Read Online Murder at Midnight by C. S. Challinor - Free Book Online Page A

calculated there was enough to see them through the night. The bedrooms didn’t have natural wood-burning fireplaces. Perhaps Ken Fraser was tucked up in a bed upstairs? He’d had a lot to drink, so anything was possible. That would certainly be better than him lying outside drunk or hurt somewhere. Rex wished he had enough light to properly explore the lodge inside and out.
    “Hello, hello?” he said into the phone, hearing a click, but, no, he was still on hold.
    Fortunately, he had a refurbished vintage AGA that ran on gas, and they would be able to heat up the soup Helen had prepared. The stove gave out heat as well, so at least the kitchen would be a bearable temperature. And he had plenty of blankets. The guests could camp out on the living room sofas and armchairs until the alcohol wore off and they felt able to drive home. Coffee. How could they make coffee? He’d think of something even if it was only the instant kind.
    “Yes? Hullo!” Finally. He explained his dilemma to a sympathe tic female voice of the Highlands and, at the end of the call, after a quick check of the downstairs rooms, returned to the living room and inquired whether Ken had turned up yet. He had not, and no one appeared unduly concerned.
    “No luck with the electricity,” he informed the guests. “But I reported it.” He hesitated a moment. “I’m going to look ootside for Ken,” he said.
    “He won’t be out there,” Alistair remonstrated. “You’ll freeze to death, dear man.”
    “Well, he must be somewhere,” Vanessa said. “He’d not have disappeared into thin air, would he?”
    “He might have gone to fetch something from his car and slipped on ice. Anything might have happened.”
    Rex knew this to his cost, something dreadful having happened at the lodge in more clement weather.
    “I’ll go with you,” Alistair volunteered with a deep sigh. “John?”
    The medic cursed under his breath. “Fine, but let’s check the other rooms first. He may have wanted to find a quiet place to curl up in and nurse a hangover.”
    “Aye, I thought of that. I looked downstairs.”
    “If he’s not upstairs, John and I will certainly help you search for that pompous ass,” Alistair repeated his offer.
    “Me too,” Drew said, rising from the loveseat to Julie’s obvious consternation. She clamped shut her lips and folded her arms above the blanket that had covered both their laps.
    “Can I do anything?” Helen asked with concern.
    “If you could heat up that beef and barley soup and maybe some bread rolls, that would be grand.”
    Flora offered to help and rose from the sofa, pulling her blue mohair shawl tighter around her shoulders.
    “Good,” Jason said. “I was beginning to get peckish again.”
    “Leave some for us,” John pleaded, “while we go brave the elements.”
    “I should go with you.” Jason spoke with detectable reluctance.
    “Just sit tight, mate, and take care of the ladies.”
    “I can do that.” The student put a friendly arm around Zoe, a stupid grin plastered over his face.
    The young actress giggled and shrugged him away. “Get off me, you big lump!”
    Jason moved over to where Vanessa Weaver was seated and did the same with her. She laughed. “Don’t let my husband catch you. He was lethal in his youth, you know. His plane went down in enemy territory and he had to fight his way out, killing half a dozen Germans.” However, she seemed content enough to have the young man’s arm around her, clearly enjoying the attention. Rex thought Jason probably wouldn’t risk a similar manoeuver with Señora Delacruz. He might get a slap in the face.
    While Helen, Julie, and Flora busied themselves in the kitchen, the men convened in the hall, discussing how best to organize the search, the objective being to cover as much ground as possible in the least amount of time. They started putting on their coats and anoraks, all but Rex who took a candle and climbed upstairs to look there first. The