"Barry B. Longyear - Murder in Parliment Street" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

Madame FifiтАЩs side of High Street was St. Petrocks. Between the block
upon which that church stood and the block opposite the Guildhall was
Broadgate: a short, wide, shop-festooned thoroughfare connecting High
Street and Cathedral Yard. Parked in Broadgate were three tellynet media
vans, a blogosphere pool mobile, a Devon Forensic Medical ExaminerтАЩs
van, and a constabulary electric, presumably Sergeant DunnтАЩs. There were
no vehicles of any kind belonging to ABCD and no ABCD personnel I
recognized, not even a furtive mountain gorilla in the shadows stealthily
evacuating his bowels.

тАЬBugger,тАЭ I remarked.

ShadтАЩs comment was earthier but equally apt.

****

There was nothing to do but head to Heavitree Consolidated Police
Administration Tower in which the constabularyтАЩs Exeter Station, Devon
ABCD Interpol, and the Devon MagistrateтАЩs Court were headquartered. As
the cruiser came down from the St. JamesтАФHeavitree Air Vector Corridor,
Shad brought us in over St. LukeтАЩs College and Heavitree Hospital as we
circled down to the sky dock on top of the tower. As we approached we
could see that the media had already gathered far below at street level
entrance. Up on the roof by himself someone very large, dark, hairy, and
dejected was skulking next to the landing target. It was DC Parker. After
coming in and docking in our assigned slot, we got out of the cruiser and
walked across the target to the fellow.

As we approached Parker, Shad said to him in his Fowler voice, тАЬI
say, old hairball, the ruddy bloominтАЩ corpus is in the middle of flippinтАЩ
Parliament Street. DonтАЩt Heavitree Tower strike you as rather inconvenient
for a local command post, wot, wot?тАЭ

Upon witnessing ShadтАЩs passive-aggressive performance, ParkerтАЩs
massive shoulders sagged even farther as his incredibly ugly head hung
down, his knuckles dragging against the rooftop.

тАЬTerribly sorry, Inspector Jaggers,тАЭ he said, his voice rumbling
eloquently in posh Oxford-educated tones. The urgency of his current
predicament appeared to have frightened off his usual ape-of-the-people
Estuary affectation. тАЬI had the van on Broadgate, sir, but the tellies,
bloggies, and shutter rats were everywhere waiting for me! Peering in the
windows, underfoot, poking in their heads, all of them on geek hunts, and,
good lord, the questions. Cameras ... all aimed at the van. It was like they
were waiting for me to ... you know.тАЭ

тАЬYes,тАЭ I responded. тАЬI know.тАЭ

тАЬI didnтАЩt want to let down the side again, inspector. I couldnтАЩtтАЩve fit in
that narrow passage in any event. WouldnтАЩt the tellies love seeing me try,