The Evil That Men Do.(Inspector Faro Mystery No.11) by Alanna Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

it, then he was halfway to success.
    His compassion lay with the murdered man’s daughter Grace and the inevitable repercussions on her relationship with Vince when his detective stepfather metaphorically tightened the noose around the neck of one of her so-called ‘devoted family’.
    Walking slowly homeward through the moonlight, the cold and pitiless beauty of a frosty evening with the stars bright above Salisbury Crags, Faro thought sadly how so much beauty wears a mask of cruelty. And he remembered his own thoughts of a week ago, how he had been congratulating himself on how well their lives were going.
    ‘Tempting the gods,’ he said out loud. ‘I should have known better.’ That’s what always happens. Measure happiness, feel secure, and it all vanishes like fairy gold.
    His next call must be upon Cedric’s widow, Maud. Fully aware of the nature of questions to be asked, such poking and prying into her distressed and shocked condition filled him with a natural disgust.
    Could he take the coward’s way out and ask if the enquiry could be delegated to someone else? He was sorely tempted. Knowing Vince’s personal involvement with the Langweils, McIntosh would understand.
    The more he thought of it the greater temptation became, but even more clearly came realisation that he could not abandon Vince and the Langweils. The fact that his stepson was involved made it even more imperative that he personally solve the case. He could not take a chance on some other less experienced detective, working on a case where the evidence of one suspect was so inviting, reaching a false and fatal conclusion.
    Distasteful as it was, he had no alternative but to proceed along the given lines. He needed a helper, someone strong, steady, and reliable, and the face of Danny McQuinn passed uneasily before his eyes. Once his old enemy, Sergeant McQuinn had recently returned enriched by his experience working with the Glasgow City Police. Whatever his personal feelings, Faro knew McQuinn would be a good man to have at his side.
    Although his methods were a little too ruthless and tactless for the genteel drawing rooms of middle-class Edinburgh, McQuinn’s easy manner and common touch were particularly expert in extracting confidences from the servants’ hall. He had a natural charm with the female sex, which Faro had secretly envied when on more than one occasion such information had helped to solve a baffling case.
    Black-haired, blue-eyed, with an abundance of Irish charm and good looks, the sergeant listened intently when Faro put the facts of the case before him. ‘Superintendent McIntosh wants this conducted with the utmost discretion.’
    ‘You can rely on me for that, sir. I suggest the kitchens at Priorsfield would be a good place to begin.’
    As they parted, McQuinn saluted him gravely and then with a cheeky grin. ‘Good to work with you again, sir. You’ll be pleased to know that Glasgow has sharpened my wits.’
    Not that they needed much sharpening, was the rejoinder Faro might have made in the past but now bit back in the interests of diplomacy.
    Before leaving the Central Office, he learned that arson was now added to the perplexing fraud case near Musselburgh. He set off on the train once more, deciding that if the poisoner of Cedric Langweil lurked, as he suspected, within the family circle, it did no harm to allow a couple of days for the shock of possible exposure to take its toll of already frayed nerves.
    As the train carried him towards his destination Faro considered the motives of his two chief suspects in the Langweil case. Theodore, who had shared the last bottle of wine with Cedric, and could so easily have tampered with the final glass. Was there some information about the family business that had decided him to speed on his brother’s end, before new documents could be drawn up or an existing will revised?
    Then there was Adrian, Vince’s friend and partner. Adrian, who had personally dispensed the