Murder on the Short List by Peter Lovesey Read Free Book Online Page B

throat,” Thackeray said.
    â€œWho is he?”
    â€œThat’s something I can’t reveal, sir.”
    â€œCan’t, or won’t?”
    â€œBoth, sir. He’s not speaking to us.”
    â€œPerhaps I can be of assistance. Through my missionary work on the streets I come across many of the local ne’er-do-wells. Would you like me to take a look at him?”
    Thackeray pondered for a moment, scratching his chin. “I suppose it would do no harm.”
    The interpreter hadn’t yet arrived, so he took Eli Mountjoy downstairs and slid open the Judas hole of Razor Bill’s cell door.
    â€œThat’s Vladimir,” Mountjoy said at once. “He’s a Russian.”
    Thackeray smiled to himself. “I thought so. You know him, then?”
    â€œBy sight. He doesn’t talk. Can’t understand us, I suppose. Well, there’s a thing. I’d never have thought of Vladimir as a murderer.”
    â€œWe’ve got an interpreter coming in. We’ll find out what he’s got to say for himself if he isn’t completely mad.”
    â€œLet’s hope he isn’t,” Mountjoy said. “It would be so encouraging if he asks his Maker for forgiveness before you hang him. How many women did he kill?”
    â€œWe know of four.” Thackeray slid the cover over the slot in the door. “Would you happen to know his second name?” Mountjoy shook his head. “People call him Vladimir, or Vlad. That’s all I can tell you. Four, you say. Is that certain?”
    â€œFour corpses, all with their throats cut.”
    â€œThat’s beyond dispute.” He stroked his beard thought-fully. “I expect you’ll make sure.”
    Thackeray frowned. “Make sure of what, sir?”
    â€œThat he killed all four.”
    â€œIs there any doubt?”
    â€œI suppose not. I was reflecting that if – for the sake of argument – he was responsible for only three of the murders, and he refused to speak, or is mad, you might never find out who carried out the fourth.”
    Thackeray thought about that for some time. “It’s pretty far-fetched, isn’t it? There isn’t much chance of two evil people cutting women’s throats in Pimlico at the same time of year.”
    â€œI have to concede that it is. Pretty far-fetched.” On the way upstairs, Mountjoy said, “They’ll all flood back onto the streets now, all those women who were too frightened to parade themselves while Razor Bill was about. He did more to clean up the streets of Pimlico than you or I.”
    â€œThat’s another way of looking at it,” Thackeray said. He was pleased when the Reverend Eli Mountjoy raised his hat and left. The man made him feel uncomfortable.
    C ribb was decent enough to congratulate Thackeray on finding out that Razor Bill was a Russian called Vladimir. He said the interpreter had made no headway at all. “He tried all of his nine languages. The only response he got was when Bill spat on his shoes.”
    â€œBut we have got the right man, sarge?”
    â€œI’m sure we’ve got the right man.”
    â€œIs he mad?”
    â€œNo, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s clever. He was caught in the act, so he’s got no way of talking himself out of it. By saying nothing, he opens a chink of doubt. But we know something he doesn’t.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œHe doesn’t know we know he’s a Russian called Vladimir.”
    â€œSpeaking of a chink of doubt, sarge, there was something the reverend said that made me uneasy.” Thackeray explained about Eli Mountjoy’s suggestion that someone else might have carried out one of the murders.
    Cribb was intrigued. “Did he have a reason for this theory?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIt’s a strange thing to suggest.”
    â€œHe did say something about the women being too scared to walk the streets