CONSTABLE TIMOTHY SMALES gave what he obviously presumed was a restrained, ‘one professional to another’ nod, as Rafferty arrived at the double doors leading to the suite holding the remaining guests, before he thrust open both the doors to the suite’s main living area, and invited the detective inspector, with a wide-flung arm, to enter the room.
Rafferty would have preferred a more discreet entrance, one less likely to induce excitement in the already over-emotional occupants, but young Smales, with his inherent feeling for drama, had ensured it was too late for that. Rafferty braced himself for the barrage as the remaining guests rushed forward in a body as if they were all still on an alcohol-fuelled high. And even if alcohol no longer greatly stimulated their bodies, the fumes were s
