A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry

Author:Anne Perry [Perry, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

There was no time to waste. Mariah went to the bookshop in the high street straightaway, before she could change her mind, or think of the reasons why it would be embarrassing, and not at all the way a lady would behave. She pushed all that from her mind and concentrated on keeping her balance on the icy pavement, while at the same time not attracting the attention of other people she knew, even if only slightly, should they be walking nearby.

Someone stopped to speak to her, and she looked straight ahead, pretending she had not seen them. She was old enough to get away with that, which she considered unfortunate! Were it any other time, she would have denied even the possibility of being deaf or shortsighted.

She reached the bookshop and realized there might be other customers. Was this really so important that it gave her the right to interrupt? Yes, it was. And it was also best kept secret, or at least extremely discreet. This was a shop, a place of commerce, not a private home. It would be ridiculous to knock! She opened the door and walked in. The shop’s bell rang quite softly, but it sounded sharp and loud to her.

There was nobody there. But there had to be: the door was unlocked.

“Mr. Mallard!” she called out loudly. It sounded demanding, not at all pleasant to her ears, but it was impossible to take back. But wasn’t that true of so many things she had said through the years? Bitter things, cruel and unkind, complaining, and self-centered.

Suddenly, Oliver Mallard was there before her, as if materializing out of the air. She supposed he had been behind one of the bookshelves.

“Good morning, Mariah,” he greeted politely, and then he looked at her curiously. “Is something wrong? You look distressed.”

She was thrown off her purpose for being there. When was the last time a man had called her by her first name? Should she correct him? Or perhaps simply accept that this indicated he considered her a friend. She pushed aside the subject entirely and thought about the cottage and the blood. “I’m sorry to intrude, and to shout,” she added, feeling flustered. “But I—we—have made a discovery, and would like your advice.” She closed her eyes. This was someone whose good opinion mattered to her, and she was barging in as if she had some extraordinary right to behave like this.

“I will close the shop so we are not disturbed,” Oliver said, sensing the seriousness of the matter. “Very few people call here without an appointment.”

He walked over to the door, turned round the “Open” sign so that it read “Closed,” and then returned. He gestured to the seat on the other side of the table.

After they were both seated, he spoke first, with a sense of urgency. “What has happened?”

His tone struck her as practical and businesslike. She began matter-of-factly, and without having to reach for words. “Gwendolyn and I went to look at the cottage where Barton Alsop told us Sadie had gone, near the end of Briar Lane.

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.