(2005) Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick

Author:Amanda Quick [Quick, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780515138627
Publisher: Jove
Published: 2005-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Just like the other medium,” the constable offered ominously.

Caroline forced herself to think. “She cannot have been dead for very long.”

J. J. Jackson rocked on his heels. “Murdered at midnight.”

“Just like the other one,” the constable mumbled again.

“Midnight? But that’s impossible. I just had a note from Mrs. Toller.” Caroline checked her watch. “It was delivered less than forty minutes ago.”

Jackson raised one narrow shoulder in a shrug. “She must have written it last night and given it to her house-keeper to dispatch this morning.”

Caroline looked around. “And just where is the house-keeper?”

“She hasn’t turned up yet,” the constable said.

“How did you learn of the murder?” she demanded. “Got an anonymous message,” Jackson said. “A tip, you might say. We depend on that sort of thing.”

“What makes you so certain that Mrs. Toller was killed at midnight?” Caroline asked.

Jackson cleared his throat and looked at Adam. “As it happens, we found a gentleman’s pocket watch on the floor beside the body. Mr. Hardesty and I were just discussing it when you arrived.”

Mr. Hardesty. So Adam had given the inspector his real name. She did not know if that boded ill or not.

“A watch?” she asked carefully.

“Same as happened with the last one,” the constable said with another wise nod.

Caroline recalled Adam telling her that he had seen a broken pocket watch next to Elizabeth Delmont’s body.

“I don’t understand,” she said evenly. “What does the watch tell you about the time of the medium’s death?”

“It appears to have been smashed in the course of the struggle.” J. J. Jackson moved one hand in a dramatic fashion, a magician unveiling a new trick. “The hands are stopped at twelve o’clock precisely.”

“Do you believe that the watch belonged to the killer?” she asked, her curiosity resurfacing.

The inspector and the constable looked at her as if they found the question exceedingly strange. Another chill went through her.

Adam folded his arms and leaned one shoulder against the wall. “The pocket watch in question is engraved with my name, Mrs. Fordyce.”

“What?” She leaped to her feet, horrified. “But that’s not possible.”

This was far worse than she had believed. This was a case of murder. Adam might hang. The image that came to mind made her feel quite faint.

Struggling to conceal her panic, she gave Adam a quick, searching glance, silently asking for guidance. But his face remained grimly unreadable.

“Those are the facts, ma’am,” Jackson announced. “No mistaking the name on the watch. Spelled out clear as a bell.”

Caroline swung around to confront him. “I can assure you that Mr. Hardesty had nothing to do with the death of Irene Toller.”

Inspector Jackson arched thick brows.

“Mrs. Fordyce,” Adam said flatly, “I think it would be best if you refrained from commenting further on this affair.”

It was an order but she had no intention whatsoever of obeying it.

“Inspector Jackson,” she said in her most forceful tones. “I cannot explain how Mr. Hardesty’s pocket watch came to be at the scene of the crime, but I can assure you that Mr.

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