Absolution - The First Book Of The Vampire Immortalis Trilogy by Elizabeth Mitchell Page A

picture that emerged from talking to family, friends and colleagues, was that Jim Scott was an arrogant man who didn't suffer fools gladly. That meant there were plenty of people who disliked him, but not enough to resort to murder. The idea that he might have crossed the wrong person or persons in a business deal also looked like a non-starter. He didn't run with a bad crowd. In fact he was squeaky clean. His property business was profitable and he had plenty of money in the bank. The murder of Steven Baker had all the trappings of a random killing so maybe Jim Scott had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time too.
    The puncture marks to the neck had now been confirmed as bites. Traces of saliva on both bodies also confirmed that both men had been bitten by the same set of what the pathologist described as fangs. The possibility of both killings being Satanic in nature had brought the town's close-knit group of goths into the frame, but all enquiries suggested that they were just normal teenage kids. The Cameron boy that they had pulled in did not seem capable of murder, but maybe he wasn't acting alone. He certainly wouldn't have been able to hoist Jim Scott's body up onto those goalposts without accomplices.
    A knock on Buchan's door disturbed his train of thought. “Come in!”
    “Sorry to bother you, boss,” said the desk sergeant standing in the doorway to his office. “Just had Kelso Police Office on the phone. There's been a double murder.”
    Buchan reached for the phone on his desk and dialled a number. Only then did he gesture for the desk sergeant to leave. If the murders were connected to the ones in Melrose, he wanted to know immediately.
     
     
     
    Anna was waiting for Adam outside the entrance to the abbey. She had been all over Melrose in the hope of picking up the scent of the Hundeprest, but without luck.
    “Lisa's at home, but Liam wasn't there.”
    “Did she say where he was?”
    “No, she's not heard from him all day. She pointed out his house to me when we were walking around Melrose the other day, and I called in on my way down here, but no answer. The house was in complete darkness.”
    “We'll try again on our way home. We really need to find him, Adam. He's our only lead to the Hundeprest.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
     
     
     
    “Okay, settle down. Thank you all for coming back in.” Buchan was addressing the detectives who had been hastily summoned to the incident room.
    “As you'll no doubt be aware, two people were killed in Kelso this evening at approximately 6.10pm. Gordon Russell, better known to you all as the hairdresser, Gordon Rousseau, was killed along with one of his employees, Chloe McDonald, at his salon on Horsemarket. It looks like the murders are connected to the two we are already investigating and we might have a breakthrough. A 999 call was made from Chloe McDonald's mobile phone while the attack was in progress. She gave the operator a name. Cameron.”
    “Cameron?” asked DS Grant. “Liam Cameron? The lad we had in for questioning yesterday?”
    “That's the lead we are following,” said DS Carver. “Uniforms were called to an incident at Mr Rousseau's Melrose salon yesterday evening, shortly after Liam left the station. A bottle had been thrown at the shop's front window and Rousseau said Liam was responsible for throwing it. He also claimed that Liam threatened to kill him with a knife a while ago, but didn't press charges at the time.”
    “Why wasn't Liam brought back in yesterday,” asked Buchan.
    “We are still looking for him, sir,” said Carver, “but he seems to have disappeared. Officers went to his place of work last night to question him about the shop incident, but he hadn't turned up for his shift. He had phoned in saying he was sick. Wasn't at home either.”
    “Sick doesn't even begin to describe this psycho if he is the murderer,” said Buchan. “I want him found. Get his photo circulated, get the press involved, find out if