Jack Higgins – A Prayer for the Dying

“You’d better watch it, hadn’t you, or you’ll be getting one of my specials.” She shivered slightly and he withdrew his hand. “What about Fallon? Did he say anything?”

“Asked me if I had a razor he could borrow. Who is he?”

“None of your business. He shouldn’t go out, but if he does, give Jack a ring straight away. And try to find out where he’s going.”

“All right, Billy.” She opened the front door for him.

He moved in close behind her, his arms about her waist. She could feel his hardness pressed against her buttocks and the hatred, the loathing rose like bile in her throat, threatening to choke her. He said softly, “Another thing. Get him into bed. I want to see what makes him tick.”

“And what if he won’t play? she said.

“Stocking tops and suspenders. That’s what blokes of his age go for. You’ll manage.” He slapped her bottom and went out. She dosed the door, leaning against it for a moment, struggling for breath. Strange how he always left her with that feeling of suffocation.

She went upstairs, moved along the corridor and knocked softly on Fallon’s door. When she went in, he was standing in front of the washbasin in the corner by the window, drying his hands.

“I’ll see if I can find you that razor now,” she said.

He hung the towel nearly over the rail and shook his head. “It’ll do later. I’m going out for a while.”

She was gripped by a sudden feeling of panic. “Is that wise?” she said. “I mean, where are you going?”

Fallon smiled as he pulled on his trench coat. He ran a finger down her nose in a strangely intimate gesture that brought a lump to her throat.

“Girl dear, do what you have to, which I presume means ringing Jack Meehan to say I’m taking a walk, but I’m damned if I’ll say where to.”

“Will you be in for supper?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for all the tea in China.” He smiled and was gone.

It was an old-fashioned phrase. One her grandmother had used frequently. She hadn’t heard it in years. Strange how it made her want to cry.

When Miller went into the Forensic Department at police headquarters, he found Fitzgerald in the side laboratory with Johnson, the ballistics specialist. Fitzgerald looked excited and Johnson seemed reasonably complacent.

Miller said, “I hear you’ve got something for me.”

Johnson was a slow, cautious Scot. “That just could be, Superintendent.” He picked up a reasonably misshapen piece of lead with a pair of tweezers. “This is what did all the damage. They found it in the gravel about three yards from the body.”

“Half an hour after you left, sir,” Fitzgerald put in.

“Any hope of making a weapon identification?” Miller demanded.

“Oh, I’ve pretty well decided that now.” There was a copy of Small Arms of the World beside Johnson. He flipped through it quickly, found the page he was searching for and pushed it across to Miller. “There you are.”

There was a photo of the Ceska in the top right-hand corner. I’ve never even heard of the damn thing,” Miller said. “How can you be sure?”

“Well, I’ve some more tests to run, but it’s pretty definite. You see there are four factors which are constant in the same make of weapon. Groove and land marks on the bullet, their number and width, their direction, which means are they twisting to the right or left, and the rate of that twist. Once I have those facts, I simply turn to a little item entitled the Alas of Arms, and thanks to the two German gentlemen who so painstakingly put the whole thing together, it’s possible to trace the weapon which fits without too much difficulty.”

Miller turned to Fitzgerald. “Get this information to CRO at Scotland Yard straight away. This Ceska’s an out-of-the-way gun. If they feed that into the computer, it might throw out a name. Somebody who’s used one before. You never know. I’ll see you back in my office.”

Fitzgerald went out quickly and Miller turned to Johnson. “Anything else, let me know at once.” He went back to his office where he found a file on his desk containing a resum6 of Father da Costa’s career. Considering the limited amount of time Fitzgerald had had, it was really very comprehensive.

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