Read Online Tea with Milk and Murder (Oxford Tearoom Mysteries ~ Book 2) by H.Y. Hanna - Free Book Online Page B

respective dons in their subjects at their colleges. Oh, you might have lectures in the department buildings and some subjects, like the sciences, had practical laboratory sessions, but most of your learning wasn’t done in classrooms but in private, one-to-one sessions where you were challenged to analyse, defend, and critique the ideas of your own and others, in in-depth essays and conversations with your tutor and fellow students. There was no hiding at the back of the class or learning things by rote at Oxford—and if there was one thing you graduated with, it was a finely honed skill of independent, critical thinking.
    The tutorials—especially in the arts—were usually based in your affiliated college, but it sounded like Fine Art was unusual in having them based at the department. Did that mean that Sarah and Fiona had been in tutorials together? Had there been friction between them? Competition? Jealousy?
    “I wouldn’t be surprised if that waitress was involved,” said Cassie darkly. “Didn’t Mabel say at the party that they saw her making tea for Sarah and putting poison in the cup?”
    “They didn’t actually see Fiona doing anything,” I said quickly. “It was just a theory. And we won’t know for sure yet if Sarah was poisoned until the post-mortem results come back.” I sighed. “I don’t know… The thought that Fiona might poison a fellow student seems so far-fetched…”
    “A lot less far-fetched than imagining that Jon had anything to do with it!” said Cassie hotly.
    “Yes, well… did he explain his connection with Sarah to the police?”
    Cassie nodded. “Yeah, he told them the same story he told us. He hadn’t seen Sarah since the time they had their last argument in London, when he told her that she had to back off otherwise he was going to report her for harassment. And she made a terrible scene at his gallery in London. His assistant verified that. She was there and witnessed the whole thing…”
    She trailed off as she saw my expression. “What?”
    “Nothing,” I said quickly.
    “You don’t believe him, do you?” she said accusingly.
    I gave a helpless shrug. “Cassie—you have to admit, you’ve only known Jon a few weeks…” I hesitated, then plunged on. “You don’t really know anything about his past, do you? There might have been more between him and Sarah than he’s letting on.”
    Cassie’s eyes flashed. “I don’t believe it! Are you telling me that you suspect Jon as well?”
    “I—”
    “You do! You think he might be involved in this murder!”
    “Cassie—”
    “No, don’t deny it! I know you don’t like him, Gemma—you try to hide it but I can tell. You’ve got a thing against Jon and you’re ready to believe the worst of him!”
    “Cass, no, you’ve got it all wrong!” I protested. I took a deep breath. I needed to calm her down and if that meant telling a few fibs… “I do like Jon! I think it’s wonderful that you’re so happy him. I didn’t mean that he might be involved in the girl’s murder—but I just thought… well, you know… he is a very attractive man… it would be weird if he hadn’t had any girlfriends before you. And maybe he did go out with Sarah but just didn’t want to let you know because… because he loves you so much and thinks that might hurt your feelings.”
    It was cheesy and lame but Cassie was so blind where Jon was concerned, I didn’t think she’d notice. I was right. She looked slightly mollified.
    “Well, I think he’s telling the truth about her just being a customer,” she said stubbornly.
    I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. “You’re probably right. Sorry, it was a stupid idea…”
    We returned to the main dining room but Cassie remained in an irritable, distracted mood for the rest of the day. In fact, even though she was back, she was much less of a help than she should have been, and if it hadn’t been for the Old Biddies, things would have still been a shambles. As it