The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime Volume 8
Page 56
When I didn’t say anything, he raised himself from the bed and walked towards me.
“Is this where your old man died?” he asked.
I nodded.
He was very close to me now. He had forgotten his baseball cap. He squeezed past me without making eye contact. I followed him into the hall. He turned left into the den.
“This where he spent all his time?”
I nodded again, but he had his back to me, so I cleared my throat. “Yes,” I said.
“And now it’s all yours. We’re not so different, you and me, Richard.”
“So biology would have us believe.”
“The old human DNA … go back far enough, we’d even be related, am I right?”
“I suppose so.”
“Darwin says the apes, the Bible says Adam and Eve. Do you think Adam and Eve were apes, Richard?”
“I don’t know.” He had turned to face me. “What are you doing here?” I asked him again. “The police are looking for you.”
“But they’re not very clever – we both know that.”
“How clever do they need to be?”
He answered with a twitch of the mouth. “I’ve been thinking about you, Richard. Papers have been giving you a hard time. They reckon you should have let me top myself. How do you feel about that?” He was resting the base of his spine against my father’s desk, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded. When I didn’t answer, he repeated the question.
“Why do you need to know?” I asked him instead.
“Does there always have to be a reason? I’d have thought you’d have learned that much, despite all these bloody books.” He nodded towards the shelves. “I’ll tell you why I wanted to see you again – to thank you properly.” He gave a bow from the waist, still with arms folded. Then he eased himself upright. “Now, if you’ll excuse me … ”
“What are you going to do?”
“You know what I’m going to do, Richard.”
“You’re going to kill again?”
“And again and again and again.” His voice was almost musical. “And all thanks to you and your sanctity of life. Learned from your father, I’m guessing, years before you watched him wither and die. Were there any words of comfort, Richard? Did he meet his maker with a happy and a fulsome heart? Or had he twigged by then that it’s all a joke?” He waved his arm towards the books. “All of it.”
He waited for my answer, then gave up, brushing past me again as he stepped into the hall.
“I can’t let you go,” I told him.
“Good for you.”
“You know I can’t.”
I had lifted the bottle of sherry from the cabinet. There was less than an inch of liquid left inside. I was holding it by the neck. He stood there in the hall, waiting with his back to me, head angled a little as if consulting some hidden force beyond the ceiling.
“I know you can’t,” was all he said. It was as if he’d become the passenger and I the driver.
I lay down on my father’s bed that night, a baseball-cap resting on my chest. Was I hero or villain? I’m hoping you’ll tell me. I’m hoping one of you will tell me. I need to know. I really need to be told.
Again and again and again.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE VERY LAST DROP by Ian Rankin © 2009. First appeared on the Royal Blind website, www.royalblind.org. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, Robinson Literary Agency Ltd.
DOLPHIN JUNCTION by Mick Herron © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
CHRIS TAKES THE BUS by Denise Mina © 2009. First appeared in Crimespotting: An Edinburgh Crime Collection, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE MADWOMAN OF USK by Edward Marston © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DEAD AND BREAKFAST by Marilyn Todd © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
AFFAIRS OF THE HEART by Kate Atkinson © 2009. First appeared in Crimespotting: An Edinburgh Crime Collection, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author and her agent, Rogers, Coleridge & White.
THE BALLAD OF MANKY MILNE by Stuart MacBride © 2009. First appeared in Uncage Me, edited by Jen Jordan, Bleak House Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE CIRCLE by David Hewson © 2009. First appeared in Thriller 2, edited by Clive Cussler, Mira Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
A GOOSE FOR CHRISTMAS by Alexander McCall Smith © 2009. First appeared in The Strand Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent David Higham Associates Ltd.
AN ARM AND A LEG by Nigel Bird © 2009. First appeared in Crimespree Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE LOVER AND LEVER SOCIETY by Robert Barnard © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author’s agent, Gregory & Co.
DEAD CLOSE by Lin Anderson © 2009. First appeared in Crimespotting: An Edinburgh Crime Collection, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE TURNIP FARM by Allan Guthrie © 2009. First appeared in Uncage Me, edited by Jen Jordan, Bleak House Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
AS GOD MADE US by A. L. Kennedy © 2009. First appeared in Crimespotting: An Edinburgh Crime Collection, Polygon, and the author’s collection What Becomes, Vintage. Reprinted by permission of the author’s agent, Antony Harwood Ltd.
ROBERT HAYER’S DEAD by Simon Kernick © 2009. First appeared in Uncage Me, edited by Jen Jordan, Bleak House Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ANOTHER LIFE by Roz Southey © 2009. First appeared in Radgepacket, Byker Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE WOMAN WHO LOVED ELIZABETH DAVID by Andrew Taylor © 2009. First appeared in The Strand Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, Sheil Land Associates.
HUNGRY EYES by Sheila Quigley © 2009. First appeared in Criminal Tendencies, Creme de la Crime Ltd. Reprinted by permission of the author.
HOMEWORK by Phil Lovesey © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
NO THANKS, PLEASE by Declan Burke © 2009. First appeared in Uncage Me, edited by Jen Jordan, Bleak House Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE SAME AS SHE ALWAYS WAS by Keith McCarthy © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
OUT OF THE FLESH by Christopher Brookmyre © 2009. First appeared in Shattered: Every Crime has a Victim, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, United Agents.
