Damned by Logic

Table of Contents

Recent Titles by Jeffrey Ashford from Severn House

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

THE COST OF INNOCENCE

CRIMINAL INNOCENCE

DAMNED BY LOGIC

A DANGEROUS FRIENDSHIP

DEADLY CORRUPTION

EVIDENTIALLY GUILTY

FAIR EXCHANGE IS ROBBERY

AN HONEST BETRAYAL

ILLEGAL GUILT

JIGSAW GUILT

JUSTICE DEFERRED

LOOKING-GLASS JUSTICE

MURDER WILL OUT

A TRUTHFUL INJUSTICE

A WEB OF CIRCUMSTANCES

 

AN AIR OF MURDER

DEFINITELY DECEASED

AN INSTINCTIVE SOLUTION

AN INTRIGUING MURDER

MURDER DELAYED

MURDER MAJORCAN STYLE

MURDER NEEDS IMAGINATION

MURDERED BY NATURE

A QUESTION OF MOTIVE

SEEING IS DECEIVING

A SUNNY DISAPPEARANCE

SUN, SEA AND MURDER

 

 

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First published in Great Britain and the USA 2013 by

SEVERN HOUSE PUBLISHERS LTD of

9–15 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, England, SM1 1DF.

eBook edition first published in 2013 by Severn House Digital

an imprint of Severn House Publishers Limited

Copyright © 2013 by Jeffrey Ashford

The right of Jeffrey Ashford to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Ashford, Jeffrey, 1926-

Damned by logic.

1. Suspense fiction.

I. Title

823.9'14-dc23

ISBN-13: 978-0-7278-8279-0 (cased)

ISBN-13: 978-1-78010-411-9 (epub)

Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental.

This ebook produced by

Palimpsest Book Production Limited,

Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland.

T
hey sat at a corner table in the small restaurant halfway down Ogden Street. The sharp contrast between their appearances might have caused comment in central London, but here, where styles of living overlapped, it was incorrectly assumed by other customers and the staff that the nature of their relationship was an explanation.

‘Will she know what she's carrying?' Piera asked.

‘Since she's smart, she'll likely work that out,' Noyes replied.

Piera picked up the bottle of wine and emptied it into his glass, not bothering to halve the contents which remained with his companion. The wine list had been short and lacked any names he recognized, so he had expected his choice to be a
vino de mesa
, but actually it could have earned a respectable number of points from Robert Parker. He drank, replaced the glass on the table. ‘You'll meet the
Helios
?'

‘If I ain't fishing in Scotland.'

‘For you, inadvisable.'

Noyes accepted his rejoinder had bombed. Piera, being a foreigner, lacked any sense of ‘humour'.

‘You have not yet told me who she is.'

‘Melanie Caine. A charlie who'd get a dead man's blood racing.'

‘You need to explain.'

You ain't so sharp with the English as you try to make out, Noyes thought, resentfully aware that Piera spoke better English than he did. ‘She's on the independent pussy game.'

‘And now an explanation of your explanation?'

‘She's a prossy good enough that she doesn't need a ponce and can choose her mugs.'

‘Then maybe she will wonder about ...?' He paused for a couple of seconds to remember the phrase. ‘About helping herself?'

‘You think I'm wearing L-plates. She knows that to double-time me adds up to her not making any more punters happy.' Noyes allowed a lascivious grimace to dwell on his face as he imagined exactly how he'd act out the punishment he had in mind.

Ansell turned into Bracken Lane. He and Eileen lived in number thirty-four. For most husbands, home at the end of the working day meant a warm welcome, good meal, relaxation, and shared bed. He, however, could expect a sharp, frosty evening and single bed.

He drove into the garage. When car and garage were secured, he went round and into the hall.

‘You're late,' Eileen called out from the sitting room.

She was quick to tell him when he did not return at the normal time, which in other relationships could have indicated a wish for an earlier return; in this case, it was a moan. He hung his mackintosh on the Victorian coat stand; the forecast had been for rain, but the sky had remained merely cloudy.

‘Did you buy the marmalade?'

He silently swore. ‘Sorry.'

His forgetfulness was going to make her even more dissatisfied than he expected. The television was loud enough for him to hear the programme and identify it:
Fifty Reasons for Remaining Single
. A couple in a deteriorating relationship were encouraged to vent their resentments. The audience probably never considered the possibility, however slight, that the pleasure they gained from the raucous discord might in its nature match that which the public had enjoyed at the Roman games.

