Thursday legends - Skinner 10 by Quintin Jardine Read Free Book Online Page A

gripping the
roaring torch as it moved towards Smith. 'How tall do you think the person
holding the ...' Steele began, but
his voice tailed into a gasp as the white flame seared against the helpless
man's penis. The twisting victim's eyes bulged, threatening to come out of
their sockets. His shouts became an awful, muffled scream. His back arched as
he tried to pull away from his torturer, but he had been hauled so high up on
his toes that he was completely helpless.
    'Try
not to look at him,' Skinner barked, urgently. 'Look for the killer instead,
listen for him; any sights, any sounds that aren't Alec'
    He
tried to follow his own instruction, but it was virtually impossible in the
face of the most awful horror movie any of them had ever seen. The blowlamp did
its work on the genitals, charring, scorching, blackening, then moved up to the
nipples, the heat melting Smith's chest hair. Finally, Skinner looked away as
the lance of flame aimed for the eyes. He tried to shut his ears against the
awful noise. There was a scrambling beside him, Stevie Steele heading for the
door, yet no other sound, only Smith's choking screams, rising to a crescendo,
then gradually, weakening and fading. Then the roar of the flame dying away,
replaced by another noise, a rending, tearing sound, and by one last muted howl
from the doomed man on the hook.
    At
last, Andy Martin pressed the remote to switch off the monitor. 'My God,'
Maggie Rose whispered, over and over again, until a sob forced its way out.
Skinner leaned on the table, grasping it almost hard enough to splinter the
wood, staring once again at the empty screen, listening to the hum as the camcorder
continued to replay its tape.
    'No
other officer is to see that recording,' he ordered. 'Chief Inspector, I want
you to take personal charge of it. Take it back to Haddington when next you go
there, and lock it in your safe.' He turned to look at her with a gleam in his
eyes that she would rather not have seen. Two people had; they were both dead.
    'When
we arrest this beast, Maggie,' he said, grinding the words through his teeth,
'you'll have to interview him. But not alone; with Brian, if he's back by then.
If not, with someone other than one of us, someone who hasn't seen that. I
don't know about you, but if I caught the people who did that right now, I'd
have a hell of a job keeping my hands off them ... I don't think I'd
even try.'
    Martin's
voice broke the silence. 'There was nothing on it to help us catch them,' he
muttered. 'Mags was right, the killer held the camera while he did that stuff
to Alec. There's not a sign of anyone, not a sound ... and no indication that there was more than one person in the
room.'
    'What
a terrible person, though.' The DCC looked at his colleagues, as Stevie Steele
came back into the van, sheepishly. 'What the hell could Alec Smith have done
for someone to do that to him?'
    'Like
I said to Karen,' Andy Martin murmured, 'that sort of mind doesn't necessarily
need to have a reason.'
    'Don't
say that, for fuck's sake!' said Skinner, urgently. 'If that's true, he might
do it again!
    'I
don't need to say it, people, but I will. All the stops! Maggie, what are you
doing about the press?'
    The
DCI glanced at her watch. 'Alan Royston's issuing a statement around now, up in
Edinburgh. I'll take a press conference once we've done the initial
door-to-door sweep.'
    'Where?'
    'Here,
if can find a suitable room. I'll try the community centre.'
    'Fine.
You get that rest now; if you want me to see the press with you, you only have
to ask. But first of all, I've got to tell the Chief Constable what's happened
here.'
    He
caught her glance. 'Don't worry,' he reassured her. 'I'll tell him he's not
seeing the video. Jimmy's made a good recovery from his heart attack, but I
doubt if he's up to that.'

8
     
     
    When
Skinner and Martin arrived back at the DCC's house in Gullane, Alex's car was
parked in the driveway. Sarah's was gone.
    'Ah,
my kid's here,' said Bob. 'I guess