The Memory of Blood Read Free Page A

classic Timex—‘fifty-five minutes. You’re cutting it a tad fine.’
    ‘I know. We have to watch for the smallest signs, an odd look, any betrayal of emotion that might cause one of them to give the game away.’
    ‘Arthur, an odd look isn’t going to secure a conviction. We need concrete evidence before the clock strikes twelve.’
    ‘Well, whose idea of a shindig was this?’ said a tipsy blond woman in a tight black Lycra dress that had made her tanned breasts rise like golden loaves. She turned her attention to May while ignoring his partner. It was her habit to only address men she found useful or attractive, a trait that made her thoroughly unlikeable.
    ‘How did you get in?’ asked Bryant. ‘This is a private party. No riffraff allowed.’
    Rudeness had no effect on Janet Ramsey. As the editor of Hard News , the capital’s gossip daily, she was used to having the door metaphorically slammed in her face. ‘Actually, Uncle Fester, I’m here as a guest,’ she rejoined airily. ‘And you’re up to something. I can smell it. I can see it on that old tortoise face of yours.’
    ‘I’m surprised you can see anything through that face-lift,’ Bryant harrumphed. ‘If you print a single word about this, I’ll sendso many uniforms around to your office it’ll look like you’re staging The Pirates of Penzance .’
    Ramsey gave him a blank look.
    ‘There are a lot of policemen in The Pirates of Penzance ,’ May explained to her.
    ‘I don’t know why you hang around with Rip Van Winkle here,’ said Ramsey, walking frosted fingernails up May’s lapel. ‘He’s holding you back, John. He always has. Tell me the truth. Give an old newspaper gal a break. What’s this party all about? Why are the guests locked in? Why does everyone look so anxious? What exactly are you two up to?’
    ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Janet.’
    ‘I recognise some of the people in this room.’ She narrowed her false eyelashes at the assembly. ‘This wouldn’t have anything to do with the murders your Unit has been investigating, would it?’
    ‘You can’t print conjecture,’ May warned.
    ‘I see the time has come to let you in on our little secret,’ said Bryant, trying not to grimace as he took Ramsey’s arm. ‘Come with me and I promise all will be revealed.’
    Ramsey knew she couldn’t trust Bryant, but her curiosity got the better of her. She stumbled after him, into the chill shadows of the cobwebbed chamber. There was a short silence followed by a yelp and a clang of metal, and Bryant came back alone.
    ‘What did you do?’ asked May. ‘Where’s Janet?’
    ‘I think I managed to spike her story,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I shut her in the Iron Maiden.’
    ‘That thing’s just a stage prop,’ said May with a hint of regret. ‘There are no sharpened nails on the inside of it.’
    ‘Really?’ Bryant’s eyes widened in innocence. ‘I had no idea. What a pity. I’ll let her out after midnight.’
    ‘Okay, what do we do now?’
    ‘We know that our killer is in this room. I just have to come up with a way of drawing him out.’
    ‘You mean you haven’t thought this through?’
    ‘How could I? From the very first moment, this entire investigation has been an unmitigated disaster. Nothing has gone according to plan.’ Bryant peered up his sleeve. ‘The little hand’s fallen off my watch. How much time do we have left?’
    ‘Fifty-two minutes. This is the last time all of our suspects will be in one room together. It’s the only chance we have to put things right. We’re so close now.’
    ‘John, we’re no closer than we were a week ago,’ said Bryant. ‘God, it feels like we’ve been working on this case for a lifetime. Come on.’
    The pair set off into the penumbral chamber of horrors, determined to catch an impossible murderer. Last week had felt like a fresh beginning. Now they could see it might have been the beginning of the end.

‘A fresh start!’ said Raymond Land,