Die Twice by Simon Kernick Read Free Book Online Page A

with bastards like that.’ Which, of course, he did. Among other things, Runnion was wel known for supplying firearms, usually on a rental basis, to whoever needed them. We might never have caught him for it, but that didn’t mean anything. We knew he did it. ‘If I hear anything, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know, Sargeant.’
    â€˜You’d better do, Leonard. You’d better do.’
    â€˜And will there, shall we say, be a little drink in it for me if I come good?’ The eyes darted about like flies in a field of shit.
    â€˜I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something,’ I told him, knowing that bribery was usually more effective than threats. After all, as a police officer, what could I threaten him with? That we’d look into his business affairs more closely when we had the time? It would hardly have got him quaking in his boots.
    It was five to two by the time I got out of Runnion’s shop. Rather than continue my journey to the station, I thought I’d phone Malik to see how everything was going.
    He picked up after one ring. ‘Miriam Fox.’
    â€˜Miriam?’
    â€˜That’s our victim,’ he said. ‘Eighteen years old, just turned. Ran away from home three years ago. She’s been on the streets ever since.’
    â€˜Miriam. It seems a funny name for a Tom. I assume she was a Tom.’
    â€˜She was. Six convictions for soliciting. The last was two months ago. Apparently she came from a good home. Parents live out in Oxfordshire, father’s something big in computers. Plenty of money.’
    â€˜The sort of people who call their kid Miriam.’
    â€˜It’s a rich girl’s name,’ Malik agreed.
    â€˜A runaway, then.’
    â€˜That’s what I can’t understand. All over the world you’ve got people struggling to get out of poverty and make a better life for themselves, and this girl was trying to do exactly the opposite.’
    â€˜Don’t ever try to understand people,’ I told him. ‘You’ll just be disappointed. Have the family been informed?’
    â€˜The local boys are round there now.’
    â€˜Good.’
    â€˜I’ve got her last known address here. A flat in Somerstown, not far from the station.’
    I had to hand it to Malik, he didn’t hang about. ‘Has it been sealed yet?’ I asked him.
    â€˜Yeah. According to the DI, they’ve got a uniform down there at the moment.’
    â€˜Keys?’ It was always worth asking this sort of thing. You’d be amazed how many times simple things like means of entrance to an abode got overlooked.
    â€˜I had to pick them up myself. The landlord was one cheap bastard. It turned out she was late with the rent. He asked me what he could do to get hold of the money she owed him.’
    â€˜I hope you told him where to get off.’
    â€˜I told him he’d have to talk to her pimp. I said as soon as I got his address, I’d give it to him.’
    I managed my first smile of the day. ‘I bet that pleased him.’
    â€˜I don’t think there was much that was going to please him today.’ Anyway, the DI wants us to check out the address. See what we can find.’
    I told Malik where I was and he said he’d come by and pick me up en route. He rang off and I lit a cigarette, sheltering the lighter from the cold November wind.
    As I stood there breathing in the polluted city air, it struck me that maybe Malik was right. What the fuck had Miriam Fox been thinking about, coming here?

6
    For me, one of the worst jobs in policing is looking through the possessions of a murder victim. A lot of the time when a murder’s an open-and-shut case, which mostly they are, it’s not necessary to have to do it, but sometimes there’s no choice, and it’s a painful process, the reason being that it puts flesh and bones on people, gives you insights into what made them