"Night Warriors - 02 - Death Dream" - читать интересную книгу автора (Masterton Graham)

Dr Hendriksen closed his bag and snapped the clasps. 'Well, we know what happened to his mother; and we know that he suffered shock and grief and a strong sense of personal guilt, even though it wasn't his fault.'
'So you think it might be some kind of delayed reaction to Virginia's death?' John said.
'It's possible. That break-in you had yesterday might have contributed to it - caused a crisis of nervous tension.'
'What do you suggest we do?' asked Jennifer.
Dr Hendriksen smiled. 'Well, I'm not going to prescribe any medication, certainly not yet. Children get quite enough drugs in their breakfast cereals without doctors giving them any more. But you might consider taking him away for a week or so, just to calm him down.'
John opened the door for the doctor. Sunlight and noise streamed into the hallway. 'As a matter of fact, we're borrowing a house up at Chestnut Hill for a couple of days.'
'Nice area,Т said Dr Hendriksen. 'Listen - keep him calm, that's my advice. When he talks about seeing his mother, don't over-react, just accept it quietly as part of the recovery process. I have some patients who lost husbands or wivesТ twenty or thirty years ago, and they still haven't completely recovered.'
Dr Hendriksen collected his homburg, lifted it courteously to Jennifer, and walked across the sidewalk to his huge twenty-year-old Rolls-Royce. 'Call me, if you need to,Т he told them, then climbed in behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb.
СThere,Т said Jennifer, kissing John quickly on the cheek. 'Nothing to worry about.'
СIТll go get that bottle of champagne,Т said John.
'Nothing too expensive, okay? I'd rather spend our money on a new bedroom.'
They had only just finished their lunch when there was another ring at the door. John was in the kitchen, clearing up the plates, so Jennifer called, 'I'll get it!'
She opened the front door and found Sergeant Clay and Detective Clay standing outside.
'May we come in for a moment, Mrs. Woods?' Sergeant Clay said.
She opened the door wider and they entered the hallway. Both were two heads taller than she was. Sergeant Clay wore a gray tailored suit, Detective Clay a bronze one, both from Sears. 'Is your husband home?' asked Sergeant Clay.
'We're all home today - my stepson, too. I guess we needed a day off.'
'I'd say so,Т Sergeant Clay remarked.
The two detectives followed Jennifer into the sitting room.
'This is Lenny,Т said Jennifer.
'Hi, Lenny,Т Sergeant Clay nodded at him. СYou not feeling so good today?'
'He felt a little faint, that's all,Т Jennifer explained.
'Well, that's not unusual, after what happened,Т said Sergeant Clay. 'It's the shock, you know. You'll get over it.'
John came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a tea towel. 'Sergeant Clay? How are you doing?'
Sergeant Clay adjusted the small, tight knot of his necktie, looking up at the ceiling as he did so. 'Not too good, as a matter of fact, Mr. Woods. We've had an interim report from the laboratory, and we've been discussing the whole pattern of what happened with our robbery and vandalism specialists, and on the whole we're inclined to the conclusion that there was no break in.' He stopped and lowered his eyes.
John stared at him, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh. 'What? You saw the bedroom for yourself, Sergeant. It was wrecked! And now you're trying to tell me that there was no break-in? Is this a joke, or what?'
Sergeant Clay shrugged. 'Mr. Woods, the facts speak for themselves. Your house was secure last night; all the doors and all the large windows were locked from the inside, and there was no sign of anybody having forced an entrance through any of the smaller windows. Your bedroom was ripped apart so totally that even a team of half a dozen angry and very energetic vandals couldn't have done it in less than a half hour; and I find it very difficult to believe that both you and Mrs. Woods were in the house while this was going on and heard nothing at all until that loud bang that you told us about.'
'So what are you saying?' John demanded. 'You're saying that we did it ourselves, and made the story up?'
Sergeant Clay gave an almost imperceptible nod. 'We've had cases before, Mr. Woods, where a husband and wife have torn their place up during a domestic confrontation, and then blamed some mysterious intruder.'
'Are you serious?' John asked, incredulous. 'Do my wife and I look like the kind of people who would systematically rip a freshly decorated bedroom to pieces?'
'Nobody looks like anything to me,Т Sergeant Clay replied, trying to remain calm. 'I know a dear little old lady who sawed off her husband's head; and I know a Hell's Angel who gave the kiss of life to a half-drowned baby.'
'All the same, you're accusing us of having destroyed that bedroom ourselves?' John was furious now.
Sergeant Clay said, 'You tell me. There were no fingerprints in the room, apart from yours and Mrs. Woods's. There were no unusual soil samples in the dust we vacuumed up from the rug.'
'And the urine on the bed? What about that - that urine you said was nonhuman?'
Sergeant Clay looked at John steadily. 'We were right. It wasn't human. It wasn't even urine. It was simply a mixture of water and chemicals, including sulphur and iodine.'
There was a lengthy silence. John held Sergeant Clay's gaze for a moment, then glanced at his twin. Detective Clay was standing close to Lenny, frowning, his hand pressed to his forehead as if he were suffering from a headache.
John turned back to the sergeant. 'And that's what you think, is it? That my wife and I had an argument and smashed up our own bedroom and told you that it was vandals?'
'It's one of the possibilities,Т said Sergeant Clay flatly. 'After all, you couldn't claim insurance, could you, if it was proved that you did it yourselves?'
'Oh, I see. We're guilty of perpetrating insurance fraud now, are we?'
'It's one of the possibilities,' Sergeant Clay repeated. 'And - do tell me, Sergeant - what are the other possibilities?' John demanded.
Before he could answer, Detective Clay came over and took hold of his brother's arm. He whispered something in Sergeant Clay's ear, nodded toward Lenny, then whispered something else. Sergeant Clay listened impassively, although his narrow Arabian-looking nostrils flared a little, as if he were breathing more deeply. John looked from one twin to the other, 'What's all that about?'
Sergeant Clay checked his watch. СI'm sorry, Mr. Woods. We have to get back to headquarters. Something just came up.'
'Will you tell me what the hell is going on?' John demanded.
Sergeant Clay said, There's nothing going on, Mr. Woods. Just a routine investigation.' 'So, what do you intend to do now?'
'We intend to go back to headquarters, that's all.'
'And you don't intend to make any further effort to find out who broke into my house and tore my bedroom to pieces because you think I did it?'
'Believe me, Mr. Woods, the investigation is going to continue. But we have plenty of other work to do. The situation is that, whatever actually happened here, nobody got hurt.'
Jennifer came across and took hold of John's hand. 'Come on, John, he's right. There's no point in getting mad about it.'
John showed Sergeant and Detective Clay to the door. As they were leaving, Detective Clay whispered something else in his twin's ear. Sergeant Clay turned to John and said, 'Do you intend to stay here tonight?'
'We're staying at a friend's house on Chestnut Hill.'
'Maybe you should give me the address.'