"Stephen Goldin - Herds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

to be able to afford—or require—a full-time homicide squad.

He punched at the intercom button. "Tom?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get me Acker on the radio." He took a deep breath and got
up from his chair. He had to stifle a yawn as he went through the
door and down the stairs to the front desk.

"I've got him, sir," the young deputy said as he handed the
radio microphone to the sheriff.

"Thanks." He took the mike and pressed the transmitting
button. "Come in."

"This is Acker reporting, sir. I'm still at the Stoneham cabin.
Mr. Stoneham has gone back to his home in San Marcos to try
and get some sleep. I got his address… "

"Never mind that, Harry. I've got it somewhere in my files.
Are there any new developments since you made your first
report?"

"I checked the grounds around the cabin for possible
footprints, but I think we're out of luck there, sir. It hasn't rained
for months, you know, and the ground here , is awfully hard and
dry. A lot of it is just rock covered by a thin layer of loose dirt
and gravel. I wasn't able to find anything."

"How about cars? Were there any tire tracks?"

"Mrs. Stoneham's car is parked beside the cabin. There are
two sets of tracks from Stoneham's car and one from my own.
But the killer wouldn't have had to come by car. There are a
number of places within easy walking distance of here."

"A person would have to know their way fairly well, though,
wouldn't you think, if they weren't to get lost in the dark?"

"Probably, sir."

"Harry, just off the record, how does this thing look to you?"

The voice at the other end paused for a moment. "Well, to tell
you the truth, sir, this is the most sickening thing I've ever seen. I
damn near threw up when I saw what had been done to that
poor woman's body. There couldn't possibly have been any
reason why the killer did what he did. I would guess that we're
dealing with a lunatic, a dangerous one."