Death Line (34 page)

“No wonder she collapsed when we showed her that video and told her we knew Moon was her father; it was the first the poor woman had known of either. He was one cool customer, all right.”

“Must have been. Everyone we've spoken to has said the same – that Moon was a very gifted palmist/astrologer, yet even he didn't realise how very dangerous Astell was.”

Rafferty shook his head. “I think he did. But his prime concern was his daughter. I think he disregarded any danger to himself in the same way he disregarded Mrs Moreno's Tarot reading – if that ever happened. Emotion affected his judgement. He judged wrongly – and died.”

“All right, I'll accept that. But Edwin Astell couldn't have known Ellen Hadleigh would take ill and leave early that evening. I suppose he arranged things that way?”

“Of course he did. He would have known she didn't drink and drugged her sherry, just to get rid of her. He couldn't risk her staying late in the kitchen. But at the same time, he didn't want to make any suspicious changes to their normal anniversary routine and she always helped out, presumably staying till the kitchen was tidy. Of course, he knew all about Ellen Hadleigh and her son – she'd worked for the Astells for years – and would have realised that by sending her home, he risked having her charged with Moon's murder. That wouldn't have suited him at all, so he phoned her, thereby providing her with an alibi. He couldn't phone her from Moon's office, of course. He would have known the calls from that office would be checked routinely. It's my guess he rang her from the call box near the office.”

Llewellyn mused, “I wonder what made Mercedes Moreno hang around after she'd returned to pick up her gloves that night?”

'I'm sure she'll tell us that – and the rest if we ask her nicely. Especially if we tell her that the alternative is a stretch in jail. We know from Sarah Astell that Mrs Moreno didn't knock at the front door. She must have gone round the back – through the garage/conservatory, where she'd have found Astell's change of clothes laid out ready for his return. I'm sure it occurred to her that it was a strange place to leave an entire set of clothes. She must have wondered what he was up to then, and decided to hang about to find out. Once he realised she could give him away, he must have appealed to her greed. He'd worked with her for months – I imagine he recognised a soul mate. He must have known that she would be open to offers. She wouldn't have been slow to see the advantages to herself. She was a widow and I think she foresaw benefits – money, a partnership, maybe even marriage. That must be when they concocted their little alibi'

“Marriage? To Astell? I think you're reaching ahead of the evidence,” Llewellyn told him. “I wonder why he didn't just kill her and be done with it?”

“ Because he was a man who relied on planning. He wouldn't risk killing her on the spur of the moment. Later, maybe, when her usefulness was at an end, but not then. He couldn't be sure that someone hadn't seen her return to his house and she would be careful not to enlighten him either way. Of course, later, she would have been smart enough to take suitable precautions to protect herself – like writing a letter telling the truth which was to be opened in the event of her disappearance or sudden death. I'm sure, unlike Sarah Astell, she would know just how to safeguard herself. Talking of marriage,” Rafferty changed the subject with startling rapidity, “when are you going to make an honest woman of my cousin?”

Llewellyn gazed at Rafferty with an air of mild reproach. “Did your mother never teach you it was rude to ask personal questions?”

“Ma?” Rafferty grinned. “Don't be daft. It was her who told me to ask.”

Llewellyn sighed. “Of course. Silly of me.” He drained his mug and then it was his turn to change the subject. “You never did tell me how your mother got on at the clairvoyant's. Did she manage to get the information she wanted from your father?”

“Course not. I told you the old man never volunteered anything when he was alive. He's not likely to start now he's dead. It was just another of my ma's ploys. You know she makes her own opportunities to poke her nose into my love-life.”

“And mine,” Llewellyn muttered
sotto voce
.

“Talking of which, you might as well tell me if you and Maureen are planning to get hitched. Ma'll worm it out of you, anyway.”

