Read Online Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) by Issy Brooke - Free Book Online Page A

across to the
opposite side of the stage, followed by his retinue of other shepherds who
gathered around him. Some of them produced recorders and one had a triangle.
    Under the aural cover of a mangled version of “While
Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night”, Cath passed Penny some boiled sweets.
     “I didn’t find a hip flask to bring. Sorry,” Penny said.
    “A large normal flask would have been fine.”
    “Got any gin?”
    “Back at my house. And we’re going to earn it…”
     
    * * * *
     
    “Yes,” Penny announced as she flopped into the wicker
furniture in Cath’s conservatory. “We have definitely earned our alcohol.”
    Cath pulled the blinds down and put all the fan heaters on
full blast, and the small space quickly warmed up, in spite of the metres of
glass for windows. In the living room next to the conservatory, her children
were merrily arguing over a video game. Cath didn’t allow them to have computers
in their rooms, although each child did have their own phone. Cath pretended to
know far less about technology than she actually did; she kept a close eye on
what the boys were up to. As far as she could tell, they had not yet broken
through the parental controls she’d set up.
    If they did , Penny thought, Cath would have to
arrange for them to get jobs in cyber-security. Ethical hackers, and the like.
    “What’s on your mind?” Cath said. She unscrewed a cheap and
cheerful bottle of red wine and poured it out. “And don’t judge me. Yes, it was
less than a fiver. No, I’m not letting it breathe. And if you’re really lucky I
might have some slightly soft crackers and elderly cheese in the kitchen.”
    “Just the wine will do. Fab, thanks.” Penny sniffed it and it
didn’t make her eyes water, so it was a good start. “What’s on my mind? What do
you think? I am a murderer, aren’t I?”
    “No, no, no. At worst, it’s negligent manslaughter.”
    “Now I feel tons better. Thanks for that.”
    Cath sighed. “I am not on the case…”
    “I know!”
    “Hey, don’t get shirty. It’s a good thing. We can gossip
about it, like normal people.”
    Penny took a large gulp of wine. It stung slightly. She
took another mouthful to help wash the burning sensation away. “What will
happen to me?” she asked mournfully.
    “The police are concentrating on what happened once Clive
was up that ladder,” Cath said. “I honestly don’t think you’re going to be
scapegoated. It’s unlikely. You might be made an example of, but I can’t see
you going to prison. I really can’t. It’s a side issue. If you were a big
business, then you’re looking at corporate manslaughter, but that isn’t the
case here.”
    “I’m still worried.”
    “Of course. I know.”
    Penny said, “What led the police to choose the suspects
that they have done? Or are they looking at more people that I don’t know
about?”
    “Who have you heard is on the list?”
    “Me, obviously. Jared Boot, Linda Osmond and Haydn, some
bloke whose name I don’t know.”
    “Haydn McGinty,” Cath said. “He pops up here from time to
time because he has a lot of property in Upper Glenfield.”
    “So I hear. Is that his job?”
    “No. It’s a sideline for him. He’s in some kind of project
management role for a regional utilities company.”
    “Would this be the same company that Clive used to work
for?”
    Cath nodded. “Yes. Clive was his line manager.”
    “Ah. They didn’t get on, did they?”
    “Now you see why the police are interested in Haydn,” Cath
said. “From what I hear, there were ongoing complaints and counter-complaints
between them throughout their work history. And it obviously didn’t stop when
Clive retired.”
    “He likes a good feud, doesn’t he?” Penny said. “That
Clive. He’s the same with his sister.”
    “He was,” Cath agreed. “And with Jared.”
    “That’s the one I don’t get,” Penny said.
    “They’ve had public rows too. Clive was a bully and you
know