Skinner's Rules

Read Skinner's Rules for Free Online

Book: Read Skinner's Rules for Free Online
Authors: Quintin Jardine
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural
him to issue a short-notice statement. The journalists who turned out to High Street at 9.30 a.m. were a mixture of freelances and evening and Sunday paper writers. There was no sign of television, but the diligent Radio Forth was present.
    Roger Quick of the Evening News asked the only question after Skinner’s brief factual statement. It seemed that no one, certainly not the Scottish weekend public cared too much about an incinerated wino. ‘When do you expect an identification, Mr Skinner?’
    ‘Quite frankly, Roger, I don’t know. Some of these poor people can’t remember their own names, far less those of the people around them in the hostels.’
    And that was how it turned out. The body was too badly burned to be identifiable, and without a photograph, or any distinguishing feature, it was impossible to conduct a productive enquiry among the city’s alcoholic drop-outs. The hostel wardens agreed to check on absentees from their usual list of guests, but none were hopeful.
    Thousands of questions were asked, but no leads uncovered. The charred corpse remained stubbornly anonymous over the weekend.
    On Monday morning, Skinner anticipated press requests and called a news conference to report no progress in either case, and to renew his request for assistance from the general public.
    Douglas Jackson of Radio Forth asked for an interview. ‘Chief Superintendent, do you believe that there is any connection between last week’s two Royal Mile killings?’
    ‘There is no proof of that at all. But I’ve been a policeman for a long time, and I have learned to mistrust coincidences.’
    A few minutes later, Skinner sat at his borrowed desk in the old High Street office, studying once more the papers in the two cases. Professor Hutchison had worked hard over the weekend to complete his examinations of both bodies. His notes were extensive. ‘Yes,’ they read, ‘it is possible that the bayonet found at the scene of the crime could have inflicted Mr Mortimer’s injuries, if wielded by someone of sufficient strength and expertise. However there is no physical evidence to confirm this, no blood, bone, or tissue adhering to the blade.
    ‘In the second case, this unfortunate man died from shock as a result of immolation. However his physical condition was so low that the least exertion might have killed him. Had the man been compos mentis at the time it is possible that he could have beaten out the flames. I should have thought it impossible to categorise the crime from the circumstances. One cannot rule out the possibility that this was a youthful prank which went terribly wrong.’
    ‘Bollocks!’ Skinner shouted to the empty room. ‘The poor bastard was doused in high performance lead-free and set alight. Not much bloody room for error there.’
    He looked at the two files. Where to go from here? One man on the threshold of an outstanding professional career, the other in the poorest state to which it was possible to decline in society. Each killed, savagely, in the same week, not three hundred yards apart. That was a link, if nothing else, and experience was shouting at him that there had to be others.
    The telephone rang four times before it registered in his brain.
    It was Martin. ‘Boss, are you free? I’ve just been given a lab report, and you’ll want to see it.’
    Minutes later Skinner’s face wore an expression of triumph as he finished reading the report. The bayonet which had been thought to be clean had in fact yielded three black woollen strands, wedged in the finger guard. And on the handle of the Duckham’s can, of which the most recent contents had indeed been high-grade lead-free petrol, a wedge of black wool had been snagged. A series of tests of the samples had proved that they were identical, and had come from the same gloves.
    ‘That’s it, Andy. It is the same bloke. My God, what do we have here? Look at the two victims. Picked apparently at random in the same public street. This looks

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