Love Songs From a Shallow Grave Read Online Free PDF

her thigh and into a large puddle on the wooden floorboards at her feet. He felt her joints. Rigor mortis begins to show after two hours and peaks at twelve. Judging from the stiffness, it was Siri’s educated guess that the poor woman had died somewhere between ten a.m. and two a.m. As he seldom carried his rectal thermometer to the cinema, that was as close as he could get for now.
    He reached behind her and confirmed that the sword had been thrust with such force that it had impaled her against the wooden bench. The serene expression on her face and her relaxed sitting position told Siri that she was either looking forward to the experience of dying, or that the attack had come as a complete surprise. There were no indications she’d been shocked to see the weapon, or made any effort to save herself. Her eyes were closed and there was a curl at the corner of her mouth that could once have been a smile. He was about to turn away when he noticed a fresh scar on the inside of her right thigh. There was very little bleeding, which suggested it had been inflicted after her heart had ceased to beat. It was in the shape of an N or a Z, hurriedly carved on her skin.
    Which brought him back to the towel that lay at her feet. It was stained with blood but the corners confessed to its original whiteness. Siri couldn’t see how it fitted into the scenario. Whose blood was this? Did the assailant attempt to staunch the flow? Or, during the attack, did the murderer injure himself? Siri turned to the seat opposite. There were no bloodstains. This was presumably where the murderer had sat, he and his victim both naked, enjoying a sauna on a rainy Friday night. He tried to imagine the scene. They would have put their clothes outside under the carport to keep them out of the steam. In that case, the carport light would have been turned off or they’d have risked being discovered. So why turn it back on again when it was all over? And where were her clothes? And, the twenty-billion-kip question, where, in a box with two benches and a gas heater, would you conceal a ninety-centimetre-long sword? He began to test the wooden slats of the walls to see if there was a secret compartment, but Phoumi poked his head into the room.
    “Doctor? Have you finished examining the body?” he asked.
    “Yes, I was just – ” Siri began.
    “Good. Then I think you can tell us your findings and we’ll handle everything else.”
    Siri shone the torch into the security chiefs face.
    “I assume, by ‘handle everything’ you mean contact the national police force so they can conduct an inquiry?”
    Phoumi laughed rudely.
    “They’ll be informed of the findings, of course,” he said. “But this whole area is under my jurisdiction, and the victim is a member of our security team. We’ll take care of it.”
    Siri abandoned his search and stood in the doorway.
    “This may look like a foreign country,” he said. “But the fact remains we are still in Laos and the victim is a Lao.”
    Phoumi’s smile, his body language, and especially the way he reached for Siri’s arm and squeezed it were all so condescending Siri had a mind to knee him.
    “Then, if it is indeed a Lao problem,” the chief said, “I suppose we should let the Lao Prime Minister decide what is appropriate. You will take his word on it, I assume?”
    “He’s home?” Siri asked.
    “His house is a few blocks from here.”
    Siri knew where the PM’s house was. He’d been there a number of times. But that wasn’t an answer to the question he’d asked. He walked out of the sauna and sat on the step.
    “Well, of course, the word of the Prime Minister is more than enough for me. Let’s go and see him.”
    He swore, if Phoumi laughed again…If he flashed those ‘everybody’s friend’ perfect teeth just one more time, Siri would run inside, remove the épée from the corpse and find a warmer scabbard for it.
    “Doctor, surely even you understand that the PM can’t just