Read Online Death of Yesterday by M. C. Beaton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: M. C. Beaton
Ads: Link
important information on the murders, which, it turned out, she did not. Then she had said
she was too drunk to drive and poor Hamish had to put her up for the night and sleep in the cell. Dick had taken a staff room
at the Tommel Castle Hotel, next to the kitchen, and only the manager had seen him come and go. And so, when questioned by
Blair, Dick was able to claim that he had been at the police station on the night in question and that nothing had taken place
between Hamish and Hannah.
Hamish waited uneasily for the axe to fall. Jimmy called on him that evening. “I don’t know what happened,” he said, “but
Blair is fit to bust. Hannah Fleming says you put her up at the station because she had too much to drink and you had to sleep
in the cell. Dick sent over a memo to that effect.”
“I would ha’ thought Blair would be too busy grilling the Palfours to bother about her,” said Hamish.
“Oh, he was so carried away wi’ the idea of getting rid of you that it fair went to his head,” said Jimmy. “I looked in on
the lassie myself. She gave me this note for you.”
Hamish gingerly opened the sealed envelope. Hannah had written: “Dear Hamish, I was drunk and made a bad mistake. Please forget
all about it and don’t tell anyone. Hannah.”
Hamish passed the note to Jimmy, who read it and chortled, “You’re dumped! Just as well.”
“So what about the Palfours?” asked Hamish.
“Charles is singing like a canary. Olivia’s got a lawyer and says it was in self-defence.”
“Think a jury will go for that?”
“Could do. Andronovitch was responsible for the death of her parents. He was a Russian mobster. Charles is begging to be kept
in prison. He’s now terrified of his sister. Anyway, it’s back to our own murders.”
Chapter Five
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue live together.
—Petrarch
A month went past after the arrest of the Palfours. Hamish haunted Cnothan, questioning and questioning, hoping always to
find someone who would admit to having seen anything of importance.
He could only be glad that Hannah had left for Glasgow. He felt ashamed of his reaction to her fake appearance and certainly
did not want to see her again.
In between his investigations, he often wondered why there had been no news of Elspeth Grant’s marriage to her boss, Barry
Dalrymple.
He would have been amazed had he known that Elspeth often thought of him.
Elspeth Grant’s engagement to Barry had fizzled out. At first, at the height of their romance, it had seemed as if they were
soul mates. Then gradually, it began to appear that they had little in common. Elspeth could not help marking the relief on
Barry’s face when she handed back her engagement ring.
She had a new worry to occupy her thoughts. She had been secure in her job as Strathclyde’s main television news presenter.
She presented the news at the important slots of the day—the one o’clock news and the six o’clock news. But she felt a rival
had cropped up to threaten her position.
Hannah Fleming’s beauty had so impressed the television executives that they had hired her to present a children’s programme,
screened twice weekly at five o’clock in the afternoon.
Her beauty and her lilting highland accent captivated the viewers—and Barry Dalrymple as well.
To Elspeth’s dismay, Hannah was suddenly promoted to news presenter, taking over the early-morning and evening slots.
Elspeth was often at war with her own ambition. She often wished she could throw the whole business over and return to her
undemanding job as local reporter in Lochdubh. It wasn’t only ambition, she thought ruefully, but money. She was earning a
top salary and had become used to the comforts that had brought her. She loved her apartment overlooking the Clyde. She enjoyed
buying new clothes without looking at the price.
So that when Barry ordered her to go north to do a feature on the murders, her
she was too drunk to drive and poor Hamish had to put her up for the night and sleep in the cell. Dick had taken a staff room
at the Tommel Castle Hotel, next to the kitchen, and only the manager had seen him come and go. And so, when questioned by
Blair, Dick was able to claim that he had been at the police station on the night in question and that nothing had taken place
between Hamish and Hannah.
Hamish waited uneasily for the axe to fall. Jimmy called on him that evening. “I don’t know what happened,” he said, “but
Blair is fit to bust. Hannah Fleming says you put her up at the station because she had too much to drink and you had to sleep
in the cell. Dick sent over a memo to that effect.”
“I would ha’ thought Blair would be too busy grilling the Palfours to bother about her,” said Hamish.
“Oh, he was so carried away wi’ the idea of getting rid of you that it fair went to his head,” said Jimmy. “I looked in on
the lassie myself. She gave me this note for you.”
Hamish gingerly opened the sealed envelope. Hannah had written: “Dear Hamish, I was drunk and made a bad mistake. Please forget
all about it and don’t tell anyone. Hannah.”
Hamish passed the note to Jimmy, who read it and chortled, “You’re dumped! Just as well.”
“So what about the Palfours?” asked Hamish.
“Charles is singing like a canary. Olivia’s got a lawyer and says it was in self-defence.”
“Think a jury will go for that?”
“Could do. Andronovitch was responsible for the death of her parents. He was a Russian mobster. Charles is begging to be kept
in prison. He’s now terrified of his sister. Anyway, it’s back to our own murders.”
Chapter Five
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue live together.
—Petrarch
A month went past after the arrest of the Palfours. Hamish haunted Cnothan, questioning and questioning, hoping always to
find someone who would admit to having seen anything of importance.
He could only be glad that Hannah had left for Glasgow. He felt ashamed of his reaction to her fake appearance and certainly
did not want to see her again.
In between his investigations, he often wondered why there had been no news of Elspeth Grant’s marriage to her boss, Barry
Dalrymple.
He would have been amazed had he known that Elspeth often thought of him.
Elspeth Grant’s engagement to Barry had fizzled out. At first, at the height of their romance, it had seemed as if they were
soul mates. Then gradually, it began to appear that they had little in common. Elspeth could not help marking the relief on
Barry’s face when she handed back her engagement ring.
She had a new worry to occupy her thoughts. She had been secure in her job as Strathclyde’s main television news presenter.
She presented the news at the important slots of the day—the one o’clock news and the six o’clock news. But she felt a rival
had cropped up to threaten her position.
Hannah Fleming’s beauty had so impressed the television executives that they had hired her to present a children’s programme,
screened twice weekly at five o’clock in the afternoon.
Her beauty and her lilting highland accent captivated the viewers—and Barry Dalrymple as well.
To Elspeth’s dismay, Hannah was suddenly promoted to news presenter, taking over the early-morning and evening slots.
Elspeth was often at war with her own ambition. She often wished she could throw the whole business over and return to her
undemanding job as local reporter in Lochdubh. It wasn’t only ambition, she thought ruefully, but money. She was earning a
top salary and had become used to the comforts that had brought her. She loved her apartment overlooking the Clyde. She enjoyed
buying new clothes without looking at the price.
So that when Barry ordered her to go north to do a feature on the murders, her
Similar Books
