Read Online Jack in the Box by Hania Allen - Free Book Online Page A

action.’
    ‘Did you? I didn’t.’
    She drew her head back to escape the reek of his after-shave. ‘It wasn’t my intention to undermine you, sir.’
    ‘It didn’t look that way to me,’ he said, his voice measured. ‘I thought I made it clear I’d be the one handling the press.’
    ‘And you did, sir. Admirably. But questions of detail should be left to me.’
    His lip curled, and he marched away.
    She watched him go. Wanker. That’s the last time I’m bailing you out .

    ‘Dr Mittelberg’s arrived, ma’am. She’s in your office.’
    Von nodded her thanks and left the incident room.
    Danni was sitting in Von’s chair, swivelling round in circles. She was wearing one of her couture suits, the kind Von wished she could wear but her bust was too large. Danni’s hair was loose today, falling in waves over her shoulders. She wore little makeup, just a lick of gloss on her lips and indigo-coloured mascara, which enhanced the blueness of her eyes. Von sometimes wondered what the male academics at the university made of their colleague. Not only was her appearance stunning, she was at the top of her game. Von had seen the looks of envy laced with sexual desire that crossed the faces of Danni’s colleagues whenever she attended her lectures on criminal psychology. But Danni’s tastes didn’t run to academics. An expert horsewoman, her weekends were spent riding on her father’s estate, and few of the lecturers would have guessed the nature of the extra services she required of the stable boys.
    ‘So how did it go?’ Danni said. ‘Judging by your face, not brilliantly.’
    Von sat down heavily. ‘Jesus, Danni, there are days when I can’t understand the Chief Super. I save his bacon and he gives me a drubbing.’
    Danni crossed her legs, displaying an expanse of smooth white thigh. ‘You’ll never get into the masons now, you’ve been wasting your time practising that funny handshake.’ Sheregarded Von with an expression of affection. ‘Look, I wouldn’t worry too much. I’ve seen the Chief Super in action before and I put it down to repressive potty training. Forget about his antiquated behaviour, he’s really not worth expending emotional energy over.’
    ‘And that cow, Arabella Carrington. I swear, one of these days I’ll forget myself and chin her.’
    ‘That’ll fast-track you to the end of your blossoming career. Incidentally, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I had a book-signing.’
    ‘Ah, yes, “Dissection of a Mind”. How’s it selling?’
    ‘Fantastically.’
    Von reached over to the inner window and pulled down the blind into the corridor, catching the look of disappointment on a constable’s face. Danni’s appearance always caused a stir; the moment she sashayed into the police station, all conversation stopped.
    Danni flicked back her hair. ‘Talking of dissection, when’s the autopsy?’
    ‘This afternoon. Coming?’
    ‘I’m lecturing. Term’s just started.’ She paused. ‘So, I looked through the old case last night. The guy who ran it, Chief Superintendent Harrower—’
    ‘Chief Inspector. He retired as DCI. Jack in the Box was his last case.’
    ‘Whatever. There are some significant questions he seems not to have asked.’ She shuffled through her notes. ‘The blindings, first of all. The sole survivor, Manny, says he was blinded after he was strangled. I’m assuming the others were too. Normally, an opportunistic killer doesn’t blind after he kills. He high-tails it pronto.’
    ‘We wondered about that.’
    ‘Initially, I thought he blinded the boys to make sure they couldn’t identify him, in case he botched the strangling. Doyou remember the Stryker case?’
    Von’s mouth twisted. ‘Who could forget?’
    ‘He told the police that he hadn’t intended to kill them. All he wanted was to see the fear in their eyes. He stopped the strangling before they died, then revived them, even had a conversation with them. With some, he repeated the strangulation.