Llewellyn relented; he even managed a faint smile. “When – if – we decide to marry, you'll be the first to know – after Mrs Rafferty, of course.” He sauntered towards the door. Before he reached it, he turned back, his expression enigmatic. He didn't seem to realise that his final admonishment gave the game away. “Just as long as it's firmly understood that – if you agree to be my best man – I shall write your speech.” That said, he walked briskly away, leaving Rafferty with a pleased and rather idiotic grin spreading over his face. It faded abruptly as he realised that once his ma had steered Llewellyn and Maureen into wedded bliss, she would undoubtedly turn her attention back to him. Weddings always had such an unfortunate effect on her. Rafferty put his head in his hands and groaned.

Geraldine Evans
has been writing since her twenties, but she never finished anything. It took till her mid-thirties to actually get published. As well as her popular Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series, she has a second crime series, Casey & Catt, also an historical novel, a romance and articles on varying subjects, from Historical Biography to Writing, Palmistry and other New Age topics. She has written the dramatization of Dead Before Morning, the first novel in her Rafferty series.

Geraldine Evans is a Londoner, but since 2000 she has lived in Norfolk England with her husband, George.

Death Line
is the third in her Rafferty & Llewellyn series. She is currently working on the fifteenth.

Trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo-BPA8GByM

DEAD BEFORE MORNING

A Rafferty and Llewellyn mystery novel

By Geraldine Evans

Available from Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Android, iPad, iPhone, iBookstore, etc.

Debut crime and first in the fourteen-strong Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series.

Detective Inspector Joseph Rafferty is investigating his first murder since his promotion. What a shame the victim is a girl with no name and no face, found in a place she had no business being – a private psychiatric hospital. With everyone denying knowing anything about the victim, Rafferty has his work cut out, so he could do without his Ma setting him another little problem: that of getting his cousin ‘Jailhouse Jack’ out of the cells. Although he has no shortage of suspects, proof is not so plentiful. It is only when he remembers his forgotten promise to get his cousin out of the cells that Rafferty gets the first glimmer that leads to the solution to the case.

REVIEWS

‘Classic crime. I was definitely hooked into this story and needed to know who had committed the crime and why. It was very well written and flowed nicely from scene to scene..’

ALEXIS LENO, AUTHOR OF SHIFTING FATE, A FANTASY NOVEL

‘This often comic tale sharpens the appetite for more.’

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘Evans’ humour seriously added to my enjoyment of her book. This, her first, as well as the rest in the series, are well written with standout central characters and clever plots.’

AUNT AGATHA’S BOOKSHOP, ANN ARBOUR, USA

Links

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EYUHN8

Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004EYUHN8

Trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8yxlChfaE

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN

A Rafferty and Llewellyn mystery novel

By Geraldine Evans

Available from Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Android, iPad, iPhone, iBookstore, etc.

Second novel in the fourteen-strong Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series.

When beautiful Barbara Longman is found dead in a meadow, uprooted wild flowers strewn about her and, in her hand, a single marigold, Inspector Joe Rafferty at first believes the murder may be the work of the serial killer over the county border in Suffolk. But then he meets the victim's family – and, after liaising with the Suffolk CID, he rapidly comes to believe that the killing is the work of a copycat… one much closer to home, someone among the descendants of the long-dead wealthy family patriarch, Maximillian Shore. Everyone, it seems, had a motive: Henry the grieving widower; the victim's brother-in-law, Charles Shore, the ruthless tycoon; Henry's first wife, the Bohemian Anne, who has lost the custody of Maxie, her teenage son, to the saintly Barbara. Even the long-dead patriarch, Maximillian Shore, seems, to Rafferty, to have some involvement in the murder, though how, or why, Rafferty doesn't understand until he finally grasps the truth behind the reasons for the killing. A truth sad and dreadful and which had been evident from the start, if only he had had the eyes to see.

REVIEWS

‘Need a good read? Then read on! The plot keeps you guessing till the end – and enjoyable dead.’

MERTON MESSENGER

‘A name to watch.’

PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH

Links

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042P53NS

Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0042P53NS