Murder Comes Calling Read Online Free Page B

to implicate me?”
    “Why would he?”
    “I don’t know. I never had any dealings with him.”
    “But you met him?”
    “Briefly. Mostly I just saw him around the community going about his house-selling business.”
    “M-N-P. could be an acronym for something. And you’re sure aboot the letters?” Rex demanded again.
    “Unfortunately, yes.”
    “One thing occurs to me.” Rex leaned back in his recliner, cupping his mug of coffee in both hands. “If this house agent has no criminal past, I don’t see how he could have executed four very different methods of murder so flawlessly. I’d say our killer was a pro.”
    Malcolm nodded agreement. “But Walker could have a violent past. At first I thought it couldn’t be him, but who else would know my initials? These agents look through databases and phone books for prospects.”
    “You need to stop being so paranoid.”
    “Well, you have to admit, it’s a horrible coincidence, Rex.”
    “It is, but we can’t let it cloud our thinking.”
    “Can you find out from the police what they know?”
    “You’d be in a better position to do that. You’ve liaised with them in your professional life.”
    “I’d rather keep a low profile in view of, well, you know.”
    “Your perversion of justice? Aye, well, we need to rectify that pronto.” Rex tipped the dregs of his coffee down his throat and reached for his jacket.
    “Wait. Please,” Malcolm pleaded. “There has to be a way out.”
    “There isn’t.”
    “But if we can find out whether Chris Walker is the right man or if someone else is responsible, we might not have to bring up the letters at all.”
    “The police have far greater resources than we do to look into forensic stuff,” Rex objected. He paused in thought. “However, I do have a contact who might prove useful in procuring information, if necessary.”
    “Oh, aye?” Malcolm asked hopefully. “A legal acquaintance?”
    “A law clerk by the name of Thaddeus, who hasn’t failed me yet. But that doesn’t solve the problem of your interfering with the crime scenes.”
    “I know. I feel a huge responsibility in this case. That’s why I called you. I want to make sure the police convict the right person. In any case,” Malcolm added in desperation, “going to the police with our information doesn’t in any way guarantee Walker’s release, if he’s in jail.”
    Our information, Rex repeated to himself, mentally fuming. Malcolm was all but including him in his deplorable actions. “What exactly do the police have on Chris Walker?” he asked. He left his jacket on his lap, pausing for an answer before putting it on to accompany Malcolm to the police station.
    “They haven’t even released his name to the media. All I know is culled from local gossip. Mrs. Parsons in Otter Court knows the receptionist at the firm Walker owns, and she told Lottie the fact the victims all had their properties listed with him—including Valerie Trotter, although she alone wasn’t murdered in her home—made the detectives suspicious. That and the fact they would have invited him into their home without a second thought.”
    “There must be more to it than that,” Rex said. “House agents aren’t in the habit of murdering their clients. They rely on them for their commissions. Perhaps the detectives found something troubling in his background check: Time in prison or a psychiatric institution. I wonder if any other seller will be targeted while he’s under police scrutiny. That would be his best defence.”
    Malcolm gave a sigh of relief. “That’s why I needed you here. To map it all out objectively.”
    The word “map” reminded Rex of something. “Why is it Notting Hamlet is so hard to find?”
    “I don’t know. Some pranksters keep moving the signs about or removing them altogether. We have an undesirable element around here. Loud bikers and dogs.”
    Rex was amused to hear bikers and dogs put in the same category, but Malcolm appeared