No Mercy by Colin Forbes

found a large canvas was slung. Beyond were police tapes. A Sikorsky helicopter was perched on the track nearer to Post Lacey. A lot of policemen were moving round, visible by the torches they held.
    'Buchanan has brought a big team,' Tweed commented.
    They were close enough to see details when Paula saw Warden, Buchanan's assistant. He had a large bandage round his left arm. Buchanan, with Professor Saafeld, the pathologist, behind him, ran to meet them.
    'Grim news. There's a second corpse, a second murder.'

    8

    'Where is it? Tweed asked quietly.
    'First of all,' explained Buchanan, who wore a police cape, 'the near skeleton you found has been taken by ambulance up to Professor Saafeld's place in Holland Park so he can perform an autopsy.'
    'The ambulance was able to get here from London quickly.'
    'I phoned Exeter police HQ and asked for two ambulances to be sent here at once. Exeter wasn't very pleased. Thought they ought to handle the case. I told them the Yard had been called in. That settled it.'
    Saafeld, clad in a sports jacket, hands covered by latex gloves, appeared behind Buchanan. In his fifties, he had an unruly mop of thick white hair. He was a well-built man of medium height. His weathered face had sharp features, observant eyes. He smiled at Paula.
    'When I heard Tweed was down here I guessed you'd be with him. Must have been a shock when you discovered the corpse.'
    'It goes with the job,' she said, returning his smile. She liked him and felt confident the feeling was mutual.
    'The second corpse?' Tweed prodded Buchanan.
    'Warden discovered it by accident. He was cordoning off the area with tape. I'd warned him to watch his footing. Then he treads on wooden planks, which give way. He finds himself hanging by his hands over a deep hole. It's an old mine shaft. Hence his injury to his arm - he grazed it badly on a piece of sharp wood. Saafeld disinfected it after I'd hauled him up. At the bottom of the shaft was another skeleton.'
    'Near-skeleton,' Saafeld corrected him. 'It still has chunks of frozen flesh attached. Want to see? You place your footsteps where I place mine.'
    They left the track, walking slowly along a narrow path, their torches beamed downwards. Tweed followed Paula only a short distance behind. Saafeld's powerful torch beamed down the shaft. At the bottom they could clearly see a skeleton stretched out, as though asleep. Except the eye sockets of the skull were staring straight up at Paula. She suppressed a shudder. It was macabre.
    A telescopic ladder was perched against one side of the shaft. On the far side, near the edge of the shaft, was a long fold-up cradle wrapped in clean white sheets. A rope coiled round a central wheel dangled down into the makeshift grave. Saafeld pointed to it.
    'I always travel with everything I might need. Folded, the cradle easily fitted into the chopper, as did the ladder. I went down there, using the ladder. Took photos, then made a careful preliminary examination. We'll use the cradle to bring up the corpse. Under my supervision.'
    'What are your conclusions so far?' asked Tweed.
    'There we go again.' Saafeld smiled at Paula. 'Normally, as you both well know, I never comment until I complete the postmortem.'
    'I need something,' Tweed persisted. 'I'm investigating this case. That poor devil down there. Man or woman?'
    'This one is a woman. The one you discovered was a man. At a wild guess they both died about four or five months ago.' He took off his latex gloves and Paula noticed traces of what looked like dried blood. 'I have several pairs,' he remarked, stuffing them inside a transparent evidence container, which he shoved inside a pocket.
    'What I can tell you is they were both murdered. Brutally. The killer used a knife with a serrated blade to slash through their throats to the spine, without completely severing it. Could have been a double-edged blade. Razor-sharp on one side. He jerks his victim's head back from behind, cuts the throat, then