He entered the sitting room. She briefly looked away from the screen. ‘One day, you'll forget where you live.'

Were he feckless, he would already have done so. ‘I'll nip down to the corner shop and get some marmalade there.'

‘I want a proper brand, not some sort of mush,' she replied without a hint of thanks, instead just more rancour as if he'd already failed on this important mission.

He walked down to the shop in which there was so much stock, stored from the floor almost to the ceiling, it seemed it might offer as much variety as a supermarket. The Pakistani shopkeeper, around his age, produced jars of marmalade of different brands; he chose one, paid for it. They discussed the latest bank scandal and governmental failures before he left and returned home.

He handed her the carefully wrapped jar.

She unwrapped it. ‘I far prefer Hero's.'

‘He didn't have any.'

‘If you'd remembered to buy it on the way back, you could have got what I wanted.'

‘And done the owner of the corner shop out of a small contribution to his profits.'

‘That's more important?'

‘I should imagine so to him.'

‘But, of course, not to you.'

‘How about a drink?'

‘I don't want anything.'

‘Yesterday, I bought a couple of bottles of the sherry you like.'

‘I said, I don't want anything.'

She liked an evening drink. Did other wives use self-denial as a way of expressing their annoyances? He went through to the pantry and poured himself a strong gin and tonic; hopefully it would provide him with support in the near future.

He returned, sat, raised his glass. ‘To health, wealth and long life.'

‘Small chance of that when you won't demand a decent wage.'

‘In the present financial climate, I doubt anyone presents his employer with a demand.'

‘Barbara said only yesterday that our car looks like some old vintage vehicle.'

‘I doubt she realizes that they can be quite valuable. I expect she meant veteran.'

‘You're always trying to correct someone.'

He drank. On the screen, a husband and wife was each accusing the other of being crude, rude, arrogant, and a liar.

He emptied his glass, decided he needed another drink before he told her. He stood, empty glass in his right hand.

‘I'm feeling like having the other half. Are you sure you won't change your mind?'

‘Unlike you, I never do. You're drinking too much.'

‘This is only the first refill. How much is too much?'

‘Do you have to talk when I'm watching?'

He went out, poured himself a second, stronger gin and tonic. Alcohol might be a false shield, but it helped. When he returned, the programme was finishing. At the Roman games, a victim was dragged with hooks out of the arena; here, the husband would continue to suffer.

He drank. He decided the inevitable could no longer be delayed. ‘Jack had a word with me this morning. The Rex Cruising Company want us to handle their advertising and launch a new campaign.'

‘She's bought herself a new watch,' Eileen said, studiously ignoring her husband's attempt at converstion.

‘Who has?'

‘Why can't you listen to what I say? Barbara has bought a new watch and naturally hurried here to show it to me. The case is covered in diamonds. I said how lovely, how it suited her, but it'll only make her look even more ostentatious.'

Despite the second drink, he was still reluctant to tell her, but there were no options. He persevered: ‘Jack wants a staff member to go on the maiden voyage of the
Helios
to learn about the company and the new boat. He said I'm to go.'

‘The company's actually recognized you! So when do we sail? I must know because there'll be so much to get ready. I'll need at least one really nice evening dress and quite a few of my clothes will have to be dry cleaned. I wonder if Barbara would lend me one of her necklaces. I must look as smart as possible.'

‘I'm sorry.'

‘What about?'

‘Only I am going.'

Her expression became bitter. ‘I suppose you—'

He interrupted quickly, ‘I'd no say in the matter. I'm going because I'll be working for the company.'

‘Did you ask for me to go with you?'

‘I'm afraid there was no point to doing so.'

‘You can enjoy yourself, I have to stay at home and rot?'

‘You must know that's not how it is.'

‘Isn't it? Did you offer to pay for me?'

‘What was the point when we haven't the money. You bought the new curtains and sofa because Babs said—'

‘That's right, blame me.'

‘I'm not blaming you.'

‘You think I never read the cruising advertisements in the papers or listen to them on the telly? Cruises are wonderful for meeting people. The women shown in the adverts are always young, lithe, wearing minimal bikinis. You're hoping to find some woman who'll invite you into bed.'

‘Eileen, I'm going on the cruise because it is part of my job. Can you really think that some amorous twenty-year-old is going to throw her arms about me and invite me to pull her pants down?'

He drained his glass. He was slightly surprised that she had scratched with the nails of a cat, not the claws of a tigress.