Read Online Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage by MC Beaton - Free Book Online

our private lives and wanted to see what was on file, something like that.’
    ‘All right,’ said James, starting to take off his trousers. Agatha felt obscurely miffed that he should undress so unselfconsciously in front of her.
    She herself changed into a scarlet jogging jacket and trousers in the bathroom. She did not want James to see any of the middle-aged body he had rejected.
    Her face looked wan in the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. Perhaps just a little foundation cream and a bit of powder. Maybe a bit of blusher. That new shade of red lipstick would go nicely with her jogging suit. She was just reaching for the mascara when James’s impatient voice sounded from the other side of the bathroom door. ‘What are you doing, Agatha? Are you going to be in there all night?’
    ‘Coming.’ Agatha regretfully abandoned the mascara and went out to join him. As she followed him out into the corridor, she realized again that the metabolism of Agatha Raisin did not thrive on health food. She was sure she had bad breath and her stomach was full of gas. She fell back behind James, cupped her hands and breathed into them, but James looked over his shoulder and demanded, ‘What are you doing now?’ and Agatha mumbled, ‘Nothing,’ fell into step beside him and prayed to all the gods who look after middle-aged ladies that she would not fart. The silence in the building was absolute.
    They reached the hall without having met anyone or heard anyone.
    When they reached the office, James murmured, ‘It’s a simple Yale lock. A plastic credit card might do it.’ He took one out of his pocket and fiddled away while Agatha stood behind him, hearing the vague rumbles in her own stomach. Lights were blazing everywhere. She had brought a torch, but both the hall and the office were brightly lit. There was a click and James gave a grunt of satisfaction and opened the door.
    ‘Where do we start?’ whispered Agatha, looking at the computers. ‘One of those?’
    ‘They’ve got those old-fashioned filing cabinets. I bet the records about the time of Jimmy’s visit are still in one of those.’ He tried a top drawer of one. It slid open easily. ‘Good,’ he muttered. ‘Let’s hope there’s something under Raisin.’ He searched all the files in both cabinets without finding anything.
    ‘Now what?’ he asked.
    ‘Try under Gore-Appleton,’ urged Agatha. ‘Jimmy could never afford a place like this, so it stands to reason she would make the booking and pay for it.’
    He grunted and went back to his searching while Agatha stood looking through the office window into the hall in case anybody came.
    At last he said, ‘Got it! Gore-Appleton, 400a Charles Street, Mayfair. Booking for a Mr J. Raisin. Five years ago.’
    Agatha groaned. ‘But how do we find out who was resident at the same time?’
    ‘Damn, I didn’t think of that. We signed a book, a register. It was a fairly new one. The old ones must be somewhere.’
    ‘What about that cupboard over there?’
    ‘Locked,’ said James. ‘But simple to pick.’
    Agatha waited while he fiddled with the lock, growing more nervous by the minute. Surely their luck could not continue to hold. And would she hear anyone coming? The whole place was thickly carpeted.
    ‘Here we are,’ said James. He took a small notebook out of his pocket and began to write.
    ‘Hurry up,’ pleaded Agatha.
    ‘That’s it,’ he said after a few more agonizing minutes. ‘Let’s put it all back and lock up.’
    Agatha heaved a sigh of relief when they were outside the office and back in the hall.
    ‘What did you get?’ she was asking when a smooth voice from the direction of the stairs made them both jump.
    ‘Is there anything you need?’ Mr Adder stood there in a black dressing-gown with a gold cord, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles.
    ‘No, no,’ said James airily. ‘Just been for a run.’
    ‘Indeed,’ said Mr Adder, approaching them, his eyes fastening on the notebook