Murder Comes Calling Read Online Free Page A

know what to look for.” Rex paused while he thought about the scene in the bathroom. “Is there enough current in an electric razor to electrocute someone?” he asked.
    “Apparently.”
    “Did you mention the chloroform to the police?”
    “Of course I did.”
    Of course , Rex said to himself. “Safe, maybe, to assume the killer overcame his victims with chloroform before he guillotined, battered, and asphyxiated them to death in the first three instances,” he told Malcolm. “But he or she had to gain entry first. The two older victims likely looked though their peepholes. Elderly people tend to be more careful aboot that sort of thing. I read in one of the papers that their exterior doors had deadbolts on them and they’d taken extra precautions to secure the windows.”
    “Sounds like they were a bit paranoid,” Malcolm remarked.
    “And rightly so, as it transpires. Now, Vic Chandler was already in his bath, so he was a captive audience, so to speak. The killer may have got in through an unlocked door or window, or else picked a lock, and left afterwards through the front door. Perhaps Vic wasn’t as careful as the older men.” Rex took a sip of coffee from his mug, a souvenir from Tenerife festooned with palm trees, and as incongruous to the cold, wet weather outside as were the exotic destinations of Helen’s ocean cruise. He hoped his fiancée was enjoying her time off from her sometimes-stressful job as a school counsellor. He shook himself free of these distractions and reverted his attention to Malcolm and the mess he had put himself in.
    “As for Valerie Trotter …,” Rex mused aloud, “was she already at Ernest’s house or did she arrive after his murder? Did the killer answer the door to her? That’s a chilling thought. And was it just the one killer, I wonder? One killer, two victims would be a feat, even if one of them was an octogenarian. And what is the significance of those letters?” So many questions.
    Malcolm looked uncomfortable again at the mention of this evidence, as well he might, Rex thought, before saying, “In view of the fact all four victims had the same letters written on their foreheads, we can safely conclude this was murder in each case and not suicide. Not to mention the nature of the deaths. After all, beating oneself to a pulp is not the easiest way to go.”
    “And if you write on your forehead, won’t the letters appear back to front and the wrong way round?” Malcolm asked. He mimicked writing the letters M, N, and P on his forehead. “The P could even be the number nine.”
    “I’ve never written on my forehead.” Rex tried the same experiment. “Depends which side you start from, I suppose.”
    “Then there’s the mirror effect,” Malcolm said. “Like on the front of ambulances which say, ECNALUBMA , so that when you read the word in your rear view mirror it appears normal.”
    “In this case, the letters appeared normal to the naked eye?”
    “Exactly as though someone else had written on the bodies. Except for the N , which was the wrong way round, or flipped, if you will.”
    “ N , as in your middle initial. Remind me what it stands for again. Nigel or Norman?”
    “Norman.”
    “Strange that one letter should appear different.” Rex gave a perplexed sigh. “Wish you could have at least taken a photo. Are you sure you remember correctly?”
    “Perfectly sure.”
    “Good. Report all this to the police. Tonight.”
    “Just give it two days. Then I’ll go to DCI Cooper myself. I won’t even involve you.”
    “Two days can make a huge difference in a case. The police need this information. I don’t suppose you know through the grapevine if the house agent has actually confessed to the murders?”
    “Not that I know of.” Malcolm threw up his hands. “What else could M-N-P stand for, if not my name?” he asked in a pleading voice. “Can’t we at least find an alternative to present to the police first? What if Chris Walker wanted