A Wicket of Lies: A British Cozy Murder Mystery by Victoria Tait

Author:Victoria Tait [Tait, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kanga Press
Published: 2025-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DOTTY

Dotty carried a tray with three teacups and a plate of cakes, bakes, and biscuits. But when she returned to the table where she’d left Ned and Zach, she found Lynn had joined them.

“I’ll fetch another cup,” she said as she placed the tray on the table.

“Let me,” Zach volunteered. “I need some water.”

Lynn was sitting next to Ned and looked sympathetically at him as she said, “I’m sorry for your loss. But there are questions I need to ask, and it’s better that we do that now, rather than let them drag on. Is that OK?”

Ned nodded slowly.

Dotty added sugar to one of the cups of tea and placed it in front of Ned. “This might help,” she said softly.

Ned lifted the cup in a childlike way, sipping its contents without objection. Pleased, Dotty added a slice of lemon drizzle cake to a side plate and slid it across to him. He broke off a piece and nibbled at it.

Dotty and Lynn sipped their tea, and Zach returned with a pint of water and a large slice of chocolate cake.

A tinge of pink returned to Ned’s face. When he looked up, his eyes focused first on Zach, then Dotty, and finally on Lynn.

“When was the last time you saw Pip?” Lynn asked, her tone considerate but practical.

“There was the celebration on the pitch,” Ned replied, “but it all seemed so surreal. Why didn’t Pip tell me she’d been a cricket player? What else about her life hadn’t she told me? Even her name was different.”

“You had no idea about her former life as Philippa Lawson?”

"None. We only met a few years ago. I knew she was sporty. She’d worked as a games assistant at a school I was at in the Midlands. I couldn’t believe someone like her would choose an unathletic soul like me. I prefer to bury my head in a good book rather than play tennis, squash, or any other sport. But I do like to walk. And so did Pip. It was one of the reasons I took the job at Farmor’s and we moved to Coln Akeman. We even got Willow so we had no excuse not to walk every day, rain or shine."

For the first time, a smile tugged at the corners of Ned’s mouth.

Dotty was relieved he had some pleasant memories. They would help him through the next few difficult weeks.

“It sounds as if you had a lovely life together,” Lynn said with understanding. “But if you don’t mind, I’d like to move on to more recent events. To today.”

Ned tilted his head before responding. “I think I understand it all now. Her reluctance to join the team. She kept making excuses for why she couldn’t attend training or the two matches she played in. It wasn’t like her. She was so tough, and I questioned her about it. She always shrugged it off, but I think the only reason she came today was for me and for the team. I told her she couldn’t let everyone down.

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