Ann Granger (32 page)

Authors: That Way Murder Lies

BOOK: Ann Granger

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He brightened. ‘Well, I’ve got this new posting, as you know. Warsaw. I go out there at the end of the month. Once I’ve settled in a flat, Alison’s planning to come out for a holiday. It will get her right away from this place and give her a chance to think what she’ll do about Overvale House. She’ll sell, I think. As she says, it’s too big and it has too many gruesome memories. After that, I don’t know. But she’s resourceful. I think she’ll be OK, given enough time.’ He checked his wristwatch. ‘Speaking of time, I have to get back. I told her I’d only be a short while.’

‘I hope we see you again before you leave,Toby,’ Meredith said.

He grinned at her. ‘Sure you will. And Warsaw’s not too far away to prevent me coming back here to dance at your wedding, as I said I would.’

He shook Markby’s hand and made for the door. When he reached it, he turned and gestured in farewell. Markby had moved his arm to put it along the back of Meredith’s chair. The ray of evening sunlight now fell across them both and the rest of the bar room was a dusty, shady place inhabited by shadowy figures. Toby looked at the pair of them for a moment, a rueful smile crossed his face, and he was gone.

‘What do you think?’ Meredith asked Alan. ‘Alison’s only forty-eight. She’s a nice-looking woman. Perhaps Toby needs someone older to look after him. Given his inclination to think about marrying within the family …’

‘Don’t!’ Alan begged. He put out his hand and gently laid it over her mouth. ‘Don’t matchmake for him! It doesn’t bear thinking about. Forget about him. Think about
us
.’

Jess Campbell closed the door and gazed round the rented flat. She loathed this place. But, with luck, it wouldn’t be home for much longer. She’d gone into the financial aspect of it and she was well able to take on a mortgage. She’d make an offer for
Meredith’s house. She meant to get in touch with Meredith and tell her tomorrow.

The notion of buying a house was quite exciting. She’d have to buy some furniture. Perhaps her mother could lend her a few pieces to start her off. The family home was crammed with stuff her parents didn’t use. At the thought of her family her excitement was replaced with a touch of sadness. Her brother had returned to his medical work. She missed Simon. Perhaps it was being a twin that made her feel the absence more. Perhaps it was the knowledge that all she really had was her job. She liked her job and thought, on the whole, she did it well. True, she made the occasional slip-up. Allowing the Stebbingses to see the corpse of their son at the scene had been one of them. But the superintendent had expressed his satisfaction at her handling of the case, now it was closed.

‘Well,’ said Jess aloud, ‘it’s as closed as it can be before a trial. Who knows what a jury may decide?’

She put her Marks and Spencer’s chilled moussaka in the microwave and took the bottle of white wine from the fridge. She poured a glass and raised it in a toast. ‘Cheers! Here’s to crime!’

The sun was setting over the lake at Overvale. Against the darkening sky a shape appeared, nearing the spot. With a rush of wings it swooped down and landed close to the jetty. Spike settled his feathers, squawked once triumphantly, and slowly and with dignity began to patrol his domain.

Also by Ann Granger

Fran Varady crime novels
Asking For Trouble
Keeping Bad Company
Running Scared
Risking It All
Watching Out

Mitchell and Markby crime novels

Say It With Poison
A Season For Murder
Cold In The Earth
Murder Among Us
Where Old Bones Lie
A Fine Place For Death
Flowers For His Funeral
Candle For A Corpse
A Touch Of Mortality
A Word After Dying
Call The Dead Again
Beneath These Stones
Shades Of Murder
A Restless Evil

THAT WAY MURDER LIES. Copyright © 2004 by Ann Granger. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.minotaurbooks.com

First published in Great Britain by Headline Book Publishing

eISBN 9781466823723

First eBook Edition : June 2012

EAN 978-0312-33827-5

First St. Martin’s Minotaur Edition: January 2005