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.Oliver went into the room.148 SARAH MASTERSGlenn s mother was an unrecognisable heap ofinnards, legs and arms protruding from it.Intestines, heart, lungs, kidneys, and her livermounded high inside a ripped-open torso that hadbled profusely.The air had dried them out a little,darkened them, but the carnage wasn t somethingyou could imagine.It had to be seen to be believed. Where s her head? Oliver whispered. Over here, Shields said, the words muffledby his hanky.Oliver followed Shields pointing finger.Thehead sat in the corner of the room, wedged on topof a pile of scrunched-up newspaper and oily fishand chip wrappers.An upended fast-food-jointcup lay beside it, a note beside that. What s the note say? Oliver asked. Kid s writing, bit of an angry scrawl butlegible, Shields said. It says: Here s your fuckingtea.I assume the cup had tea in it, judging by thedarker stain on the carpet around the neckstump, but it s difficult to tell, what with theamount of blood. Oliver allowed himself a small smile at thesense of victory Glenn must have felt then.He149 SUGAR STRANDSdidn t condone killing of any kind, but in thissituation& No, he wasn t going to go there. There s something else too. Shields pointedto the opposite corner. Another note as well. Oliver dared himself to turn his head.Whatlooked like a foetus lay curled in the corner, afilthy, ragged blanket over it, only the headpoking out. And that note? Langham asked.Shields moved to the door behind Oliver. Says: I saved you from doing it. Oliver pushed past Shields and went out intothe hallway, his mind swimming with what Glennmust have put up with for her to kill her motherknowing she was pregnant.Her logic in killing herunborn sibling wasn t lost on him.She d savedthe child a life of hell like she d had.Christ, shemust have suffered so much, harboured so muchrage, and the drugs had given her the impetus toerase it all.Except it would be in her mind,lingering.Always.He understood why it was sucha rage killing.Drugged up and crazed Glennmight be, but somewhere inside was a little girlwho just wanted to be loved and accepted.150 SARAH MASTERSIt sickened Oliver.All of it. There s another one. Shields walked pastOliver, making a show of ensuring they didn ttouch in the small space, and began walkingupstairs.Langham followed, his expression grim.Oliverhad wanted Langham to look at him, to allow himto offer an understanding smile or some otherway to show he was aware of what his man wasgoing through.But he hadn t been able to.Langham took the stairs one at a time, armsheavy by his sides, as though every ounce ofenergy had been sucked out of him.Oliver felt thesame, and when he trailed the two detectives, hislegs felt like they d give way any minute and he dtumble back down, landing in the filth of thehallway, stinky old shoes and a broken tennisracquet for a pillow.On the landing, one strewn with dirtylaundry, bursting refuse sacks he was surprisedthis household even owned any or knew whatthey were and an odd assortment of bric-a-brac,he breathed in through his mouth.The wholehouse was filled with the stench of death, cloying151 SUGAR STRANDSand thick, making him want to cough his guts upand run out into the fresh air.But he wanted tobe with Langham every step of the way on thiscase, and if it meant viewing another corpse thenso be it.Inside the box bedroom, a man sat on a baremattress stained by his blood and who only knewwhat else.Dark stains, light stains piss and shitmost likely and patches of crusty dirt that maywell have been mud or food.He wasn t sure anddidn t much want to entertain it further.The bodyheld his gaze then.Sitting up like that, he lookedfor all the world like a normal guy, just taking anap in the nude.His eyes were closed, his handsclasped over his beach ball belly, and his blackhair flopped forward over one eye.Both legs stuckout in front of him, the backs of his kneestouching the mattress edge, the heels of his feeton a matted rug.But he no longer owned a penis.It sat besidehim, holding down a note like an obscenepaperweight [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]