Read Online The Deathsniffer’s Assistant (The Faraday Files Book 1) by Kate McIntyre - Free Book Online

rafters and the Duke was left to hang there by the two barely connected threads that were his arms. The sleeves of his simple white shirt had been removed, revealing a long cut from wrist to armpit on both arms. Those wounds seemed clean compared to the long slash sliced across his neck, ear to ear. Blood had burst forth, soaking through the armless white shirt, his waistcoat, and his trousers, splashing on the floor below in a great crimson river.
    Hung like a pig in the window of a butcher shop. Chris reached for the wall to steady himself as a wave of dizziness crashed over him. He gulped and fumbled for his notebook. He needed a clear head to write down the most horrible thing he’d ever seen in full, colourful detail.
    The Duchess could barely look, and Chris felt the same, but Olivia seemed unaffected. She stepped forward, peering closely, inspecting the body. She walked a circle around it, hands folded behind her back, looking like a buyer inspecting an animal before making a purchase.
Deathsniffer
, he reminded himself. She must have seen worse, though he couldn’t imagine it. He wondered what she smelled.
    “This is how I found him,” the Duchess said, her voice thick. “I locked the door immediately after. I haven’t let Ana see, or the servants. This is
not
how I want Viktor remembered. Whatever faults he may have had, he was my husband, and I loved him.”
    “Have you touched anything?” Olivia asked.
    throat opened, knife wound? so much blood feet dangling above ground how could anyone do this Gods there’s somuch blood
, Chris weaved.
    “Nothing,” the Duchess said.
    Olivia stopped in front of the hanging meat, leaning in close. “You’re sure?”
    “…yes,” the Duchess said.
    “And
no one
else has been in here?”
    “I am certain no one has.”
    Olivia sighed. She turned to the Duchess, her face as pleasant as if they were on a morning walk. “When people lie to me,” she chirped, “I tend to assume guilt. I’ve found I’m usually right! This is the
second
time today you’ve lied to me, Duchess. It’s not looking very good for you.”
    The Duchess met her piercing gaze, and Olivia broke their eye contact to shrug with exaggerated flippancy. “Well, suit yourself. I don’t have all day to waste on a staring contest. I’ll spell it out for you.” She reached out a hand, and, to Chris’s utter shock, placed it on the hanging corpse’s groin, fingers splayed out. “You see here, Duchess?”
    The Duchess said absolutely nothing, though her face had gone grey.
    “The blood here isn’t like the rest,” Olivia said, as though what she were doing was totally natural. And perhaps it was, under the circumstances. “It didn’t hit this side of the fabric.” And then, before Chris could register what she could possibly mean, the Deathsniffer was tugging at the button, and then the laces of his trousers, opening them up, ignoring the Duchess’s sharp intake of breath. She spread open both sides of the opening, and―
    Chris turned his gaze away, focusing on the book, his face burning. He couldn’t even tell what he was weaving onto the page; he was sure it wasn’t anything useful, but it was better than looking.
    “Now why would there be so much blood
here
if this was all snug inside?”
    “
Miss
Faraday―” The Duchess’s voice was shrill with protest.
    “Oh,
honestly
, it may have been awhile, but you do have a child together. The secret is out, you’ve seen it before. Let’s not ignore what’s
really
important, here.”
    Duchess val Daren made a strangled sound.
    “Did you tuck him back in, then, Duchess? Or has someone else been in the room after all? And recently, oh yes, this was all moved after the blood had dried. The killer couldn’t have done it, not unless they came back hours later.”
    “I―” The Duchess cut herself off in midsentence. “I didn’t think it would make any difference.”
    “
Really
? Why do you think we want to see the place where the