Dance of Death Read Free Page A

smile.
    ‘Good morning, Inspector,’ she said.
    ‘You’ll be on duty with Constable Marmion,’ Gale told her, indicating Alice. ‘If she can manage to remember it, she’ll tell you all you need to know.’
    ‘Thank you.’ The newcomer turned to Alice. ‘Hello, I’m Iris Goodliffe.’
    ‘I’m pleased to meet you,’ said Alice, pleasantly.
    ‘I’ve heard about you.’
    ‘Have you?’
    ‘Well, don’t just stand there,’ ordered the inspector with a flick of a hand. ‘Get out and start doing something useful.’
    Grateful to be dismissed, the two women made a quick exit. Outside in the corridor, they were able to introduce themselves properly. While Alice contrived to look poised and comfortable in the unbecoming uniform, Iris Goodliffe had been given an ill-fitting jacket that only accentuated her bulging anatomy. She kept tugging at it self-consciously.When she saw the slight angle at which Alice wore her hat, Iris adjusted her own into a similar position then gave the nervous giggle that was to become her trademark. She stared at Alice through eyes brimming with admiration.
    ‘They say that your father is a famous detective inspector.’
    ‘He’d never think of himself as famous.’
    ‘Police work must be in your blood.’
    ‘Not exactly, Iris,’ said Alice. ‘What we do is very mundane but nonetheless important for that, mark you. We leave serious crime to Scotland Yard. That’s their territory. I could never follow in my father’s footsteps.’
    ‘You must have picked up some tips from him.’
    ‘I preferred to find my own feet in this job. I was a teacher before I came here. I suppose that involves asserting a certain amount of authority. That’s what we have to do when we put on these uniforms.’ She appraised the other woman. ‘Where have you come from Iris?’
    ‘I used to work in the family shop. It was a pharmacy. One day was much like every other one. I wanted some real excitement.’ She pulled down her jacket again. ‘And I’m hoping that exercise will help me lose weight.’
    Alice warmed to her. Iris seemed keen to learn and would be agreeable company on the long trudge around the streets of London. The new recruit had an air of innocence about her that was offset by a quiet determination to succeed in her new role. In Iris Goodliffe, Alice sensed, she had acquired a new friend.
     
    ‘What’s the trick, Joe?’ asked Marmion.
    ‘There isn’t one.’
    ‘Then why is it that, as soon as we get anywhere near the morgue,my stomach starts to heave like the North Sea while you stay as cool as a cucumber?’
    ‘It’s a simple case of self-control.’
    ‘Yes, but how did you get that self-control?’
    ‘I got paid for looking at dead bodies,’ said Keedy with a grin. ‘When it comes down to money, you very quickly learn to be detached.’
    ‘Even you can’t be that cynical.’
    ‘I was only joking. The truth is that … well, I just got used to it.’
    Keedy came from a family of undertakers and worked in the family business for some years before joining the police force. Marmion always argued that looking at a murder victim was very different from studying the corpse of someone who died a natural death, but all dead bodies were the same to Keedy. He could look at the most grotesque injuries without turning a hair whereas Marmion’s heart began to pound the moment they entered the morgue. It was doing so all over again. When they walked into the room, he began to perspire slightly even though the atmosphere was chill. The abiding aroma of disinfectant unsettled him even more.
    Chatfield had warned him that the victim had been badly mutilated but that was in the nature of an understatement. When the shroud was drawn back to expose the naked man to view, Marmion had to turn away for a moment in disgust. Keedy, however, looked with professional calm at the multiple wounds, starting with the head and working his way along the body. Both eyes had been removed, leaving two