Gallows Lane (Inspector Devlin Mystery 2) Read Free Page A

fifteen stone, though his height meant he carried the weight well. His hair had begun to recede quite early and, like many in the same situation, he had elected to shave his head so that only the shadow of his hairline remained. This, combined with his physical size, made him an intimidating figure, and he had the personality to match.
    Patterson was a divorcee and a proponent of the shower-room mentality: he would openly discuss sexual relationships and female colleagues’ bodies in the station and had once pinned a centre spread torn from one of his porn magazines on the fridge in our small communal kitchen under the banner ‘Stress relief available. Return when finished’. After several of the women in the station complained, he pinned up a picture of a nude male also, under the new title ‘Take your pick’. He defended his own chauvinism as mere fun and games and yet became a vocal feminist when in the company of women he found attractive.
    His partner, Hugh Colhoun, was a very different creature. He had only joined An Garda in his late thirties and so was still a uniformed officer despite being forty-five years old. He had a wife and three daughters on whom he clearly doted. He supported Patterson in all that he did, to the extent that he would often echo the last few words that his partner spoke in any conversation, in tacit agreement with the sentiments expressed, whether he understood them or not. He was slow and fairly thorough in his job, though he lacked the imagination to take leaps of faith and see beyond the obvious. If I had to guess, I’d say it was Patterson who had suggested searching the area having spotted someone acting suspiciously there. And yet, despite this or indeed because of this, it was Colhoun whom I approached to congratulate.
    He blushed while we spoke and looked around him for his partner, who was standing at the corner of the cordon, speaking with Costello and two uniformed constables from Raphoe.
    ‘It’s quite incredible, Hugh. Two finds in two months, nearly.’
    ‘Yes,’ Colhoun said, glancing over his shoulder. ‘Incredible.’
    ‘You must be looking for detective rank with this work rate.’
    He laughed at the joke, then became suddenly serious. ‘It was Harry who found them, not me, Ben. He’s the one who deserves the credit really, not me.’
    ‘Partners are partners, Hugh; the credit’s yours as well.’ I shook his hand which was damp and light as air. In a strange way Colhoun seemed almost downbeat about the discovery.
    Patterson was not so modest in success, smiling broadly as he approached us.
    ‘Looking for tips, Inspector? This is a turn-up, detectives coming to the uniforms for a hand.’ He looked around him as he spoke, trying to encourage others to join in his banter, or perhaps simply to see if he had an audience.
    ‘I was just congratulating Hugh, here. Good work.’ My puerile side would not allow me to extend the same sentiments to Patterson. ‘Quite remarkable; two finds in so many months.’
    ‘Well, someone has to—’ Patterson started, but he was cut short by Costello, who had appeared at my side.
    ‘Good day for the force, men, eh?’ he said, his hand on my elbow to steady himself.
    ‘Remarkable,’ I repeated.
    ‘Great work, boys,’ he continued. ‘Let’s get it all back to the station for the papers.’
    I began to move in the same direction as Patterson and Colhoun, but Costello gripped harder on my elbow.
    ‘Why aren’t you watching Kerr?’ Costello continued.
    ‘I got a call out to come here,’ I replied, already offended by what I sensed was my imminent exclusion.
    ‘Kerr is your priority, Benedict. Understood?’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ I said, but he had already begun to hobble back towards the main group, leaning heavily on his walking stick.
    As I drove away from the scene, trying not to look as embarrassed as I felt, I realized that, while Costello was right that the find looked good for An Garda in general, it also looked very