A Creative Crime (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 12) by Peartree Cecilia

Author:Peartree, Cecilia [Peartree, Cecilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20 The Pub Revisited

Charlie hadn’t expected to see Amaryllis again quite so soon. She had claimed to have things to do and people to see, but she returned bursting with news that had almost certainly been acquired illicitly.

‘You’d better be careful,’ he warned her as she gloated about it. ‘Mrs Ramsay won’t be pleased if she sees information about the victim posted on Facebook before she’s even broken the news to the next of kin.’

‘That kind of thing must happen all the time these days,’ said Amaryllis dismissively.

Charlie shook his head in disapproval. ‘Seems to me somebody should put a stop to it. It could seriously interfere with our – I mean the police – enquiries.’

‘Do you ever wish you were still in the police?’ said Amaryllis thoughtfully.

‘Perish the thought!’ said Charlie. He glanced sideways at her. ‘Do you wish you were still creating mayhem all round the world on behalf of the security service?’

‘No way, José,’ said Amaryllis, shaking her head, maybe to emphasise the point or maybe to deny it.

‘Ever thought of getting a proper job?’

‘Have you?’

‘Get lost, you evil woman! Go and wind up Jemima and Dave. I’m worried about them – they’ll ruin their eyesight with all this writing. Never mind losing their minds.’

Jemima and Dave had been sitting at the same table since they had come into the pub first thing in the morning. He didn’t think they had moved very much in all that time, except that Dave had turned his head occasionally to ask for another drink. Charlie thought maybe he should encourage them to go for a walk every so often. At this rate they would seize up at the table and he would never get rid of them.

He went over to their table a few minutes later on the pretext of collecting glasses. Amaryllis and Jemima already had their heads together. He was afraid they were concocting a message for Pitkirtly Conversations about the murder. Mrs Ramsay wouldn’t like that at all.

‘I don’t suppose you’d like to take the dog for a quick outing?’ he said to Dave. ‘Just along the back of the beach there. He doesn’t go very far, not with his legs. Ten or fifteen minutes should do it. I sometimes think he might have trouble with his joints if he doesn’t move a bit more during the day.’

Dave didn’t reply.

‘Jemima? What about you?’ said Charlie.

‘What about me?’ said Jemima, breaking off the conversation with Amaryllis. ‘Did you say something, Charlie? Did you hear that, Dave?’

‘What?’ said Dave, and pulled out one of the in-ear headphones Charlie hadn’t noticed before. ‘What was that? Is it closing time?’

Charlie wished he hadn’t bothered. He gave up on the idea of encouraging them to do anything. He would show a polite interest in their writing instead.

‘How’s it going?’ he asked.

A wary expression crept over Jemima’s face. ‘Quite well, thank you,’ she said.

‘How are you getting on, Dave?’ he enquired.

‘Oh, not so bad,’ said Dave, turning his notebook in towards his chest, obviously to try and shield the contents from prying eyes.

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