Stone Killer Read Online Free PDF Page A

world.
    â€˜I said earlier that I’m no military man,’ Woodend told him. ‘Well, I’m no actor, either. If I try lyin’ to him, he’ll see right through me.’
    â€˜So we’ll just have to get
someone else
to lie to him, won’t we?’ the Chief Constable said, exasperatedly.
    â€˜He won’t talk to anyone else,’ Woodend said firmly. ‘He made that quite clear.’
    â€˜That’s probably because he thinks you’re the best he can get,’ Marlowe said. ‘When he realizes that a superintendent, or even a chief superintendent, is willing to speak to him—’
    â€˜It’ll make no bloody difference at all!’ Woodend cut in, no longer able to hide his anger. ‘This man’s a professional soldier. He’s been in the Army long enough to realize that rank isn’t necessarily any guide to ability.’
    â€˜What did you just say?’ the Chief Constable demanded.
    â€˜Look, sir, he’s thought all this through,’ Woodend said, trying to sound more reasonable. ‘He knows
what
he wants doin’ – an’ he knows
who
he wants to do it. He’s simply not goin’ to accept any alternative.’
    â€˜Your arrogance seems to know no bounds,’ the Chief Constable said, with disgust.
    â€˜It wasn’t me who decided I should become involved,’ Woodend pointed out. ‘It was Apollo. Or Major Maitland. Or whatever else you want to call him. An’ he doesn’t just want me to investigate the case – he wants me to report my findings to him on a regular basis.’
    â€˜That’s outrageous!’ the Chief Constable exploded. ‘Who does he think he is?’
    â€˜He thinks he’s a man holdin’ twenty hostages at gunpoint,’ Woodend replied.
    â€˜May I intervene here?’ Slater-Burnes asked diffidently.
    â€˜Of course,’ Marlowe replied, hardly able to hide his relief.
    â€˜There might be something to be said for listening to your chief inspector, Mr Marlowe,’ the man from the Home Office advised. ‘After all, if storming the bank would result in all the hostages being killed – and Colonel Danvers seems to think that might well be the case – then it is certainly a strategy you should adopt only as a last resort. So what is your alternative? Why, to allow Mr Woodend to do what he wants to do!’
    â€˜I never said I
wanted
to do it at all,’ Woodend pointed out.
    â€˜Then to allow Mr Woodend to do what he feels
needs
to be done,’ Slater-Burnes said, shifting his ground with all the speed and elegance of a professional ballroom dancer.
    â€˜You’re saying I should allow Woodend to re-open the case?’ Marlowe asked, like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline.
    Slater-Burnes laughed lightly. ‘Good heavens, no, Chief Constable.’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜Certainly not. You’re the man on the ground – the man who is ultimately responsible. I’d be the last person on earth to try and steal any of the credit which will be rightfully due to you when this whole terrible affair is brought to a successful conclusion. All I was doing – although I readily admit I may not have made myself completely clear – is suggesting an option which is open to you.’
    The Chief Constable had been dodging responsibility his whole career, and now – in what was undoubtedly the biggest challenge he would ever have to face – he could dodge it no longer. Under normal circumstances, Woodend would gladly have
paid
to see Henry Marlowe in such an uncomfortable situation. But these were
not
normal circumstances. Innocent lives were at risk, and he simply could not stand by and watch as the Chief Constable put them in further jeopardy.
    â€˜You have no choice, sir,’ he heard himself say. ‘There’s only a slim chance I can prove Judith Maitland didn’t do what she was sentenced for, but