HARD ROCK by Gerard Brennan © 2009. First appeared in Thuglit, www.thuglit.com. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ART IN THE BLOOD by Matthew J. Elliott © 2009. First appeared in Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes, edited by J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, Edge. Reprinted by permission of the author.
UNHAPPY ENDINGS by Colin Bateman © 2009. First appeared in The Red Bulletin. Reprinted by permission of the author.
RUN, RABBIT, RUN by Ray Banks © 2009. First appeared in Shattered: Every Crime has a Victim, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SLOW BURN by Simon Brett © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, Michael Motley.
FINDERS, WEEPERS by Adrian Magson © 2009. First appeared in Thuglit, www.thuglit.com. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE HARD SELL by Jay Stringer © 2009. First appeared in Beat to a Pulp, www.beattoapulp.com. Reprinted by permission of the author.
PARSON PENNYWICK TAKES THE WATERS by Amy Myers © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and her agent, Dorian Literary Agency.
SUCKER PUNCH by Nick Quantrill © 2009. First appeared in Radgepacket Online, www.bykerbooks.co.uk. Reprinted by per
mission of the author.
TOP HARD by Stephen Booth © 2009. First appeared in Criminal Tendencies, Creme de la Crime Ltd. Reprinted by permission of the author.
COP AND ROBBER by Paul Johnston © 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, Broo Doherty.
OFF DUTY by Zoë Sharp © 2009. First appeared in Criminal Tendencies, Creme de la Crime Ltd. Reprinted by permission of the author and her agent, Gregory & Co.
GUNS OF BRIXTON by Paul D. Brazill © 2009. First appeared in Crime Factory, www.crimefactoryzine.com. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE DEADLIEST TALE OF ALL by Peter Lovesey © 2009. First appeared in On a Raven’s Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Stuart M. Kaminsky, Harper Paperbacks. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE BEST SMALL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD by Louise Welsh © 2009. First appeared in Shattered: Every Crime has a Victim, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author and her agent, Rogers, Coleridge & White.
MR BO by Liza Cody © 2009. First appeared as a chapbook published by Crippen & Landru. Reprinted by permission of the author.
FOXED by Peter Turnbull © 2009. First appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MURDER by Nicholas Royle © 2009. First appeared as an art print. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DRIVEN by Ian Rankin © 2009. First appeared in Crimespotting: An Edinburgh Crime Collection, Polygon. Reprinted by permission of the author and his agent, Robinson Literary Agency Ltd.
About the Author
Maxim Jakubowski is a London-based novelist and editor. He was born in the UK and educated in France. Following a career in book publishing, he opened the world-famous Murder One bookshop in London in 1988. He compiles two acclaimed annual series for the Mammoth list: Best New Erotica and Best British Crime. He is a winner of the Anthony and the Karel Awards, a frequent TV and radio broadcaster, crime columnist for the Guardian newspaper and Literary Director of London’s Crime Scene Festival. His latest thriller is I Was Waiting For You.
Recent Mammoth titles
The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance
The Mammoth Book of Chess
The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance
The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 9
The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories
The Mammoth Book of New IQ Puzzles
The Mammoth Book of the Best of Best New Horror
The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes
The Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance
The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7
The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll
The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places
The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF
The Mammoth Book of Casino Games
The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance
The Mammoth Book of Threesomes and Moresomes
The Mammoth Book of Drug Barons
The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2
The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games
The Mammoth Book of Tasteless Jokes
The Mammoth Book of New Erotic Photography
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 21
The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 23
The Mammoth Book of Great British Humour
The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance
The Mammoth Book of Women’s Erotic Fantasies
The Mammoth Book of Fun Brain Training
The Mammoth Book of Hard Bastards
The Mammoth Book of Dracula
The Mammoth Book of Tattoo Art
Copyright
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2011
Copyright © Maxim Jakubowski, 2011 (unless stated elsewhere)
The right of Maxim Jakubowski to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
ISBN : 978–1–84901–761–9
Table of Contents
Title Page
INTRODUCTION
THE VERY LAST DROP
DOLPHIN JUNCTION
CHRIS TAKES THE BUS
THE MADWOMAN OF USK
DEAD AND BREAKFAST
AFFAIRS OF THE HEART
THE BALLAD OF MANKY MILNE
THE CIRCLE
A GOOSE FOR CHRISTMAS
AN ARM AND A LEG
THE LOVER AND LEVER SOCIETY
DEAD CLOSE
THE TURNIP FARM
AS GOD MADE US
ROBERT HAYER’S DEAD
ANOTHER LIFE
THE WOMAN WHO LOVED ELIZABETH DAVID
HUNGRY EYES
HOMEWORK
NO THANKS, PLEASE
THE SAME AS SHE ALWAYS WAS
OUT OF THE FLESH
HARD ROCK
ART IN THE BLOOD
UNHAPPY ENDINGS
RUN, RABBIT, RUN
SLOW BURN
FINDERS, WEEPERS
THE HARD SELL
PARSON PENNYWICK TAKES THE WATERS
SUCKER PUNCH
TOP HARD
COP AND ROBBER
OFF DUTY
GUNS OF BRIXTON
THE DEADLIEST TALE OF ALL
THE BEST SMALL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
MR BO
FOXED
MURDER
DRIVEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
About the Author
Recent Mammoth titles
Copyright