A Fatal End by Martin Faith

Author:Martin, Faith [Martin, Faith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical Mystery/Suspense, Whodunnit/Cozy Mystery
ISBN: 9780008410544
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-06-21T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

By six o’clock that evening, the city of Oxford was buzzing. The working week was over and the big night was here. Saturday, when old married couples ventured out to the cinema for their weekly treat. Saturday, when children were allowed to stay up an extra hour and watch more telly. Saturday, when the old folks had their knees-up at their local pub, having a sing-song or battling it out at the darts board.

Saturday night, when the bright and young streamed out into the city, seeking fun, adventure, music, romance and dancing.

And that Saturday night was no exception.

In their respective bedrooms, Delia and Hilda donned their new dresses and put on as much make-up as they thought they could get away with, unchallenged. Precious bottles of perfume and hairbrushes and hairspray were buried deep into handbags that were then nonchalantly slung over their shoulders. Then, hiding their finery under their coats, they sauntered past their parents, each saying they were going to the house of the other to play cards and listen to records.

Duncan Gillingham dressed in his latest trendy clothes and kissed his wife goodbye, taking pains to explain where he was going and why. He didn’t trust his father-in-law not to check up on him, and in this case, he really did have a legitimate excuse for being absent on such an important night, so why not make the most of it?

And at Clement Ryder’s house, Vincent Ryder nervously paced, waiting for his ‘date’ to arrive. Like Duncan, he too was dressed in the most fashionable clothes he had, and he’d even been to the barber’s that afternoon to get an up-to-date haircut.

His father watched him pace, lips twitching in unspoken amusement.

And in her house, Trudy descended the stairs, not surprised to see that both her parents were waiting for her in the hall.

Barbara and Frank Loveday both smiled widely as she appeared, determinedly putting on bright faces. They worried about her on a regular basis, of course, and though they were proud of her and her unusual choice of career, Trudy was well aware that both of them would have cheered and celebrated had she come home one day and said that she was resigning her job to take up something else instead. Anything else. A job in a knitting shop. Sheep farming. Anything.

To try and put their minds at rest, Trudy had got into the habit of telling them – probably more than she should – about her job and what she was doing. Normally her duties were so boring, like filing, taking witness statements or searching female shoplifters, that it made them feel much better about what she did.

But sometimes, like now, not so much.

So they knew that she was going to go to a nightclub for the first time in her life, and why she needed to. But she had been quick to add that Dr Ryder’s son, Vincent, would be going with her to ‘look after her’. She’d been so careful to

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.