A Long Time Dead

A Long Time Dead by Sally Spencer Read Free Book Online

Book: A Long Time Dead by Sally Spencer Read Free Book Online
Authors: Sally Spencer
Tags: Mystery
said cautiously.
    â€˜But what’s your gut instinct, sir?’
    â€˜I don’t know if I have one,’ Woodend admitted. ‘Douglas Coutes was a real nasty piece of work when I knew him – but the world is full of nasty pieces of work, an’ not all of them turn into killers.’
    â€˜So it’s possible he
was
framed, as he claims?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜But unlikely?’
    â€˜The only thing that Coutes has got goin’ for him is that he’s not a
stupid
man by any means,’ Woodend mused. ‘An’ if he
is
guilty, he made not one, but two, incredibly stupid mistakes – the first at the time of the murder, an’ the second much later.’
    â€˜The one at the time would have been using his own knife to kill the American?’ Paniatowski suggested.
    â€˜Yes, that’s right,’ Woodend agreed. ‘I saw him with that knife myself, an’ there must have been dozens of other people in Haverton Camp who’d done the same. So why not use some other weapon instead? Why not a bayonet, for example? That would have done the job – an’ he could certainly have got his hands on one, easily enough.’
    â€˜Yes, I imagine he could,’ Paniatowski said.
    â€˜An’ even if he
did
use his own knife,’ Woodend continued, ‘whatever would have possessed him to leave it in the grave with his victim?’
    â€˜He could have panicked,’ Paniatowski suggested. ‘Killers do make incredible mistakes when they lose their nerve.’
    â€˜True enough,’ Woodend agreed. ‘But Coutes never struck me as the panicking sort.’
    â€˜What about the second mistake he might have made?’ Monika Paniatowski asked.
    â€˜That was very recent. In his position as Minister of Defence, he must have been consulted on the matter of selling Haverton Camp to a firm of property developers.’
    â€˜And if he’d known that Kineally’s body was buried there, he’d have done all he could to block the sale?’
    â€˜Exactly. But accordin’ to what Forsyth’s told me, Coutes showed very little interest in the sale at all. So either he
is
innocent or he’s
so
arrogant that he thought that even if the body was discovered, he’d get away with it.’
    â€˜Which is highly unlikely, because of the knife,’ Monika Paniatowski pointed out.
    â€˜Which is highly unlikely because of the knife,’ Woodend agreed. ‘So what we’re left with, Sergeant, is a situation which doesn’t add up
however
you rearrange the clues.’
    â€˜You mentioned a girl,’ Paniatowski said.
    â€˜Did I?’ Woodend asked, sounding suddenly troubled.
    â€˜I think you said that her name was Mary Parkinson.’
    â€˜I should never have brought that name up.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Because I’d like you to keep an open mind about this case, Monika, an’ if I start tellin’ you all about Mary Parkinson, it’ll slam at least a couple of your mental doors tight shut.’
    â€˜What does that mean, exactly?’ Paniatowski wondered. ‘That once you’ve told me all about her – and how she fits into this case – I’ll feel inclined to think that Coutes is guilty?’
    â€˜More or less.’
    â€˜I still think I should know.’
    â€˜An’ I don’t,’ Woodend said firmly. ‘It’s bad enough that I should be prejudiced against the bastard right from the start, without you gettin’ in on the act as well.’
    â€˜But if I don’t have the full picture—’
    â€˜Talk about somethin’ else,’ Woodend said, in a tone which was not quite an order – but came perilously close to it.
    â€˜They want me to back off!’ Senator Eugene Kineally told his Chief of Staff, that crisp Washington DC morning which was to see the first of the cherry blossom come into bloom. ‘Those sons-of-bitches at

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