01 Murder by the Minster by Helen Cox

Author:Helen Cox
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery & Detective, General, Cozy, Fiction
ISBN: 9781529402223
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2019-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

Twenty

‘It all changed so quickly, between me and Adam.’ Zoe seemed to slip into a sort of trance as she spoke. ‘For a long time everything was perfect to the point that on our first Valentine’s Day together, he brought up the topic of marriage. Told me he couldn’t imagine a life without me. Wanted to know if I felt the same . . .’

‘Did you?’ asked Kitt.

‘Yes. It had been a whirlwind romance. The kind of love you read about in books and plays. So, of course, I was swept along with the idea that it would last for the rest of my life.’

Kitt had felt that once. So long ago now, but she remembered the urgency of it and how delicious it was to surrender to the idea you’d found what everyone else was looking for.

‘What happened next?’

‘I got a bit ahead of myself. I told all my friends what he’d said. They bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate the engagement. Between us girls, we almost had the wedding planned out.’

‘You must have been so happy,’ said Kitt.

‘I was.’ Zoe’s smile was tight and bitter. ‘But then two days later Adam turned up on my doorstep. Said he’d had a change of heart and that instead of thinking about an engagement we should break up instead.’

Kitt took a deep breath. ‘He got scared?’

‘He wouldn’t say, but probably.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘So am I.’

Kitt stared at the actress. What exactly was she sorry for? The end of the relationship? The shattered dreams? Or something else? Something that had spurred her to start packing a getaway bag the moment Kitt described the murder scene.

‘Zoe.’ Kitt made her voice as gentle as she could. What was coming next couldn’t sound in any way judgemental if she wanted to keep Zoe onside. ‘How upset were you over this?’

‘I was a wreck,’ she said.

‘Were you angry?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you want revenge?’

Zoe hesitated before giving her answer. ‘Yes.’

A cold feeling crept over the librarian, as though a winter gust was blowing somewhere inside, under a doorway that didn’t quite fit in its frame. ‘Zoe, did you kill Adam?’

Zoe’s eyes, which had glazed over, seemed to focus again. She frowned.

‘What? No!’

‘OK, OK,’ said Kitt, raising her hands.

‘I was here last night,’ said Zoe.

‘All night?’ said Kitt, and then, when she saw Zoe’s eyes narrow, added, ‘I’m just asking what the police will ask. According to the news, Adam’s body wasn’t found until half past three, but the murder is believed to have happened around midnight. Do you have an alibi for that time?’

Zoe rose from her chair and squared up to Kitt. ‘Yes, I do. I was with the cast, having after-show drinks at the bar. The bartender saw us all, and the cast members can vouch for me.’

‘I believe you,’ said Kitt, ‘I do. It’s just you said you wanted revenge.’

‘I did,’ Zoe said. ‘But I didn’t kill Adam, I would never have . . .’ She trailed off. ‘I wouldn’t hurt him. Even after what he did to me.

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