Read Online Necrocrip by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Free Book Online Page B

them in the morning. He’d have to have done that if he wanted it to look innocent.’
    ‘But the prints on the two knives were of his fingers and thumb only – no palm print. He must have washed and dried the knives and then left the prints putting them back in the rack.’
    ‘Well?’
    ‘But why only those two? There ought to have been similar prints on the others if he wanted it to look natural. And after all, since he works there, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with having his fingerprints on anything, so why go to so much trouble? It makes me uneasy. It’s either too clever or too stupid, I don’t know which.’
    ‘You want logic from a man like that?’ Barrington said impatiently.
    ‘No, sir, only consistency.’
    ‘We’re policemen, not psychiatrists. Your business is to collect evidence, and let someone else worry about the implications. Have we got enough to charge him?’
    ‘You’re asking my opinion?’ Slider asked cautiously.
    ‘I’m not whistling Yankee Doodle.’
    ‘Then – no, sir. Not until we can ID the body, at any rate.’
    Barrington frowned, but did not pursue the line. ‘What courses of action are you following?’
    ‘House to house is still going on. There’s the rest of the residents in Slaughter’s house to question. There’s the pub he said he visited. Also all the other known gay pubs within reasonable distance. And we’re trying to trace all the casuals who’ve worked at the fish bar in the last six months – there were a couple of other prints in the back shop clear enough to identify and we want to eliminate them.’
    ‘Got enough men?’
    ‘For the moment. Unless we have to start looking for another suspect.’
    ‘I want Slaughter kept under wraps,’ Barrington said sharply. ‘That’s why I asked you about charging him.’
    ‘He’s co-operating with everything at the moment, sir. He hasn’t asked to leave.’
    ‘If he does, let me know immediately,’ Barrington said abruptly, and took a file from his in-tray and opened it, to signify that the interview was terminated. ‘All right, carry on.’
    Slider left, quelling the desire to salute facetiously. Atherton was having a bad effect on his character, he decided.
    Beevers had drawn a blank at Bent Bill’s.
    ‘In spite of the moustache and chubbiness,’ Atherton mourned. ‘I thought you’d be very much up their street.’
    Beevers shrugged. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t get any offers, only that no-one I spoke to would admit knowing Slaughter.’
    ‘What about the barmen?’ Slider asked.
    ‘Same thing, Guv. They all went glassy-eyed when they looked at the photo.’
    ‘There’ll be other nights and other customers,’ Slider said philosophically. ‘At least we’ve got time on this one: Slaughter’s going nowhere. Someone else can have a crack at it tonight.’
    ‘Alec looks too much like a policeman. Why not send Norma?’ Anderson suggested. ‘They might think she’s a bloke in drag.’
    ‘I don’t mind,’ said Norma, splendidly unconcerned.‘Polish can come with me. The older ones might fancy a young boy.’
    ‘A catamite look a queen,’ Atherton offered.
    ‘Come again?’ Polish said blankly.
    ‘I wish you’d said that last night,’ Atherton complained. Slider saw Jablowski blush uncomfortably and hastened to intervene.
    ‘Let’s get on. What have we got from the house-to-house?’
    ‘One of the Ali Rebabas confirms that the chip shop was shut before eleven,’ Anderson said. ‘He went out to his car for something at about ten-to, and noticed that it was dark.’
    ‘That’s helpful corroboration anyway. What else?’
    ‘And a woman living across the road – a Mrs Kostantiou – saw a car parked at the end of the alley at about one a.m., which wasn’t there when she got up in the morning, about six o’clock. She thinks it was dark red or dark blue or brown. She doesn’t know what make and she couldn’t see the registration number.’
    ‘Terrific!’ Atherton