" It's amazing just how much mess a shotgun makes."  The shooter stared down at the bloody unrecognisable mess that had been his victims head and face.  "Now, Chief Inspector, you're just another statistic in the recent spate of shotgun killings, seems you got too close to the killer, so he got you first.  You won't stand in the way of my promotion again."

Into a carrier bag he placed the balled up plastic coverall, and the two spent cartridges, carefully replacing one with a cartridge from the scene of a previous shooting.  The serial killer had always taken one and left one, part of his MO.

Back home he burned the plastic coverall and carrier bag, cleaned the shotgun and locked it away, then sat down with a glass of whisky and was about to turn the TV on when the phone rang.

"Hey Rod you won't believe this, all hell's let loose here, a squad car has just left the station."   "They're off to arrest the Chief Inspector, turns out he is the serial killer, no wonder we weren't getting anywhere with the investigation .... Rod are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."  Rod sat down, heart thumping, stomach churning.  "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes apparently he was mixed up in some dirty conglomerate dealings and all the victims were involved in some way, could've put the finger on him, but one of them left a list of 'brothers' with his sister with instructions to hand it to the police if anything should happen to him and she handed it in to Scotland Yard just yesterday, see you in the morning."

Rod hung up the phone and sat silently cursing trying to think.  There's no way to hide the body now and when they find it there's no chance they'll think suicide."  

"Oh Hell!"

Jackie S Brooks (c)