A Death at Dinner by AG Barnett

Author:AG Barnett [Barnett, A. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oddmoor Press

Chapter

Fourteen

“You shouldn’t wind people up like that, Mary,” Pea said as he and Dot caught up with her brisk walk along the High Street. “That man could be the murderer for all you know!”

“What? Of course, he isn’t!”

“How do you know?! Think about it. He’s desperate for this sale to go through, right? And Spencer had said only over his dead body?”

“Yes,” Dot interrupted, “but there’s a bit of a flaw in that theory, isn’t there? Spencer wasn’t the one who died.”

“Well, no,” Pea admitted, “but maybe he was the target.”

Mary stopped walking and turned to him. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve been thinking that someone meant to kill Thomas, but what if they were trying to kill someone else at dinner?”

“You mean they could have been after Spencer?”

“Or anyone!” he answered, throwing his hands up in the air. “That’s if it was poison at all, of course…”

“It was,” Mary snapped back. “But you make a good point. We should try and find out what was going on with all of them. Maybe Spencer was in the way of the hotel sale, but there could be other things going on.”

“What are you thinking?” Dot asked. She had known Mary long enough to know when an idea was brewing.

“Before we were interrupted in the café, Pea said something that got me thinking.”

“Oh yes!” Pea said with a broad grin. “You said I was a genius if I recall?”

Mary shook her head. “No… that doesn’t sound like something I’d say. Anyway, you were wondering why on earth someone would try and murder someone with all those people there as witnesses, but maybe that was the whole point? Maybe they wanted all those people there so that there were lots of suspects?”

“But why would any of the others be suspects? What reason did any of them have for killing Thomas?” Dot said.

“Well, we know that he was planning on leaving the restaurant—maybe that was something to do with it? And then there’s always the crime of passion,” she smirked.

“Surprise, surprise,” Dot said, rolling her eyes. “Mary thinks sex has got something to do with it.”

“Oh, come on,” Pea grumbled, his face wrinkled in disgust, “that’s my sister.”

“I’m not talking about sex,” Mary snapped, “I’m talking about unrequited love.” She smiled as she watched their faces react with sudden interest. “I noticed at breakfast that James Donovan seems to have a thing for Daisy, but when I asked her about it she seemed angry.”

“Well, if I was James, it wouldn't be Daisy I was after. It would be Ruth.”

“I beg your pardon?” Dot snapped.

“Oh, well it's not big news,” Pea said with a shrug, “I’d imagine half the men in town have a thing for that girl.”

Mary noticed Dot shoot him an angry sideways glance.

“Bloody hell, Pea,” Mary said, mostly because Dot’s reaction seemed to warrant it. “She’s half your age! Anyway, that was pretty much my point. Thomas was a good-looking young man, he and Ruth worked together, maybe there was something there?”

“But what has that got to do with James and Daisy?” Dot asked.

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