Read Online Murder at the Laurels by Lesley Cookman - Free Book Online

of your moments and find it for us. I never was shown the secret drawer.’
    Fran beamed with anticipation. ‘Goodness, a secret drawer. More storybook stuff. I can’t wait!’

Chapter Seven
    I REALLY MUST GET an upstairs phone, thought Libby, as once again she struggled out of bed and tripped over Sidney to try and beat the answerphone to it.
    â€˜Charles is driving me down again this morning.’
    Libby sat down on the bottom step and tried to unglue her eyelids.
    â€˜It’s very early, Fran.’ She pushed Sidney’s nose out of her ear.
    â€˜Sorry, but we’re leaving soon. He’s got a meeting with Marion Headlam about the funeral. And we’re going to see Barbara Denver.’
    â€˜Really? Will you be able to come by here on your way home and tell me all about it?’
    â€˜Charles will want to get back.’
    â€˜Well, I know that . Could you bring a bag with you? Then he could drop you off and you could stay down until the funeral.’
    There was a pause. ‘I suppose I could,’ said Fran slowly. ‘It’s quite a good idea, isn’t it? Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?’
    â€˜Course I wouldn’t. I’ve got Bel and Ad coming at some time in the next few weeks, but not imminently. And Sidney misses you.’
    Fran laughed. ‘OK. I’m sure Charles won’t mind making the detour. He said he wanted to meet you, anyway.’
    â€˜Did he? What’s he like?’
    â€˜Very city gent-ish. But nice. Lots of grey hair.’
    â€˜Like Ben’s?’
    â€˜Not a bit like Ben’s. More mane-like.’
    Libby sighed. ‘Lovely.’
    â€˜Libby, stop it. Now, do you want me to ring you when I know roughly what time we’ll be arriving?’
    â€˜I suppose it would be as well. After all, you don’t know what exciting things I might get up to, do you?’
    After Fran had rung off, Libby hauled herself upright with the aid of the banister rail, tripped over Sidney and staggered through to the kitchen.
    As she waited for the kettle to boil, her thoughts returned to Ben. What had gone wrong? The relationship had certainly got off to a dodgy start when they were rather thrown together during rehearsals for Peter’s play, but she’d really thought they were on to a good thing eventually. But her own questioning of everyone’s motives and basic insecurity had obviously pushed Ben away when she should have been there offering support. She sighed and poured water onto a teabag, wondering if there was anything she could do to retrieve the situation.
    The smack of the cat flap signalled Sidney’s departure on the business of the day, and Libby strolled into the conservatory to look at the latest view of Nethergate propped up on the easel. Guy Wolfe, she thought. Another one who seemed charmed by Fran. As Ben had been, she was sure. Ben had denied it, true, and proved quite conclusively that he was very attracted to Libby herself, but Libby remembered her insidious jealousy and hoped she wouldn’t be dog-in-the-manger enough to resent Guy’s attention to Fran. For Guy was her friend, and there had at one time been the suggestion there could be something more between them, but at the time Libby was still recovering from the break-up of her marriage and nervous of forming any sort of relationship with the opposite sex. Peter and Harry had helped her over that hurdle and Guy had retreated to the background of her life, emerging now and then to buy some more paintings and give her self-confidence a boost.
    And what about Aunt Eleanor? Fran had had strange intuitions about the goings-on last spring, all of which had turned out to be correct, so was she right about this? Was there something “not right”? And if so, what was it? Surely not murder again.
    A shopping trip to stock up the larder was obviously called for if she was going to have a house guest, and much as she preferred to use the