Shrine to Murder Read Free Page B

He’ll be sadly missed.’
    ‘ Your wife suggested that you and he didn’t quite hit it off.’
    The Krills exchanged quick glances.
    Mrs Krill said, ‘I only told Inspector Angel the truth, Cyril.’
    Krill pursed his lips then said, ‘It’s true. He could be very…very difficult.’
    Angel was weighing the answer when Krill said, ‘Inspector Angel? Your name is Inspector Angel? You must be the famous Inspector Michael Angel. The man with the same reputation as the Mounties, that you always get your man? I’ve heard that you have never failed to solve a murder case?’
    Angel was momentarily stumped for words. His ears and cheeks felt hot. He licked his lips.
    ‘ I am Inspector Angel, sir,’ he said. ‘I don’t know about that other stuff. I do my job…the best way I know.’
    Krill pulled his head backwards, smiled and turned to his wife. ‘We’ve got the top man, Kathleen.’
    ‘ To continue, if you don’t mind,’ Angel said. ‘You were away this weekend?’
    ‘ Just two nights, yes. I went to the Solar Heating and Power Exhibition in London, but you surely don’t suspect me?’
    ‘ No, sir,’ Angel said. ‘But we check on everyone.’
    Dr Mac, in his white overalls, put his head through the door. He was a small, white-haired Glaswegian. ‘Excuse me. Have you a minute, Michael?’
    Angel rose and went over to him.
    Mac gestured to him to come out into the hall and then he quietly closed the drawing room door.
    ‘ I’m ready to move the body,’ Mac said quietly. ‘You’d be wanting to see it afore we do?’
    Angel nodded.
    Mac came up close to his ear and very quietly said, ‘And there’s an…an interesting feature to the case, Michael.’
    Angel blinked. That was unusual. Mac was not a sensationalist.
    ‘ Right, Mac,’ Angel said, nodding. ‘I’ll follow you upstairs in a moment.’
    Mac turned away.
    ‘ Would you find me some gloves?’
    ‘ Aye, I’ll see to it,’ Mac said, calling back over his shoulder.
    Angel returned to the drawing room, asked the Krills if they would mind waiting a few minutes, came out and mounted the stairs, carefully keeping his hands away from the heavily carved ornate handrail, and his feet on the centre line of the white plastic sheeting.
    He could hear the hum of vacuum cleaners still being used in other areas of the house by SOCOs, and hoped they might be accumulating valuable evidence.
    ‘ Second door,’ Angel heard the doctor call.
    ‘ Right, Mac,’ he bawled and made his way along the oak-lined landing to a large double bedroom.
    He was met at the door by a SOCO who handed him a pair of white plastic gloves. ‘You wanted these, sir.’
    ‘ Aye. Ta.’
    He put them on and made his way, keeping to the white plastic floor covering, to the bed nearest the bay window where Mac was waiting for him.
    The body was on the bed, on its back, covered with bedclothes to the waist. All around was the dark-red stain of dried blood: on the bedspread, the pillows, the bedhead.
    Angel peered at the head of the corpse. It flopped back unnaturally across a pile of pillows.
    He had seen hundreds of corpses but it always gave him a chilling feeling in his stomach at first sight. The feeling soon left him as his mind routinely assumed the business of searching for evidence to put the killer behind bars.
    The sparse covering of silver white hair confirmed that the corpse was of an elderly male. The face was a grey-white colour. Eyes closed. The lips a violet shade. The mouth was wide open, showing a row of even teeth.
    He looked up at the doctor.
    ‘ What you got then, Mac?’
    ‘ A single incision into the aorta, Michael, ensured this man died almost instantly. As you will see, there is an inordinate amount of blood. It would have spurted out under pressure. I think he must have been dead two or three days. I expect the murder was committed on Saturday night/Sunday morning. The weapon was a double-edged sword or dagger that had penetrated about five inches. One