Hellboy, Vol. 2: The All-Seeing Eye Read Online Free Page A

the piss out of me when I get back,” Firth said.
    “Let ‘em. That’s part of the process too. Bit of ribbing, bit of humor ... it’s a release valve, isn’t it? It’s how we cope.”
    Firth took a deep breath. He was recovering now, a little color seeping back into his cheeks.
    “Feeling better?”
    The young PC nodded.
    “Good lad,” said Wormley.
    “So what do you reckon about this one, sarge? Gangland killing?”
    Wormley shrugged. “Could be. Though it’s a bit over the top taking the arms and legs as well as the head. Usually it’s just head and hands.”
    “Maybe the victim had tattoos or scars. Something easily identifiable.”
    Wormley smiled. The boy was smart. He was always asking questions, always offering ideas.
    “Why dump the body in a suburban garden, though? No attempt at concealment?”
    Firth frowned. “Maybe the killers panicked? Maybe they thought someone was on to them? Or maybe they wanted the body found — as a warning to others, something like that.”
    “All possible,”Wormley said noncommittally.
    “But you don’t believe it?”
    Wormley smiled. “Now, I didn’t say that, did I?”
    “I can tell by your face,” Firth said, smiling back.
    Wormley chuckled. “Let’s just say I’ve got access to the bigger picture.”
    “So what bigger picture’s that then, sarge?” Firth asked. “Or is it privileged information?”
    “Maybe it is privileged information,” Wormley said blandly, “but as far as you and I are concerned, I haven’t been told it’s privileged. Which don’t mean to say you can go blabbing it to all and sundry.”
    Firth mimed pulling a zip across his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”
    Wormley nodded in the vague direction of the taped-off house, which in the past hour had become a hive of police activity. “What if I were to tell you that headless Harry over there is not the first torso found today?”
    Firth raised his eyebrows. “I’d say ... how many we talking about here, sarge?”
    “Three,”Wormley said. “All different locations.”
    “Close by?”
    “Relatively. The other two were Fleet Street and Tavistock Square.”
    “All north of the river then,” said Firth, “and in a rough line.”
    Wormley said nothing. He could see that the lad was thinking it through. He wanted to see what Firth came up with before he dropped his bombshell.
    “Busy public places,” Firth mused,”not suburban like this. Were the other bodies out in the open, sarge?”
    Wormley felt like applauding. “Good question, son. Excellent question. Because that’s the thing, you see. The bodies weren’t out in the open. Not like this one. They were found in unlikely places. Impossible places.”
    “Impossible how?”
    “Secure establishments. Locked offices. The one in Tavistock Square was in the headquarters of the British Medical Association.”
    Firth raised his eyebrows. “And the other one?”
    “Inside the premises of the Dundee Courier . And get this — it was a woman’s body.”
    “A woman?” Firth blanched.
    “Which makes the gangland theory a bit less likely, wouldn’t you say?”
    “Hmm.” Again Wormley could almost see the cogs whirring in the younger man’s head. Finally Firth said, “Less likely, but still not impossible.”
    “Not impossible, no,”Wormley agreed.
    Firth sighed. “So what’s your theory, sarge? What have we got here? Gang war or serial killer?”
    “What I think we’ve got,”Wormley said, “is a hell of a bleedin’ mystery.”
    “Options open, eh?” Firth said.
    “Always,” said Wormley.
    Firth glanced over towards the cordoned-off house and fortified himself with another deep breath. “Shall we rejoin the party?” he suggested.
    Wormley nodded. “Why not?”

Chapter 1
    “Damn fire-worm,” muttered Hellboy, shifting in his seat.
    “Still hurts, does it?” asked Liz, keeping a straight face.
    The scowl he turned on her had caused lesser men to dissolve into quivering mounds of jelly, but Liz was