Read Online Dead and Gone by Bill Kitson - Free Book Online

service,’ she called out, but got no response. Perhaps he had gone out after all. She glanced at her watch. It was after 10 a.m. He couldn’t still be asleep, surely? Unless he’d been, what was the English word? ‘Bonking’, that was it. Unless he’d been bonking all night. She giggled and knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing from inside the room.
    Without conscious thought that she might be intruding on an intimate encounter, she took out her master key card. The room was in darkness, the curtains closed. ‘Room service, Mr Jennings. Are you all right?’
    There was no reply. She groped for the switch and turned the light on. At first, everything seemed to be in order, except that the bed didn’t appear to have been slept in. She reached behind her and took the sign from the doorknob, intending to replace it on the small dressing table under the window. As she approached the table, she noticed a pair of feet protruding from alongside the foot of the bed. She stood still, and as her gaze travelled to the rest of the body she let out one long, shuddering breath. The pool of blood that covered the man’s chest had flooded the carpet alongside him and splashed in liberal quantities across the wallpaper and curtains as well as the bedlinen. It was only when she regained her breath that she turned and ran from the room.
     
    Sergeant Jack Binns strode into Nash’s office without knocking. For him to do that meant trouble; the look on Binns’ face merely confirmed it. In a few terse sentences, Binns explained what the traffic officers had found at Stark Ghyll.
    ‘OK, Jack, we’ll head on out there. Any word on who was in the car?’
    ‘Not yet. Mountain rescue have arrived. They’re rigging some form of block and tackle; reckon it’s the only way to reach the vehicle. They’re going to send one of their men down first– they’re all first-aid trained – and then hopefully, if needed, lower a paramedic.’
    ‘There’s no chance this is someone disposing of an old banger, I suppose? And that the car was empty when it went over the edge?’
    ‘No such luck. The traffic guys say that although it’s now only fit for scrap, it appears to be a late model BMW. I suppose it could have been stolen and dumped. I’ll check it out when I’ve got the details. But just to be on the safe side I’ve got an air-sea rescue Sea King and the air ambulance on standby, although the traffic officers reckon that’s a wasted effort.’
    Binns had just finished speaking when Nash’s phone rang. He signalled to Binns to remain. ‘Morning, Jackie,’ he greeted the caller. The uniformed sergeant exchanged glances with Mironova. They saw Nash’s expression change as he listened to Superintendent Fleming’s opening words.
    ‘More trouble,’ Binns whispered to Mironova. ‘They say troubles come in threes; I wonder what the third will be.’
    They listened as Nash was speaking. ‘Yes, we’ve a suspicious incident at Stark Ghyll. The first thought was that it was an accident, but the traffic officers reckon it was deliberate. However, in view of what you’ve told me, I’ll send Clara and Viv Pearce out to deal with that. I’ll head straight to Netherdale and meet you at the Golden Bear.’
    He put the phone down. ‘A chambermaid at the Golden Bear found one of the guests with his throat slashed from ear to ear. I’m off to meet Jackie and Lisa there. Clara, you know what to do. Take Viv and go to Stark Ghyll. See what you think.’
    ‘The Golden Bear will be getting a bad reputation. That’s not the first time something like that has happened there,’ Clara remarked. ‘And if Lisa is at the scene, it’s sure to bring back unpleasant memories for her.’
    Some years earlier, DC Lisa Andrews, based at Netherdale HQ, and Nash, had investigated a double murder at the Golden Bear. They cleared the main suspect, a man who later became Lisa’s partner.
     
    When Mironova and Pearce reached the scene, Stark Ghyll