Beautiful Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jack to say more.
    ‘Er, the internal investigation into Suffolk Constabulary now means we have two officers suspended pending a court case.’
    Sharpe frowned. ‘That sounds serious. When they requested a trusted member of my team I thought it was just to bring some clout to the investigation.’
    ‘No, it’s pretty bad, Malcolm. There’s a third officer still under investigation. I’m quite surprised too that the drug and prostitution racket has obviously been on the march.’
    ‘Ipswich? A market town!’
    Jack shrugged. ‘Four prostitutes are already dead.’
    ‘Connected to our officers?’

    ‘Not sure yet. I don’t think so but we’re digging.’
    ‘Well, I’ve spoken to Superintendent Chalmers. I need you back.’
    ‘What’s happening?’
    ‘There’s mischief afoot in the city, Jack,’ he finally said.
    ‘And what do we have?’
    ‘Currently three bodies. One was found ten weeks ago, dumped in one of the dried-up navigation canals on Walthamstow Marshes. A male. We know very little about him but we’re thinking he could be one of the many Eastern European gypsies who seem to be enjoying southern England. The other two were found together, not quite four weeks ago, unearthed just down from the Lea River Rowing Club over at Springfield Park.’
    Jack frowned. ‘What are the bodies telling us?’
    ‘Two of the victims are of Asian origin. Subcontinental, we think at this stage.’
    ‘Unknowns, I suppose.’
    ‘Correct. Almost certainly illegals, probably from the squats. No identification on them, but their fingerprints, teeth and so on give us nothing either. One had different coloured eyes, can you believe, but even that description has got us no further. They don’t exist as far as any authorities are concerned.’
    ‘Have they shown the mug shots around Whitechapel? Broadway Market and the like?’
    ‘No point.’
    Jack raised an eyebrow. Sharpe was carefully building towards something. Jack waited.
    Sharpe explained. ‘They had no faces, all the skin removed.’
    ‘I did hear that right, didn’t I?’

    ‘Their faces had been removed, Jack. Eyes were left, pathology confirms. Also the first one we found had both kidneys removed so there was no intention for him to survive. We immediately thought he was a victim of organ theft but the other pair were curiously left intact, other than their faces. It doesn’t make sense. Nothing of value was being stolen.’
    Jack sipped his coffee thoughtfully. ‘Very grisly. What has pathology given us?’
    ‘Not that much. The surgery was neat, clean. Professional.’
    ‘How did they die?’
    ‘Morphine — not a stupid amount, but enough to slowly suppress the respiratory system, compromise the body’s efficiency.’
    ‘But enough opiate that it’s deliberate,’ Jack qualified.
    ‘Oh yes, it’s deliberate, especially when all the other elements are considered.’
    ‘Clothes?’
    ‘Very worn but also very clean. We’re guessing they were laundered before being put back onto the corpses. Another tick for the deliberate death box.’
    Jack bit into a biscuit, thinking as he was chewing. ‘And the common factor is the removal of the face and the victims’ ethnicity.’
    Sharpe shook his head, reached for a biscuit as well. ‘No, the faces are the only common denominator here apart from pathology’s observation that these were all healthy, fit men.’
    ‘But no one’s come forward?’
    ‘No. We don’t have names or records for any of them.’
    ‘And you’re offering me this case?’

    ‘It’s been two years since Danube. You’re healthy again and I’ve been hearing only good things from DPS about you. I know you’ve only been assisting in Ghost Squad. Time to get you back to the coalface. I think you’re ready for Operation Panther and frankly, Jack, I need my best man on this. It has all the hallmarks of a nasty mess, I’m afraid, so before Britain panics and the media turns this into a circus, please wrap it up for me.