Читать книгу Killing the Shadows - Val McDermid, Val McDermid - Страница 12

Extract from Decoding of Exhibit P13/4599

Uzqhq dftag stfyg dpqdo agxpn qeaqm ek. Upuym suzpq ufarf qzngf uzykt qmpuf tmpnq qzyqe ekmzp rdust fqzuz s…

The document in question utilizes a simple transliteration (a=m, b=n, etc) and the arrangement of letters into groups of five instead of the normal layout of the words. What follows is a transcription of the coded material, with appropriate punctuation added for sense. J. M. Arthur, Document Examiner.

I never thought murder could be so easy. I’d imagined it often, but in my head it had been messy and frightening. The reality is quite different. The power surge, that’s what carries you through it. Imagination really doesn’t prepare you for the real thing.

The other mistake I made was in thinking murder always had to be part of something else. But the truth is, murder can be an end in itself. Sometimes, people have to pay for what they have done, and taking their lives is the only way to do it.

I never thought I was going to be a murderer. I had my life sorted out. But then something shifted, and I could see them laughing at me, flaunting their so-called success in my face. I’d be a poor excuse for a man if I just took provocation like that on the chin.

Nobody knows how they’ll react when their life gets stolen by people who don’t give a toss who gets hurt. Well, I’ve never been the sort who just sits back and lets things happen, and I’m going to make them pay. I’m going to change the rules. But I’m not going to be obvious. I’m going to be subtle and choose my targets carefully.

This time, they won’t be able to ignore me. They won’t be able to write me off. I’ll be writing them off, writing their names in blood, and sending a message loud and clear. They’re responsible for their own downfall, that’s what I’ll be saying. Live by the word, die by the word.

It’s not hard to track down thriller writers. I’m used to watching people, I’ve been doing it for years. It doesn’t hurt that they’re all so vain. The Internet is clogged up with their websites and they give interviews right, left and centre. And they’re always doing public appearances.

So it made sense to start with somebody who has a really high profile, to make my job as easy as it could be. I decided the best way to make my point was to give them a real taste of their own medicine. It wouldn’t be enough just to kill them. I wanted it to be clear right from the word go that there was nothing accidental about what was going on. And knowing what was coming would make them suffer all the more. Satisfaction, that’s what I want.

To make the punishment fit the crime, I have to get the crime right, and now I’ve made my list. I ranked them according to how easy I thought it would be to do them and that’s how I got my candidates for execution.

1  Drew Shand

2  Jane Elias

3  Georgia Lester

4  Kit Martin

5  Enya Flannery

6  Jonathan Lewis

Now all I have to do is figure out exactly how to take them down.

They put me in this cage. But they should know that caged animals turn savage.

They’ve brought this on their own heads.