Read Online Murder by Appointment: Inspector Faro No.10 by Alanna Knight - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Alanna Knight
Ads: Link
The most amazing, he had found, were frequently the result of human agency.
Brown sighed. 'I can pay my last respects to Bessie too, then. Arrange a decent burial for them both. Someone'll need to do it, them having no kin.'
As Faro thanked him, he said, 'Just a matter of decency, man. Common decency, that's all.'
But as they parted, Faro decided that the swift change in Brown's manner from wariness to eagerness to be accommodating was a matter to give pause for thought. It was an attitude with which he was sadly familiar.
In anyone less important, such behaviour would have indicated the workings of uneasy conscience. And his interview with Brown served only to confirm the identities of the dead man and woman. He was no further forward in the matter of solving the mystery of the two deaths, which were being written off by the Procurator Fiscal as unfortunate accidents.
Superintendent Mcintosh's attitude was unsympathetic. Within a year of retirement and nursing secret dreams of a knighthood, he was determined that the Central Office should present a good clean tidy appearance to his successor. Most important of all, it should be seen that Edinburgh City Police had an amazing record where violent crimes were concerned. He was anxious to portray Edinburgh as a safe city where men and women could go about their business in a kind of urban paradise: God fearing, true to Queen and country.
'Will you never give up, Faro,' he sighed wearily, 'and accept accidents without wasting your time and mine searching for some sinister motive? Can't you content yourself with the minor crimes that plague us? There's plenty of fraud and burglaries and crim. cons, that you could get your teeth into if you are ever out of a job.'
Faro was mortally offended at such a suggestion. 'Crim.con.', or 'criminal conversation', was the law's quaint description of adultery. It was also the kind of investigation he considered beneath the attentions of a detective who had dedicated his whole career to murder investigations.
Vince was more understanding. He knew his stepfather of old and, listening patiently as he had done so often in the past, reminded him gently, 'Mcintosh is right, you know. It isn't anything to do with you really—'
'Wait a moment. Two murders in Edinburgh and nothing to do with me,' Faro exploded. 'If that isn't my business, then I don't know what is!'
'Look, Stepfather. If John Brown and Balmoral are involved, thieving servants and so forth, then it is the business of the Aberdeen branch to sort it out. You know that perfectly well and you can be sure they already have it in hand.'
Pausing, he placed his fingertips together and regarded Faro over them, once more the doctor whose soothing manner was meant to inspire confidence in a particularly stubborn patient.
'From what you've told me, one thing is puzzling. Why did brother and sister live apart, when she already had a rented cottage in Duddingston?'
'Exactly what Constable Thomas observed!' said Faro. 'The answer is fairly obvious, lad. They had information so dangerous it was vital there was no connection between them.'
Vince considered for a moment. 'Blackmail, do you think?'
'Before I can answer that, I'd like a lot more details, particularly about that pilfering Brown mentioned.'
'If it was jewels, something of that sort, McNair's remaining in his sordid lodging could have indicated that he was trying to contact a fence,' said Vince.
'We have no idea of what was taken. Brown was very vague. All we know is that it was of sufficient importance to have cost two people their lives. So far,' Faro added grimly.
'About Bessie McNair's Irish visitors. Could it be that the Fenians are busy again?'
Faro nodded. 'That thought had crossed my mind. Although they could have been innocent enough. There's plenty of Irish folk in Edinburgh.'
'And they don't fit the description of your two attackers on the Mound,' said Vince. 'As for a tall, slim woman concealing a pretty
Brown sighed. 'I can pay my last respects to Bessie too, then. Arrange a decent burial for them both. Someone'll need to do it, them having no kin.'
As Faro thanked him, he said, 'Just a matter of decency, man. Common decency, that's all.'
But as they parted, Faro decided that the swift change in Brown's manner from wariness to eagerness to be accommodating was a matter to give pause for thought. It was an attitude with which he was sadly familiar.
In anyone less important, such behaviour would have indicated the workings of uneasy conscience. And his interview with Brown served only to confirm the identities of the dead man and woman. He was no further forward in the matter of solving the mystery of the two deaths, which were being written off by the Procurator Fiscal as unfortunate accidents.
Superintendent Mcintosh's attitude was unsympathetic. Within a year of retirement and nursing secret dreams of a knighthood, he was determined that the Central Office should present a good clean tidy appearance to his successor. Most important of all, it should be seen that Edinburgh City Police had an amazing record where violent crimes were concerned. He was anxious to portray Edinburgh as a safe city where men and women could go about their business in a kind of urban paradise: God fearing, true to Queen and country.
'Will you never give up, Faro,' he sighed wearily, 'and accept accidents without wasting your time and mine searching for some sinister motive? Can't you content yourself with the minor crimes that plague us? There's plenty of fraud and burglaries and crim. cons, that you could get your teeth into if you are ever out of a job.'
Faro was mortally offended at such a suggestion. 'Crim.con.', or 'criminal conversation', was the law's quaint description of adultery. It was also the kind of investigation he considered beneath the attentions of a detective who had dedicated his whole career to murder investigations.
Vince was more understanding. He knew his stepfather of old and, listening patiently as he had done so often in the past, reminded him gently, 'Mcintosh is right, you know. It isn't anything to do with you really—'
'Wait a moment. Two murders in Edinburgh and nothing to do with me,' Faro exploded. 'If that isn't my business, then I don't know what is!'
'Look, Stepfather. If John Brown and Balmoral are involved, thieving servants and so forth, then it is the business of the Aberdeen branch to sort it out. You know that perfectly well and you can be sure they already have it in hand.'
Pausing, he placed his fingertips together and regarded Faro over them, once more the doctor whose soothing manner was meant to inspire confidence in a particularly stubborn patient.
'From what you've told me, one thing is puzzling. Why did brother and sister live apart, when she already had a rented cottage in Duddingston?'
'Exactly what Constable Thomas observed!' said Faro. 'The answer is fairly obvious, lad. They had information so dangerous it was vital there was no connection between them.'
Vince considered for a moment. 'Blackmail, do you think?'
'Before I can answer that, I'd like a lot more details, particularly about that pilfering Brown mentioned.'
'If it was jewels, something of that sort, McNair's remaining in his sordid lodging could have indicated that he was trying to contact a fence,' said Vince.
'We have no idea of what was taken. Brown was very vague. All we know is that it was of sufficient importance to have cost two people their lives. So far,' Faro added grimly.
'About Bessie McNair's Irish visitors. Could it be that the Fenians are busy again?'
Faro nodded. 'That thought had crossed my mind. Although they could have been innocent enough. There's plenty of Irish folk in Edinburgh.'
'And they don't fit the description of your two attackers on the Mound,' said Vince. 'As for a tall, slim woman concealing a pretty
Similar Books
