A Corpse in a Locked Room (An Izzy Palmer Mystery Book 6) by Benedict Brown

Author:Benedict Brown [Brown, Benedict]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Heathdene Books
Published: 2021-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

After the remaining courses of that frosty but delicious dinner had been consumed, it was the General I hoped to speak to. I’d let him off the hook in front of his family, and I wasn’t entirely sure why. He had a special way about him that made even the least reverential listeners fall into line. I suppose it was his time in the army that had taught him such a skill, but it would certainly come in handy if he decided to try his hand at murder.

Sadly, Noémi claimed me before I could get to her grandfather. “Izzy, I need to speak to you.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but sprinted from the room, expecting me to follow.

I dare you not to.

I lasted about three seconds before I gave in.

You’re such a sheep.

Noémi had run off to the empty ballroom. She hadn’t turned the lights on, but stood waiting for me in a pool of moonlight. She’d got changed before dinner and wore a loose-fitting, red cotton dress. There was something plain and old-fashioned about it. She could have passed for a virtuous puritan, but would have made a good Hester Prynne.

“I want you to know that I loved my mother.” This felt like a negotiation already, so I decided to let her talk. “I know I act tough, but I’m not like most people. I’m not afraid to speak my mind or shock those around me – it doesn’t make me a killer though.”

As she hadn’t asked a question, I figured I might as well. “Would you say that I’ve singled you out?”

She didn’t answer, but peered around the gigantic space as though she were a visitor on a guided tour. “It was pretty weird growing up here. I barely remember my father, and he wasn’t exactly a normal chap.” She paused tellingly. “He was a spy, I bet you didn’t know that.” She laughed her self-important laugh and I couldn’t resist.

“I did actually. Dean and I took a visit to your family museum and we joined the dots.”

“Oh, how disappointing.” That wiped the smile from her face. “Well, anyway, Daddy worked for the government, doing something even I don’t know, in foreign countries where he wasn’t officially supposed to be. He was wounded on a mission to some tinpot dictatorship and, by the time his plane landed in Britain, he was already dead. Mummy didn’t tell us any of that for years, of course, and I can barely remember him being here, but something of his duplicity seeped into our family.”

I was surprised how chatty she was and had to assume that the show she was putting on was for her own benefit as much as mine.

She swayed a little as she stood there. “Mother pretended that we were perfect little children, and I did everything I could to prove her wrong. That’s why you were our victim, I’m afraid. It had nothing to do with you or how much money you didn’t have. We just needed to find a new way to shock dear Mummy.

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