Substantial Threat by Nick Oldham Read Free Book Online Page A

down. JJ’s arms flailed like a broken windmill, his mouth opened in a silent scream. Time then clicked back to normal and he smashed into the ground. Ray plainly heard the dull whack as the top of JJ’s head struck. His body twitched a jig, his eyes came open, then he did not move anymore, his eyes staying open, staring up at Ray accusingly.
    Ray pushed himself away from the window, a grim, wild look in his own eyes.
    â€˜First one of the day,’ he announced. ‘Let’s get a move on.’
    He made towards the door. Carrie, who had watched him murder her boyfriend, forgot her own fear and pain and pounced at Ray’s feet, screaming, ‘You bastard!’
    Ray smartly side-stepped and rammed the sole of his trainer against the side of her face, kicking her away. She sprawled across the room, but wasn’t finished. Jumping to her feet, she went for him again.
    Marty put himself between her and Ray. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and dug his fist into her stomach. He dragged her sideways and threw her to the floor.
    This time she did not move, just lay there sobbing and choking.
    â€˜No witnesses, Marty,’ Ray said. ‘Take care of her and see us down in the car when you’ve done.’
    The words were bliss to Marty’s ears. ‘It’ll be a fuckin’ pleasure.’
    It was a mess underneath the settee. There were discarded cigarette packets, matchboxes, a couple of pizza boxes (one with a half-eaten Margarita in it), numerous cigarette and roach ends, some scrunched-up free newspapers and a pair of knickers. All in all, a tinderbox.
    The cigarette end which had fallen from JJ’s fingers did the trick.
    It burned slowly and almost died, but re-ignited when a waft of fresh air rolled through the flat when Marty left the premises after he had finished with Carrie. A tiny ember blew on to a rolled-up fish and chip paper and started to burn. The little flames crackled and licked the underside of the cheap settee, immediately melting the plastic-like fibre and spreading to the foam-filled insides.
    In less than sixty seconds the fire had engulfed the piece of furniture and was reaching towards the curtains.
    The old man who found JJ’s twisted body on the playground did not think to call the police. A paramedic unit was first on the scene. Once they were certain JJ’s life was extinct – not a difficult thing to work out – they called the cops and covered the body from the prying eyes of the crowd which had started to gather.
    While waiting for the arrival of the boys/girls in blue, they saw the flames begin to pour out of the open window of the flat four floors above.
    So they called the fire brigade.
    It was going to be a full turn-out for the emergency services.

Three
    â€˜N ow I remember you, too,’ Jacqueline Burrows said. ‘Bit of a messy suicide, wasn’t it? You were one of the detectives who came to the house to have a look at the body.’
    Henry nodded and raised his eyebrows. ‘Mind if I ask you the question you probably always get asked?’
    â€˜The “why” question?’ she said. ‘Why would a girl like you want to become an undertaker? Dead bodies and all that messy stuff? The smell of death, embalming fluid, etcetera, etcetera?’
    â€˜Yeah, the “why” question,’ Henry confirmed.
    â€˜Impulse,’ she admitted. ‘No great feel for a vocation or anything like that. I was fifteen at the time, a rebel at school, really pissed off, saw an ad in the local rag and thought I’d have a go at it. An undertaker took me on and I really enjoyed it.’ She shrugged. ‘Took to it like a duck to water, just loved it. Embalming, making people who’d been smashed to bits look good again so their relatives could have some decent memory of them. Spent a few years learning the trade and my dad set me up in business when I was nineteen. Got a bit bored with it a couple of years