Read Online Legacy by Ian Haywood - Free Book Online Page A

with Harran and reached out to pick up what he thought was an empty mug from his desk, but unbeknown to him the cup was still half full and cold coffee spilt onto Short’s desk.
     
    Harran tutted to himself and went to grab a box of tissues for Short to clean up the mess and then a moment of sudden genius hit him.
                  “Short, where is the crime scene report?” Harran asked excitedly.
     
    The two men went through the piles of paper on Harran’s desk until they found it and Short instantly knew that the coffee would have to wait a few moments because when Harran acted like this, it was worth listening to what he had to say.
                  “What is it, Sir?” Short asked.
                  “Blood!” was the only reply he had, “Why didn’t I see it before?”
     
    And with that, Harran passed the piece of paper to Short.
                  “Read what it says about the blood at the crime scene out loud.”
     
    Short started reading.
                  “There was a large amount of blood splattered across the alleyway on both the ground and walls.”
     
    Harran took the piece of paper off Short and passed him the Coroner’s preliminary report.
                  “Now look at the cause of death.”
                  “Multiple fractures from the force of impact when he was thrown against the wall, but a number of puncture wounds were also found on the victim’s neck made by some kind of animal with very long sharp teeth.” Short said, unaware of where this conversation was going.
     
    Harran got off his chair and walked towards the window, speaking to Short as he did so.
                  “Is it my imagination or if an animal was to attack in such an aggressive manner as what happened in that alleyway, wouldn’t that animal have to be quite a substantial size to be able to throw a grown man against a wall with such force?”
                  “But the Coroner picked up on the wounds on the victim’s neck!”
                  “Yes he did, but didn’t the Coroner also report that the body had lost an immense amount of blood too?”
                  “Of course he would have if he was attacked by a wild animal!” Short said sternly.
                  “But there is nothing mentioned in the report of the body soaked in blood as well! If the victim had been attacked by a wild animal, it’s the cleanest one I’ve ever known because it does so indiscriminately and if it scrammed and bit at its prey, how come forensics did not pick up any traces of an animal being there? Surely when it scrammed, blood would get on its claws at least, but not one animal print was found whatsoever at the scene.”
                  “So was it a man or an animal that was in this alleyway?” Short asked.
                  “That Gallagher woman says it was most definitely a man who saved her and one of our reports says an animal – so one of them is incorrect!”
                  “Or maybe they’re both right!” Short stated.
                  “So you’re telling me that this vigilante hero had some kind of massive pet with him?”
                  “No – maybe the animal wandered into the alleyway and scared the man off.” Short added.
                  “Didn’t the Gallagher woman say that she passed out in the alleyway?” Harran asked, “Surely wouldn’t she be an easy target lying there unconscious? Why would the animal only attack one person and leave the other?”
     
    It had been an incredibly long night for the two detectives and this case was definitely not going to be as straightforward as they would have liked and little did they know now that it was going to cause them a lot more headaches and dilemmas as it continued.
     
    Their best option right now was to make themselves more coffee and get