Riven Read Online Free Page A

wrong side of one of the Glasgow families?’
    Ross held out his hand, counting off each finger. ‘If it was drugs, the McGregor crew, or the Tenant clan, both are at loggerheads. Or one of the independents? Doyle or Jamieson? Any one of them could do this in a heartbeat.’
    ‘An educational psychologist though?’ Wheeler pursed her lips. ‘Are that lot not a bit out of his league?’
    ‘You thinking mistaken identity, somebody got the wrong guy?’ asked Ross.
    She pointed to the corpse. ‘I think this was more personal. This amount of blood, they took their time.’ She looked around the room; it had morphed from someone’s home into a crime scene – everything was being photographed, bagged and tagged. She tried to see beyond the gore, tried to get some idea of who James Gilmore was, hoping that his home would give up some of its secrets. But there wasn’t much homeliness to the room; it appeared that, even before Gilmore had been murdered, the place had been slowly dying. The sofa was ancient, torn cushions exposing the inner foam padding. A threadbare carpet, filthy curtains. Everything old and worn and neglected. She turned away. ‘Whatever they’re paying educational psychologists these days clearly isn’t enough.’ She turned to Callum. ‘I don’t suppose they left the weapon behind?’
    ‘Nothing found in here I’m afraid Katherine – maybe they’ll find it out in the garden somewhere.’
    ‘If you had to guess . . .?’
    ‘If I had to guess, and I don’t like guessing, then I’d say the weapon was some sort of a bat, possibly baseball, and most certainly wooden, considering the presence of these splinters.’ He tweezered a tiny shard of wood from a pool of blood and held it up. ‘Could be made from ash, that’s the most usual, or if our killer went upmarket for his bat, it could be made from maple.’
    Wheeler shook her head. ‘With so many baseball bats in circulation in the city, is it not about time we had a few actual teams going?’
    ‘I’m done here.’ Callum stood with a groan. ‘Want a lift back in Jessica? I don’t mind detouring to the station. For you, Katherine, anything.’
    Wheeler tutted. ‘You still naming your cars, Callum? Is that not a wee bit immature?’
    ‘I name all of my vehicles.’
    ‘Thought you’d have grown out of it by now. Thanks, but I’ll go back with Ross.’
    ‘Suit yourself, but I’ll keep her on the road.’
    Ross groaned. ‘It was an
accident
.’
    ‘Ignore him,’ said Wheeler, ‘he’s feeling tired and emotional. We’ll be at the PM tomorrow. What time?’
    ‘I’ll let you know – we’re backed up just now, but I’ll try to give him priority. Although,’ he paused, ‘I think it’s obvious . . .’
    She cut him off, ‘I know, I know
, it’s obvious what happened
.’
    ‘Indeed it is. A man was battered to death. All you need to do is find out the “who” and the “why”.’
    She chewed her bottom lip as she followed him into the hall. Her phone bleeped again. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen – her sister again. She flicked it off as she passed three young SOCOs. Overheard one whisper to Ross, ‘Haddy, get it? Short for haddock.’
    Behind her Ross tutted, ‘Aye, I get it. Fish tea. He’s been battered.’
    At least their laughter was subdued.
    Outside, Callum pointed at the house. ‘You see the extra-wide doorway?’
    She saw it.
    ‘This place was the old slaughterhouse and that’s where they herded the cattle in for slaughter. Of course it’s been renovated since then and that stained glass put in. It’s totally out of character with the building. Not that there’s much left of anything really – it’s all a bit of a wreck. But the hook the body was found hanging on is an original feature and would have been used to tether the animals before they were killed.’ He smiled at her. ‘Are you absolutely sure about that lift, Katherine?’
    ‘Sure.’ She watched Callum lumber towards his car,