A Quiet Kill by Janet Brons

Author:Janet Brons
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-77151-061-5
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2014-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

“I trust,” said Inspector Liz Forsyth coldly, “that you believe me now when I tell you that until today neither I nor my organization had any knowledge of either the liaison between the High Commissioner and Natalie Guévin or Gerry Middleton’s real objectives here.”

Hay nodded. It had been clear from the interview that Middleton had been working for Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Affairs alone, in privately confronting the High Commissioner about the affair. “Look, Forsyth, I—” he began but was not allowed to finish.

“We’ll call Carruthers in now, shall we?” she asked, stone-faced. Hay nodded again. Gawd, he’d really messed this one up.

The High Commissioner arrived and shut the door behind him. His clear light blue eyes swept the room nervously, finally settling on DCI Hay. “I understand that you have been made aware of my affair with Natalie Guévin,” he opened immediately. “I admit it.”

As if you’ve any choice, thought Hay, then said, “Take a seat, High Commissioner.”

“We loved each other, very deeply,” continued Carruthers, sitting down. “I wouldn’t want you to think this was a casual affair.” He leaned forward, forearms resting on the table. “Things went . . . sour . . . between Sharon and myself some time ago. Natalie was a beautiful, gentle person, and I came to love her very much.” His eyes were beginning to glisten. “I planned to leave Sharon once this posting was over. There was only about another six months to a year left anyway.”

If you last that long, Hay said to himself.

“This note was written by you, then?” Liz asked, producing the crumpled paper. Her cutesy little fake love letter—wasn’t that what the Scotland Yard bully had called it this morning?

“Of course. Natalie was getting fed up. She was tired of sneaking around, tired of all the stress. She had started to believe I didn’t really care about her because I didn’t want to tell Sharon. But if you knew Sharon—well, you’d know it’s not quite so simple.”

Hay and Forsyth unintentionally exchanged a glance.

“Anyway, Natalie broke it off with me as a result. I guess she thought I was weak, or insincere, or both.”

“When was this?” asked Hay.

“A couple of weeks before Sharon and I were scheduled to go to Edinburgh. I was miserable. I don’t think I’d really realized how much I loved Natalie until then. So I screwed up my courage and I told Sharon. Then I wrote the note to Natalie. She agreed to meet me later that night—at a little pub in the East End—and we made up.”

“And how did Mrs. Carruthers react to the news?” asked Liz, genuinely curious.

The High Commissioner reflected a moment. “Strangely enough, Sharon had already guessed. She thought it was funny.”

“Funny?” asked Liz.

Bang goes Forsyth’s theory on the nature of women and adultery, thought Hay, although he had to acknowledge that the reactions of a Sharon Carruthers might well be atypical.

“Because it gave her a certain degree of power over me, you see,” Carruthers continued. Liz regarded him quizzically. “You know how these things work.

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