

Startled, the broad man said nervously, ‘What the fuck is that?’

‘Looks like a shrine.

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