Read Online The Fruit Gum Murders by Roger Silverwood - Free Book Online

then?’
    â€˜Put simply, it is oxygen deficiency. But there are many possible reasons for it. I thought at first it was a consequence of poisoning … but there is absolutely no trace in the blood. There are all sorts of thoughts in my mind, Michael. It is possible, of course, that if the victim was weak or had been drinking substantial amounts of alcohol or been heavily drugged that he could simply have been murdered by “burking”.’
    â€˜â€œBurking”?’ Angel said. ‘And what’s that, Mac? Or have you just made it up?’
    â€˜Indeed I hav’na’ made it up,’ Mac said. ‘That is the term often ascribed to a killing method that involves simultaneous smothering and compression of the torso. The term “burking” comes from the method William Burke and William Hare used to kill their victims during the West Port murders. They killed the usually intoxicated victims by sitting on their chests and suffocating them by putting a hand over their nose and mouth, while using the other hand to push the victim’s jaw up. The corpses had no visible injuries, and so were suitable cadavers to be sold to medical schools for money.’
    â€˜Could that not be the case, Mac?’
    â€˜It might have been, Michael, but there is no alcohol in his bloodstream, nor signs of any drugs, nor was he physically weak, nor were there any signs of a fight. It mystifies me, Michael, I have to admit. You’ll have to leave it with me. There are a few more tests I can make, and I will repeat the tests I have already made. I’ll let you know as soon as I know myself.’
    â€˜Right, Mac, thank you very much.’
    â€˜I can’t satisfy the question of his sexuality either, but I can tell you that his genitalia are perfectly normal, as are all his clothes, so there is no evidence to suppose that he might be a transsexual.’
    â€˜Good, but what about the red stuff on his lips?’
    â€˜Lipstick, very high quality lipstick, as it happens,’ Mac said, ‘and I think it arrived there as a result of somebody kissing the victim once or even several times.’
    â€˜And do you think that somebody was male or female?’
    â€˜How could I know that, Michael? I expect, being the naïve one that I am, I would say it was female, but I really don’t know.’
    â€˜And the red, sweetie-looking thing … had that anything to do with the cause of death?’
    â€˜No. The red sweetie-looking thing is a red sweetie, commonly described as a fruit gum, and as innocent as the day is long. So it was left by somebody who sucks fruit gums. I’ll get back to you.’
    â€˜Thanks, Mac.’
    Angel replaced the phone and pursed his lips. It was very unusual for Mac to be confounded by a cause of death. But the other info was helpful. Now he would really like to hear how Ahmed was getting along tracing the calls on Norman Robinson’s mobile, and how Crisp was progressing in Glasgow delving into the victim’s background. He was about to pick up the phone to call Ahmed when it began to ring. He reached out for it.
    â€˜Angel.’
    â€˜It’s Flora, sir. I’m in the lecture room, going through that CCTV. I think I’ve got something.’
    Angel’s heart began to race. ‘I’ll come down,’ he said, slamming the phone into its cradle.
    He arrived in the lecture room to find Flora seated halfway back in the room with a solitary table in front of her. She had plugged the CCTV playback through her laptop onto the big screen and the sound into the enhanced replay soundtrack speakers. She had also quite sensibly closed the blinds to provide maximum clarity to the pictures being shown.
    â€˜Got him on the screen now, lass?’ he said as he untangled a chair from the stack at the side of the room, carried it across to where Flora was seated, set it down and sat along the side of her.
    â€˜That character there