This Thing of Darkness. Barbara Fradkin

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Green forced himself to behave for the rest of the day, and by five o’clock he had a passable action plan drafted for Superintendent Devine to address the spike in domestic assaults. It would never be implemented, of course, but that wasn’t the point. It was ammunition for debates on the police budget at City Council, not to mention feathers for Barbara Devine’s Deputy Chief nest. Of course, the real way to prevent the spike would be to get rid of September, with all the stresses it placed on families after the casual, relaxed days of summer. He and Sharon had only two children, of very disparate ages, and yet they felt the stress of finding new schools, resuming full-time work hours, and juggling after-school activities.

      To Green’s astonishment, Tony was going to kindergarten, and Hannah, true to her word, was trying out full-time Grade Twelve in the regular neighbourhood high school. For the occasion, she was letting her hair grow out, transforming the orange-tipped spikes into softer waves. She’d cut back on the black eye-liner and heroin-addict make-up, allowing her freckles and innocent hazel eyes to shine through. For the first time, Green saw not only his mother but himself in her face.

      Naturally, the transformation required a new wardrobe. Hannah was a social animal astute enough to recognize that black rags and metallic studs would not earn her acceptance with the earnest children of the organic-food, eco-conscious set in their neighbourhood. Tony too needed brand new clothes, since last winter’s wardrobe was now several inches too short. The strain on their family budget and their time was enormous.

      In fact it was Green’s turn to pick up Tony from the sitter and take him to The Bay for a fashion outing that Sharon had dubbed a father-son bonding experience, no doubt with tongue firmly in cheek. Green’s fashion sense did not extend beyond matching his cleanest pants to his favourite T-shirt, and Tony’s two-minute attention span, together with his determination to do as he pleased, made any excursion a test of endurance and willpower.

      Sometimes domestic assault was a simple matter of tipping the balance too far.

      Nonetheless, Green had managed to outline a five-point action plan for Devine that involved changes to police response at several levels, from first responding through laying of charges, and he’d thrown in enough buzz words— community partnerships, alternative dispute resolution, strategic intervention—that Devine would be salivating. He was just locking up his desk when he heard the elevator open and saw Brian Sullivan stride out, the tell-tale hint of high blood pressure on his dusky face. Sullivan spotted him and veered over, his colour deepening further. Green wondered if Levesque had complained again. He decided on a preemptive strike.

      “You’re here late! The autopsy done?”

      Sullivan flopped in the guest chair with a groan. “Just came from there.”

      “And?”

      “The man was healthy for his age. Some arthritis in his left hip which might have slowed him down a bit, but otherwise strong and fit.”

      “Explains the cane. So what was the cause of death?”

      “Blunt force trauma to the head. Repeated blunt force trauma, a dozen blows in total as near as MacPhail can tell. Fractured his skull, his jaw, some ribs and his collarbone.”

      “Same instrument or several?”

      “That’s hard to tell from the hamburger that was left. MacPhail’s taken lots of photos, so he’ll take a closer look.”

      Green winced at the image. “Any specs on the type of instrument?”

      “Again, he has to examine his tissue samples, but there’s nothing obvious to the naked eye. Something cylindrical and about five centimetres thick—about the size and shape of a baseball bat.”

      “Not something that’s readily at hand on Rideau Street unless you brought it along.” Green mulled it over. Drug dealers and other punks normally didn’t carry baseball bats or obvious weapons that might draw attention to themselves. They preferred knives and guns. More deadly and easily slipped into the belt out of sight.

      Sullivan’s scowl was easing, and his dusky colour was fading, as if he’d forgotten to be annoyed. “It may make it easier to find witnesses. Somebody walking along with a baseball bat would stand out.”

      “I don’t remember any of those kids on the tape carrying baseball bats.”

      “But we couldn’t see them all clearly. Sergeant Levesque is going to break the tape into stills, see if we can see anything.”

      Green visualized the sequence of the assault. Rosenthal had tried to fend off his attacker with his cane before the killer got a good swing in. The earlier blows were likely less forceful, the latter ones would have produced the carnage.

      “It СКАЧАТЬ