The Stone Gallows Read Online Free PDF Page B

safety, we immediately went to follow, but our unmarked car wouldn’t start. I tried to phone for back-up, but my mobile phone would not work properly and refused to connect. Meanwhile, Detective Stone had managed to get our vehicle started and we set out to follow the suspect, however, we were already significantly behind them.
    I won’t bore you with the rest. Suffice to say that he did a master-ful job of covering his arse, and by association, mine.
    15.
    The media had a field day. The accident made the front page of every newspaper in the land. I kept the story from the Daily Times , and every once in a while I read it.
    A teenage mother and child were killed early this morning when they were struck by an unmarked police car. Maria McAusland (17) died instantly at the scene of the accident in Glasgow’s Gallogate. Her baby, six month old Sonata Blue, was thrown from her arms and also died at the scene. Two police officers were injured: Detective Cameron Stone (30), who is believed to have been driving the unmarked police car at the time, and Detective John Coombes (46). Detective Stone is said to be suffering from serious head injuries and remains in hospital, and Detective Coombes has been discharged after being treated for shock and a severe facial wound.
    So far, so fair, although it was a bit of a stretch to refer to the cut on Coombes cheek as ‘severe’. But from that point onwards, the tone of the story shifted dramatically.
    It is believed that the two detectives were involved in some kind of surveillance operation. Questions are now being asked as to why the unmarked police car was travelling at high speed through a busy area.
    Reports suggest that there had been a car-chase stretching over a mile through the streets of Glasgow. Of the accident itself, one eyewitness said, ‘It was carnage. The poor lassie never even had a chance. They didn’t really appear to be fully in control of the car.’ Another source who attended the scene claimed that the two detectives smelled strongly of alcohol.
    See what I mean?
    The kicker was a side-bar article. There was a picture, a young man sitting next to an empty cot, holding a photograph of his girlfriend and baby.
    Tragic dad Gary Tiernan (18) is heartbroken over the loss of his daughter and girlfriend. ‘Sonata Blue meant the world to both of us. I can’t imagine my life without them.’
    That’s the part I found myself reading most of all.
    16.
    The memory of that night didn’t return until nearly three months later, and even now there are blank spots. It’s like seeing things through a dirty window. I get confused about the specifics of that nightmare drive, and my mind is full of vague questions that become even more vague the more I worry at them. Did we overtake the fire engine before or after London Road? Did I clip the kerb on the last corner, or the second last? Sometimes I think she might have had time to scream, but I can’t remember hearing anything. Either way, by then everything had run its course. I wanted to step forward and tell the truth, but the Coombes version had become the official version.
    Nobody would have believed me. Nobody would have wanted to.
    The inquiry lasted for three months. Grierson was questioned. As a fine, upstanding member of the community, he was shocked to learn that he had been under surveillance. He stated that there had only been two people in the car that night – himself and an employee he was giving a lift home. There had been no gun, no henchman in the back seat. His story was confirmed by his secretary. It was dark, argued his lawyer. The detectives concerned had made a terrible mistake.
    And because we all knew that Grierson was a lying sack of shit, nobody believed him.
    The taxi-driver was questioned, and footage from traffic surveillance cameras was studied. Both concurred: Maria McAusland had wandered into the middle of the road without looking.
    Blood tests