A Country Gift Shop Collection: Three cosy crime novels that will keep you guessing!. Vivian Conroy

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СКАЧАТЬ huffed. “Still he did order this van. So he must have had some money nobody knew about.”

      Or had some money coming? Gwenda had known about a scam in the making. She had wanted a part in it, in any case, a part in its proceeds. Would Gwenda know what Mortimer had taken from Perkins’ barn?

      Would she also know who was implicated in it?

      It could be the very person who had killed Mortimer.

      Suddenly in a big hurry, Vicky jumped up from her chair. If she went to the store right now, she might call at Gwenda’s door right beside it, to offer her condolences about Mortimer’s death and ask about the scam he was supposed to undertake.

      Maybe she could convince Gwenda it was in her own interest to tell the truth now and not wait until the police would make her. If somebody had killed Mortimer for what he knew, and suspected Gwenda knew something too, the woman could be in mortal danger.

      “Don’t think you can get to Gwenda,” Claire called after her in a loud voice.

      Vicky halted at the back door, caught red-handed. Why was her mother so good at reading minds? “How come?”

      “Nobody saw Gwenda today.” Claire waved her knife covered with butter. “Or yesterday afternoon after five for that matter. She drove out of town and it’s like she’s vanished from the face of the earth.” Claire waited a moment to let the revelation sink in. “Mrs. Jones called at her apartment several times and she doesn’t answer the door. Or the phone. It just goes to prove she took off with the money after she killed Mortimer.”

      “In Gwenda’s position I wouldn’t open the door for Mrs. Jones either. Having to talk to all those curious people…” Vicky made a face. “I imagine Gwenda is hiding, or that she left town for a day or two, just to escape the consternation surrounding her ex’s murder. It doesn’t prove she is actually involved in his death.”

      It was a pity Gwenda was gone though as she could be holding all the interesting information.

      Vicky pushed the back door open. “I’m off to the store, Mom. I’ll take the dogs along so they can have their exercise. Come on, Mr. Pug, Coco.”

      The dogs scampered to get to her first and dive outside into the fresh morning air and the bright sunshine.

      Marge immediately embraced the possibility that Mortimer Gill had illegally taken items from Perkins’ barn. “It’s so like him!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t exactly think he’d go blackmailing people or anything, but…”

      She looked for the right term. “My husband once called him an opportunist. Someone who sees a sudden chance and takes it, without thinking about whether it’s the right thing to do. Not seeing risks either or the possibility of other people getting hurt. Maybe Mortimer was only curious about the files people were talking about. But when that barn burned down, Mortimer must have believed he had a way to get some money. He did mind a lot that people looked down on him because he worked with his hands. And Gwenda humiliated him during their marriage and at the divorce saying he could never give her anything pretty or valuable. Must have stung. Sad really.”

      “I guess Mortimer had his reasons for acting like he did.” Vicky nodded in agreement. “Still taking those files was a big thing, especially thinking he could use them somehow. Against somebody, you’d assume.”

      “Yes, I wonder what he wanted with those phone numbers,” Marge mused, giving Mr. Pug a back rub. The dog grunted and wriggled under her hands to get more.

      Coco was more timid than usual in these strange surroundings and stayed close to Vicky.

      “Yeah…” Vicky sighed. “Deke Rowland’s, Diane’s and Michael’s, in that order. Now we know he never called Michael before he died. Michael would have told me if he had. But how about Deke and Diane? If they talked to Mortimer at a certain time, we can be sure he was still alive then.”

      She exhaled in frustration. “Too bad I missed Diane this morning. Then I could have asked her if Mortimer had called her and if so, at what time. It might exonerate Michael. If Mortimer died at a time when Michael was already together with me…”

      Marge stared ahead as if she was in some faraway place. “Mortimer loved his birds. Maybe the evidence is hidden somewhere in those sheds at his place or even in the birdcages? That could get tricky though. I’m not sure you should try and face a great horned owl to get to evidence. Especially when you are not sure it is even there.”

      Vicky wanted to retort that for Michael’s release they had to try anything, but Marge already continued, batting her lashes innocently, “Of course my husband happens to know his way around Mortimer’s sheds and his birds. Kev grew up with predator birds. When we came to live here, he hooked up with Mortimer and used to help out when Mortimer was out of town for a day or two. The boys also joined them every now and then. They’re in love with the owls, especially the snowy owl Mortimer bought a few weeks ago. If attacked, Kev knows how to handle himself. Prevent injury to himself and the birds. He could uh…go there, pretending to take care of the birds now that Mortimer can’t anymore, and then have a good look around for anything suspicious?”

      “That’s brilliant,” Vicky said.

      “Well, you do have to make sure that it would be all right with the police. That he wouldn’t be trespassing or something. Kev will go a long way for me, but I don’t think he’d take the chances of being arrested and charged with involvement in a murder case.”

      Vicky made a reassuring gesture. “Of course. If you can take care of the dogs for me, I will pop by the sheriff’s station during lunch break to tell Cash the birds need taking care of and it can’t be done by just anybody. Then I will innocently suggest your husband and hopefully Cash will see it as an easy solution and agree right away. Then Kevin can drive out after work tonight and search for us.”

      She would also ask Cash if she could see Michael in his cell and talk to him for a few minutes. But she didn’t want to mention that now. Else Marge might notice some emotion in her that she’d rather hide.

      “If Mortimer didn’t have a phone at his home…” Marge looked pensive. Her hands rested on Mr. Pug, but she forgot to rub in her concentration on a theory. “He must have made the calls he wanted to make on his cell phone. If the police took it off his body, then they can check in the outgoing calls memory, to see whom he called, at what time and for how long. That is even easier than having to go via the phone company, as they did in the old days. You could ask Cash about it right away. He has to accept evidence that can exonerate Michael.”

      “The trouble is, Michael and I saw no cell phone lying around. Michael even checked the body for it, but it wasn’t there.”

      Marge looked surprised. “Where can it have disappeared to?”

      “Well, the place was one big mess, so maybe Mortimer just put it in an odd place? I assume the police will go over everything and might locate it. I’ll ask Cash about it.”

      There was a tap on her store door windowpane, and Vicky jerked round.

      A tall older woman stood there with a fashionable hat on and an umbrella in her left hand. She tapped the glass again, lightly. Mr. Pug ran for the door and scratched at it, barking.

      Vicky told him to go back to Marge. Mr. Pug looked doubtful a moment, but as Marge invited СКАЧАТЬ