The Dead Hand of History Read Online Free PDF Page B

a dog out there , is there?’ Paniatowski asked.
    Colin Beresford grinned. ‘Shouldn’t think so, boss. Not unless it’s a very big dog.’
    Paniatowski lit a cigarette.
    She was smoking too much, she told herself – but there were good reasons for it.
    â€˜Why?’ she wondered.
    â€˜What do you mean – why?’ Beresford asked. ‘Why did a case like this have to land on your desk on your first day?’
    Paniatowski shook her head. ‘No, not that. Although, now you mention it, God knows I’d have preferred a nice little armed robbery or a cosy domestic murder over a crime which is so sensational – so bloody gothic – that the press have already started watching every move I make.’
    â€˜Then what did you mean?’
    â€˜Why did the killer – if he has actually killed her – cut the woman’s hand off? And even if he had a good reason for doing it – at least, good enough to satisfy the workings of his own twisted mind – why did he then put it in a plastic bag and leave it down by the river?’
    â€˜Beats me,’ Beresford admitted. And then he looked a little shamefaced, and added, ‘Sorry, that doesn’t help very much, does it?’
    â€˜He could have buried the hand on the moors,’ Paniatowski continued. ‘Or lit a bonfire and burnt it. Or since he was already by the river, he could have simply thrown it into the water. But he didn’t do any of those things, did he? And I’m wondering why.’
    â€˜Maybe it was because he wanted the hand to be found?’ Colin Beresford suggested.
    â€˜But that just leads us to yet another why ,’ Paniatowski said. ‘ Why did he want it found?’
    Maybe because he’s playing some sick kind of game with the police, she thought. Or worse – maybe because he’s playing some sick kind of game with me , personally!
    â€˜How’s work going with setting up the operations centre?’ she asked her inspector.
    â€˜The phones are being installed, we’ve put in requests for detective constables to be drafted in from other areas in the division and the whole thing should be operational within an hour.’
    Paniatowski nodded. ‘Good. And once it is operational, I’d like you to run it yourself, Colin.’
    â€˜If you don’t mind, I’d much rather work with you, Mon . . . ma’am,’ Beresford said.
    There was something in both the words themselves, and in their tone, that seemed to strike a raw nerve with Paniatowski.
    â€˜Oh, for God’s sake!’ she said.
    â€˜I beg your pardon, ma’am?’
    â€˜I’m not an inspector any more – and you’re not a sergeant. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve joined the grown-up world now – so we have to start acting like we’re grown-ups ourselves.’
    â€˜Yes, ma’am,’ Beresford muttered, looking down at the floor.
    â€˜I’m sorry, Colin, I shouldn’t have put it like that,’ Paniatowski said, as a wave of guilt washed over her. ‘What I meant to say was that I need someone I can really trust in the operations centre – and that means you.’
    â€˜Thank you, ma’am,’ Beresford said.
    â€˜We’ve been through a lot together, you and me,’ Paniatowski said. ‘Cases we thought we’d never solve. Cases where we’ve put our own jobs on the line, so we could solve them.’
    â€˜That’s true, ma’am.’
    â€˜So when we’re alone together like this, there’s no need to keep calling me “ma’am” as if you were a trained parrot.’
    â€˜Yes, there is – when you think about it,’ Beresford replied firmly. ‘As you just pointed out yourself, we’ve joined the grown-ups’ world now.’
    Paniatowski was on the verge of saying that didn’t matter – that they were still Colin and Monika in