LEE CHILD. KILLING FLOOR

Which meant that there was some kind of a big deal going down in Margrave. Because there’s no point in spectacular work unless it serves a purpose. The threat of it beforehand works on the guy himself. It had certainly worked on Hubble. He had taken a lot of notice of it. That’s the point of a threat. But to actually carry out something like that has a different point. A different purpose. Carrying it out is not about the guy himself. It’s about backing up the threat against the next guy in line. It says, see what we did to that other guy? That’s what we could do to you. So by doing some spectacular work on Hubble, somebody had just revealed there was a high-stakes game going down, with other guys waiting next in line, right there in the locality.

`Tell me what happened, Finlay,’ I said again.

He leaned forward. Cupped his mouth and nose with his hands and sighed heavily into them.

`OK,’ he said. `It was pretty horrible. One of

the worst I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a few, let

me tell you. I’ve seen some pretty bad ones, but

this was something else. He was naked. They

nailed him to the wall. Six or seven big carpentry

nails through his hands and up his arms. Through the fleshy parts. They nailed his feet to the floor. Then they sliced his balls off. Just hacked them off. Blood everywhere. Pretty bad, let me tell you. Then they slit his throat. Ear to ear. Bad people, Reacher. These are bad people. As bad as they come.’

I was numb. Finlay was waiting for a comment. I couldn’t think of anything. I was thinking about Charlie. She would ask if I’d found anything out. Finlay should go up there. He should go up there right now and break the news. It was his job, not mine. I could see why he was reluctant. Difficult news to break. Difficult details to gloss: over. But it was his job. I’d go with him. Because it was my fault. No point running away from that.

`Yes,’ I said to him. `It sounds pretty bad.’

He leaned his head back and looked around. Blew another sigh up at the ceiling. A sombre man.

`That’s not the worst of it,’ he said. `You should

have seen what they did to his wife.’

`His wife?’ I said. `What the hell do you mean? ‘I mean his wife,’ he said. `It was like a butcher’s

shop.’

For a moment I couldn’t speak. The world was spinning backwards.

`But I just saw her,’ I said. `Twenty minutes ago. She’s OK. Nothing happened to her.’ `You saw who?’ Finlay said.

`Charlie,’ I said.

`Who the hell is Charlie?’ he asked.

`Charlie,’ I said blankly. `Charlie Hubble. His

wife. She’s OK. They didn’t get her.’

`What’s Hubble got to do with this?’ he said. I just stared at him.

`Who are we talking about?’ I said. `Who got

killed?’

Finlay looked at me like I was crazy.

`I thought you knew,’ he said. `Chief Morrison. The chief of police. Morrison. And his wife.’

TWELVE

I was watching Finlay very carefully, trying to decide how far I should trust him. It was going to be a life or death decision. In the end I figured his answer to one simple question would make up my mind for me.

`Are they going to make you chief now?’ I asked him.

He shook his head.

`No,’ he said. `They’re not going to make me chief.’

`You sure about that?’ I said.

`I’m sure,’ he said.

`Whose decision is it?’ I asked him.

`The mayor’s,’ Finlay said. `Town mayor appoints the chief of police. He’s coming over. Guy named Teale. Some kind of an old Georgia family. Some ancestor was a railroad baron who owned everything in sight around here.’

`Is that the guy you’ve got statues of?’ I said. Finlay nodded.

`Caspar Teale,’ he said. `He was the first.

They’ve had Teales here ever since. This mayor must be the great-grandson or something.’

I was in a minefield. I needed to find a clear lane through.

`What’s the story with this guy Teale?’ I asked him.

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