Send in the Clowns, a Detective Mike Bridger novel Read Online Free

had no issues with
obvious conclusions.
    Bridger looked at Grant
and wondered if he was serious, it was unlikely a female had the
strength to subdue and beat to death the male before them, which
gave him pause as to the probable sex of the offender. A strong
female maybe…, but most likely it would be a male. “Maybe Grant,
but we won’t know until we find the offender, and to do that we
need to know who this gentleman is, lying here, very dead, and
dressed in his finest clothes.”
    Bridger looked at his
watch; it would be another eight hours before the rest of the team
started in the morning. Thursday night in Dunedin, no one was going
to be sober, the pubs would be full of people, hundreds of
potential witnesses, but nowhere to start. He saw an opportunity to
sneak back to his own evening and salvage what was left of her good
will. Motioning to a uniformed officer that was hovering in the
background looking nervous and slightly sickly, he quickly
formulated a plan in his head.
    “ Lock down
the scene, let Simon and his crew finish up and then get
photography too record it all. Keep a scene guard on this until
morning. That body does not move until we can get a better look
when its light.” That ought to do it; he felt his night coming back
to him with his quick thinking. His mood lifted
slightly.
    The uniform nodded
gravely with the importance of it all. “No problems Sergeant…”
Looking like he wanted to say something else, Bridger gestured with
his hands for him too spit it out.
    “ Gill Holler
and Steve Kirkland made an enquiry earlier tonight, at the Circus
over on the Oval. There was an accident and the trapeze girl fell
from her swing. She was not seriously hurt, luckily…”
    Bridger wondered where
all this was going, nodding along as the uniform spoke, but half
thinking about whether she would still be awake. The uniform
continued.
    “ They said
there were a couple of men from the Circus who were arguing about
whether the girl fell by accident or by design. Steve said they
were the owners, but he thought they were dressed a bit like the
Village People… this guy might be from there…” he could see the
uniforms cheeks reddening in the darkness as he indicated the
clothing worn by the corpse.
    Damn it to hell, why did
every Constable want to be a Detective these days. He could not
ignore this though, keeping his voice even, so as not to give away
his frustration, he replied. “I wasn’t aware there was a Circus in
town…, that was a good call Constable, and it’s worth looking
into.” Bridger just saw his plans evaporating before his eyes as he
looked at the grateful smile on the uniforms lips, but they were
not the lips he wanted to be seeing right now though.
    He glanced back at Grant,
who by the look on his face had also worked out he would not be
going home just yet either. “Fancy a trip to the
Circus…?”
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    Struggling with the mind
crash that she always experienced after a heavy night, Maria was
finding it hard to walk in a straight line. Stumbling and nearly
falling she had to stop on a number of occasions to regain her
balance. It was not the drink, nor the drugs; she just did not
react well to either, especially when they mixed. Last night she
had to mix, she wanted to forget, and that was the only way she
knew how. The heavy cast on her wrist was a sharp reminder though.
She desperately needed the toilet, and some food, but did not know
which order would be best. Hearing birdsong in the trees as she
walked told her that it must be early morning; she had not eaten
since yesterday afternoon, just before her performance. The trees
that were lining up along the road which she had been using for
balance were sprouting green foliage which obscured the last
efforts of the streetlights, giving a slightly dimmer path too her
intended destination. However, there was a small glow glinting
through the leaves, from the emerging sun. It was rising slowly,
over by the