Injections of Insanity by Lorraine Mace
The murderer,
determined to avenge a wrong from many years earlier, gets close to
his prey by assuming various identities.
Can Paolo win in
his race against the pretender?
Week
One – Friday 25th July to Thursday 31st July
In
the lift, aware of the security camera overhead, the pretender kept
his head down and his eyes on the envelope he held in his right hand.
In his left hand was a laptop case, but there was no computer inside.
What it did contain would come as a surprise to the man he was about
to call on. The lift finally arrived at the top floor and the doors
slid silently open to allow him to step into a marble-panelled
vestibule with ornately gilded mirrors on the walls to his left and
right. He didn’t bother looking at his reflection; he knew what he
looked like and so, too, would the police by this time tomorrow. Much
good that would do them.
Opposite
the lift was a single door. Privileged entrance to the only apartment
on the penthouse floor. He briefly wondered what it must feel like to
be rich, but shrugged off the thought. He wasn’t interested in
money. All he wanted was to achieve his goal. And today he’d take
the first step.
He
walked across vestibule and pressed the buzzer.
The
door opened and the woman whose movements he’d been watching and
timing for the past month stood on the threshold.
“Professor
Edwards is expecting me,” he said, handing over a visiting card.
The
woman glanced at it and then gave it back. “Yes, Mr Buchanan. The
professor is waiting for you in his study. I’ll show you the way.”
He
slipped the card into his jacket pocket, inwardly smiling at how easy
it was to fool someone with no more than a rectangle of cardboard
he’d had made up in a quick print store. Concentrate, he told
himself, this is no time to lose focus. He followed her along the
hallway. Tastefully decorated, he thought, looking around at the
bronze sculptures, watercolours and oil paintings adorning the walls.
But then Professor Edwards was a very wealthy man, so he shouldn’t
have expected anything less.
They
passed closed doors on the left and right, but no windows. He
wondered where the light was coming from and looked up. A massive
skylight filled most of the space above his head. He wondered if
you’d ever get tired of looking up and seeing the blue sky above
instead of having your view limited by a ceiling, like most of the
world. Was Professor Edwards immune to the view from his wonderful
home? It didn’t matter, one way or the other.
The
professor didn’t have much time left to enjoy being rich enough to
afford a penthouse in the most prestigious apartment complex in
Bradchester.
Website:
www.lorrainemace.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lomace
