The Handshaker by David Robinson Read Free Book Online Page B

performers use. I convince this person that you are in danger because the brakes on your car are loose. The subject needs to tighten them. I tell him how it’s done, but in reality, I’m telling him how to loosen the brakes. He does the job, you go off for a drive and the first time you use your brakes, they fail. You’re in an accident and if you were travelling at a good enough speed, you’re dead. At the very worst, the subject will be picked up for tampering with your brakes, but he’d go to prison, not me.”
    “That simple, eh?” Millie commented.
    “But it’s not simple,” Croft disagreed. “It takes a long time to get most subjects to such a depth of hypnosis that they could be duped like that, and that means you would need regular access to him so you could… of course. That’s it.”
    Both officers were suddenly alert. “What?” demanded Shannon. “What’s it?”
    “These women are not picked at random,” Croft told them with absolute certainty. “He knows them. He has had access to them for a long time, possibly years. That’s how he can hypnotise them so quickly. He knows they’re amenable to deep hypnosis, he’s installed enough post-hypnotic suggestions to hypnotise them with a single command and gesture, a gesture like… like a handshake.” Croft’s voice rose in triumph. “I’m right, Shannon. I know I am. That’s why he’s called The Handshaker. You didn’t think of it, he did. He wrote to you and signed himself off as The Handshaker, didn’t he? He hoped you might understand that the handshake induction is quite common amongst hypnotists.” Neither Shannon nor Millie commented, but their owlish stares were evidence enough for Croft. He was right and he knew it. “Ms Matthews told me earlier that The Handshaker writes to you after every crime. Any chance I could see those notes?”
    Shannon shook his head. “I’m sorry, but the answer is no.”
    Millie expanded on the superintendent’s declaration. “The texts are completely incomprehensible anyway.”
    “You mean like a cryptic puzzle?” Croft shrugged. “I do cryptic crosswords for fun. Maybe I could help.”
    “I said no, I meant no.” Shannon stood up. “Right, you can go. If you get any further correspondence from this man, you bring it straight to us. Don’t open it, don’t do anything with it, just bring it here.”
    “Just a moment,” Croft insisted as the superintendent prepared to leave. “Is that it?”
    Shannon paused at the door. “Yes. It is. I’ve heard enough drivel for one morning, and unlike you university people, I have real work to do, like catching a madman. Goodbye, Mr Croft.”
    As Shannon left, Croft transferred his gaze to Millie, who was busy getting together her belongings.
    “The fingerprints and DNA sample will be destroyed, Mr Croft. Thank you for coming in and I’m sorry if we inconvenienced you.” She dug into her bag and came out with a business card. “If anything else should happen, my direct number here at the station is on the card and so is my mobile number. It’s usually easier to get me on the mobile.”
    Croft took the card with the thought that at least the woman had had more training in public relations than her superior.
    “So what happens now?” he asked.
    She smiled sweetly. “Nothing. I don’t think you’re in any danger, Mr Croft. You go back to your academic life and leave it to us now, unless anything else should happen.”
    She, too, walked out of the room leaving the door open for Croft to go. Bemused, he got to his feet, tucked his newspaper in his jacket pocket, and followed her.
     

7
     
    Twenty minutes later, with the time approaching noon, Croft climbed out of his car and gazed in dismay at the contrast between two conjoined houses.
    The garden and surrounding fence of number 48 Sussex Crescent were pristine, well tended, kept in tip-top condition, the wood door was freshly painted and even in the dull November daylight, it shone. By