Read Online True Love Ways by Sally Quilford - Free Book Online

she tell him? No, that wasn't a good idea. What if he
didn't feel the same way? He was kind to her, and he seemed to like her, but
that didn't mean anything. Drew was kind to everyone. It was what she loved
most about him. His humanity, and ability to accept people for what they were,
instead of what society thought they should be.
    They went to Shrewsbury Cathedral. Its cool interior
did wonders for Meredith's increasingly feverish head. They stood close
together, but barely touching, as if to do so might break the spell between
them. At least the holy place in which they walked prevented Meredith from just
reaching up and kissing him.
     
    “Now what are you thinking about?” he asked.
     
    “Suggestibility,” she said, to cover up her true
thoughts.
     
    “Excuse me?”
     
    “The way I was able to talk Jimmy around so that he
didn't end up threatening to harm Bert in front of the police officer. I’m only
a beginner, but you have a lot of power over people that you probably don't
realise, because you're a nice person.”
     
    “I'm not quite sure where this is going. Only that I
don’t much like it.”
     
    “Aunty Peg thinks you might have inadvertently
suggested to Bert that the woman he saw talking to Turner was Edith.”
     
    “Hang on a minute, Meredith. I'm not an idiot. I
just...” Drew ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh.”
    “What is it?”
     
    “It was me who said her name, not Bert. But he
described her clearly enough, right down to her head scarf. No, no.” Drew shook
his head. “Your aunt is wrong. It was definitely Edith.” But he didn't look so
sure. “Perhaps we should go and talk to him again. Both of us. Then you can
hear for yourself. Come on, we'll go back to Midchester now. Clear this up once
and for all.”
     
    “Can we go to the library first? I'd like to look up
some old newspapers from this area. Aunty Peg said it's not worth it yet and to
keep things local, but since we're here...”
     
    They found the library and spent a while reading
through all the old newspapers. They sat at a table in the centre, with Meredith
on one side, and Drew at a forty-five degree angle to her at the end.
     
    “Shropshire seems to be a deadly place to live,”
said Drew, browsing through his stack of old newspapers.
     
    “I wouldn't say so,” said Meredith. “These papers
are spread over more than twenty years. I'm not an expert, but I suppose one
murder every couple of years is average for any county, given that the murders
don't all happen in one town.”
     
    “That's still one murder every couple of years too
many,” Drew said with feeling.
     
    “Yes, I agree.” She went back to reading through the
newspapers, but could not find anything that resembled the stories told by Mr.
Turner. She was on the last in the pile when something caught her eye. “Oh...
Drew, listen to this.”
     
    Drew looked up from his own newspaper.
     
    The headline at the top read Husband Hanged For
Murder of Wife . The newspaper was from nineteen-twenty-nine. “Arthur
Patterson was hanged in Hereford yesterday for the murder of his wife, Victoria
Patterson (formerly Trefusis )” Meredith read, “known as Queenie to her
family and friends,” Meredith read. “Patterson was convicted of the murder late
last year, after Queenie Patterson was found stabbed in her bed. Patterson
confessed to the murder immediately, and refused counsel. ‘Our married life was
based on a lie,’ said Patterson at the time. The Pattersons had a teenage
daughter, Maud, who has since moved abroad and changed her name.”
     
    “You think the daughter is the real killer?” said
Drew.
     
    “It fits with what Turner said. About a parent
hanged for the murder of another parent.”
     
    “But he said a child, Meredith.”
     
    “You said it yourself. To him a teenage girl would
be a child. Besides, it doesn't say how old she is. She could be anything from
thirteen to nineteen. But that's not the most important thing. Mrs