We Are Death by Douglas Lindsay Read Free Book Online Page A

onto a great expanse of lawn. The doors were open, but there was a coolness about the old house which Jericho realised he hadn’t felt for several days.
    He was troubled now, couldn’t help it, but he had to continue with the investigation as though there was nothing unusual. Perhaps there really was nothing unusual. Perhaps the coincidences in the case of the murder of Evan Carter would come in threes.
    ‘I’m going up tomorrow to see the body. They said that would be fine. It’s still fine, I take it?’ asked Gerald Carter, glancing over his shoulder.
    ‘Of course,’ said Jericho.
    There was a formal identification process to take place, but it wasn’t a confirmation they were actually waiting for before they could do anything else. They had the driver’s licence. They had dental records. They had all they needed.
    ‘Trained to be a doctor,’ said Carter, as he brought over a tray with a couple of cups, the teapot and a small jug of milk. ‘Well, he’d put that to waste long ago. He didn’t need someone to knock him down in order to ruin all those university years.’
    ‘He wasn’t knocked down,’ said Jericho.
    His voice was steady, but he was cursing the officers who had informed Carter about his son’s death. Somewhere along the way someone had made an incorrect assumption.
    ‘They said it was a hit and run.’
    Jericho shook his head.
    ‘He was murdered. Shot. From close range.’
    Carter, whose hand had been resting on the handle of the teapot, about to pour, slumped back, his hands falling away. Seemed to go pale before him. He’d had a couple of hours to get used to the idea that his son was dead. Maybe, given his profession, it was something he’d come to anticipate. This new information, however, was brutal and bewildering.
    ‘Why?’
    His voice sounded small.
    ‘We don’t know,’ said Jericho.
    Carter started to form the word ‘who’ but the sound never quite made it to his lips.
    ‘We have no idea,’ added Jericho.
    Carter swallowed, stared across the great table, lowered his eyes. Unusually for Jericho, he suddenly got the sense that he should do something for him, no matter how slight. He got up, poured out two cups of tea with milk, then placed one of the cups in Carter’s hand.
    ‘Take a drink, Mr Carter,’ he said, sitting back down.
    Carter stared down at the cup as though surprised to see it there. Then he took a small sip, the cup unsteady in his hand.
    ‘Did you hear from him much after the last expedition? While he was travelling through Asia...?’
    Carter seemed to take a few moments. Still processing the information. Finally, as though he was hearing the question on time delay, he looked up, nodding.
    ‘He always kept in contact during expeditions, as much as he could at any rate. He knew I worried, even though we’d never seen eye to eye over his career choice. Once he was on holiday, of course, he was like any child. There was no need to contact his father.’
    ‘Did you know he was back in England?’
    ‘Not exactly. I knew it would be sometime this week but didn’t know when, until... until the police came this morning.’
    ‘Was there anything significant about the expedition?’
    Carter’s eyes widened for a moment, then he lifted the tea again. His hand seemed a little steadier.
    ‘He didn’t get on with this chap Geyerson. Was much too brash for Evan. I may not have liked what he chose to do, but he was a decent sort, Evan, a nice boy. Just like his mother. We used to say he had all her good qualities and his sister had all my bad ones.’
    A long, sad stare across the room and out into the garden. Jericho gave him his moment. He presumed the mother was dead and wondered about the sister. Maybe she was dead too and Carter was going to be all that was left of what had been a happy family of four.
    ‘No, he didn’t like Geyerson. American. Loud. It was obvious... I don’t think he was ever going to work with him again.’
    ‘Did they actually fall