Read Online Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) by Issy Brooke - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Issy Brooke
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Jared, so you know how easily cowed he can be. He’s pretty vulnerable.
He’s no fighter. He never wanted to press charges though. Basically, when Clive
retired, he felt useless. He needed things to do. So he tried to take over the
town website and Reg Harris immediately slapped him down. You can’t make old
Reg do anything he doesn’t want to do. That man is made from old Spitfires. So
then, Clive went to Jared to pressure him, tell him what was wrong, what needed
changing, all the usual Clive stuff.”
“Oh. Jared never told me any of that.” But then, he
wouldn’t , Penny thought. He wanted to impress me so he’s not going to
confess anything that makes him look weak.
“It got messy and came to police attention; that’s why
Jared is on the list. Also, he was out that night.”
“He was at the meeting,” Penny said, nodding.
“More than that. This is between me and you, but you guys
are on the list because you are all recognisable on cctv around the town. You
were all out, alone, that night, at the time of the murder. Any of you could
have pushed him off that ladder.”
“I was walking my dog!”
“I know. But you stuck to lonely places, and there are gaps
in what we can track. Gaps we can’t account for. It’s the same with Jared; he
was out running. We can see that. He was out for a long time. And Linda. She
didn’t go straight home. We see her car go past the market area, and then we
lose track of it, but she didn’t go home, so where was she? Finally, Haydn. He
is seen walking towards his car, somewhat erratically. He’s stumbling and he’s
dragging his feet. He gets in his car, stalls it, drives off … but he doesn’t
get home to Lincoln that night.”
“Maybe he stopped at the house he’s doing up.”
“No one saw him enter there. His car doesn’t appear on the
security camera that’s set up outside the shop at the bottom of the street. He
also says he didn’t go to that house anyway; he claims he drove a little way,
realised he was drunk, parked up, and slept in his car.”
“In this weather?” Penny said. “He would have frozen to
death!”
Cath nodded. “So you all have a motive and you were all out
there that night.”
“Oh. Oh, dear.”
They lapsed into silence for a moment until Penny blurted
out the thing that had been bothering her almost as much as the idea she might
be responsible.
“Cath, why do the police think it’s anything other than an
accident?”
“They did some experiments, the techie boffins. Because of
the frost, there were scuffs on parts of the pavement and walls, and the police
were able to isolate the area pretty quickly and preserve the evidence. They
know that someone else was there, and there are marks on the base of the
ladder. Someone was wearing gloves. Clive wasn’t.”
“That’s why they took my gloves!”
“Yes. And the way that Clive was hanging in the lights tells
the police something about how he fell, and how the ladder hit the ground. They
did some clever and frankly disturbing computer simulations, which was at least
better than the other option.”
“What was that?”
“Sending someone up a ladder to test it all out. Like we
used to.”
“Right. Ouch.”
“So they know he was pushed,” Cath said. “What we need to
know, though, is did the person who pushed the ladder intend to kill him?”
“Is that important?” Penny asked.
“Oh, definitely.” Cath looked very serious. “Do we have an
opportunist on our hands, or was this a targeted attack? If it’s targeted, it
should be easier to solve.”
“What if it part of something larger, though?” Penny said,
and shivered.
What if this was the start of something else…
Chapter Nine
Penny expected to wake up with a sore head on Saturday
morning, and she was not disappointed. Kali had absolutely no sympathy
whatsoever. It was a grey day, but dry and windless, and the dog was keen to
get out and have a good run. Penny fortified herself with a
He’s no fighter. He never wanted to press charges though. Basically, when Clive
retired, he felt useless. He needed things to do. So he tried to take over the
town website and Reg Harris immediately slapped him down. You can’t make old
Reg do anything he doesn’t want to do. That man is made from old Spitfires. So
then, Clive went to Jared to pressure him, tell him what was wrong, what needed
changing, all the usual Clive stuff.”
“Oh. Jared never told me any of that.” But then, he
wouldn’t , Penny thought. He wanted to impress me so he’s not going to
confess anything that makes him look weak.
“It got messy and came to police attention; that’s why
Jared is on the list. Also, he was out that night.”
“He was at the meeting,” Penny said, nodding.
“More than that. This is between me and you, but you guys
are on the list because you are all recognisable on cctv around the town. You
were all out, alone, that night, at the time of the murder. Any of you could
have pushed him off that ladder.”
“I was walking my dog!”
“I know. But you stuck to lonely places, and there are gaps
in what we can track. Gaps we can’t account for. It’s the same with Jared; he
was out running. We can see that. He was out for a long time. And Linda. She
didn’t go straight home. We see her car go past the market area, and then we
lose track of it, but she didn’t go home, so where was she? Finally, Haydn. He
is seen walking towards his car, somewhat erratically. He’s stumbling and he’s
dragging his feet. He gets in his car, stalls it, drives off … but he doesn’t
get home to Lincoln that night.”
“Maybe he stopped at the house he’s doing up.”
“No one saw him enter there. His car doesn’t appear on the
security camera that’s set up outside the shop at the bottom of the street. He
also says he didn’t go to that house anyway; he claims he drove a little way,
realised he was drunk, parked up, and slept in his car.”
“In this weather?” Penny said. “He would have frozen to
death!”
Cath nodded. “So you all have a motive and you were all out
there that night.”
“Oh. Oh, dear.”
They lapsed into silence for a moment until Penny blurted
out the thing that had been bothering her almost as much as the idea she might
be responsible.
“Cath, why do the police think it’s anything other than an
accident?”
“They did some experiments, the techie boffins. Because of
the frost, there were scuffs on parts of the pavement and walls, and the police
were able to isolate the area pretty quickly and preserve the evidence. They
know that someone else was there, and there are marks on the base of the
ladder. Someone was wearing gloves. Clive wasn’t.”
“That’s why they took my gloves!”
“Yes. And the way that Clive was hanging in the lights tells
the police something about how he fell, and how the ladder hit the ground. They
did some clever and frankly disturbing computer simulations, which was at least
better than the other option.”
“What was that?”
“Sending someone up a ladder to test it all out. Like we
used to.”
“Right. Ouch.”
“So they know he was pushed,” Cath said. “What we need to
know, though, is did the person who pushed the ladder intend to kill him?”
“Is that important?” Penny asked.
“Oh, definitely.” Cath looked very serious. “Do we have an
opportunist on our hands, or was this a targeted attack? If it’s targeted, it
should be easier to solve.”
“What if it part of something larger, though?” Penny said,
and shivered.
What if this was the start of something else…
Chapter Nine
Penny expected to wake up with a sore head on Saturday
morning, and she was not disappointed. Kali had absolutely no sympathy
whatsoever. It was a grey day, but dry and windless, and the dog was keen to
get out and have a good run. Penny fortified herself with a
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