Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood

Author:Kerry Greenwood [Kerry Greenwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781742696041
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd
Published: 2012-01-22T13:00:00+00:00

Phryne Fisher rose from her green sheets, collected her lover and her circus gear, and faced her staff. They all looked worried.

‘I don’t know how long I’ll be away,’ she said, adjusting a turban over her black hair. ‘It might be days or it might be weeks. If anyone comes looking for me you are to say that I am in the country for a rest-cure and I have left no forwarding address. Here is a list of towns where I’ll call at the post offices for letters. Remember that I am called Fern Williams.’ She glanced at Dot apologetically. ‘Sorry, Dot dear, but I couldn’t think of another name at short notice. If you really need me write to me, but use cheap stationery and a Coles envelope. If I need anything I’ll write, or I’ll telephone, supposing I can find a phone that isn’t in the general store. If I need to be rescued, Mr Butler can bring the Hispano-Suiza and just whisk me off home. This is Mr Lee,’ she added, presenting a sleek and glowing young man. ‘Mr Alan Lee. He’ll know where to find me and his orders are mine.’

‘Miss,’ said Dot, ‘what about Detective Inspector Robinson?’

‘What about him?’

‘Are you going to tell him where you are going and all?’

‘That’s a good idea, Dot. You ring him and tell him. If he wants me, then he can follow the same routine. If he really wants me, tell him to get someone to arrest me. I can’t be seen to be on good terms with the cops.’

‘Yes, Miss. Good luck, Miss Phryne.’ Dot kissed Phryne on the cheek. ‘You will be careful, won’t you?’

‘Yes, Dot, I will. I promise.’

Mrs Butler stepped forward and offered Phryne a bottle.

‘What’s this?’

‘Goanna oil,’ said Mrs Butler. ‘If you’re going to keep falling off a horse, Miss Fisher, then you’ll need it.’

Phryne took a last look at the anxious faces and said, ‘Thank you. I’ll be off then.’

No one moved.

She went out of her own back door, taking a last look at the solid, well-known and well-loved house.

‘Right?’ asked Alan Lee, running a caressing hand down her back. ‘You want to leave all this and come to the circus, Fern?’

Phryne shivered pleasantly and kissed him very gently and lingeringly on the mouth. She would not be able to kiss Alan Lee again while she stayed with Farrell’s Circus and Wild Beast Show.

‘Right,’ she said.

Half an hour later Alan Lee parked his truck near the carousel and Phryne leapt out, clutching the brown suitcase. Her dress was once-washed and a blinding pink. Her head was bound up in a closely fitting pink turban. Her only unusual attributes were hidden. Around her waist, in a custom-made webbing belt, was her card case, some coins and twenty pounds in notes. In a compartment in the cheap suitcase was her Beretta and a box of ammunition.

The circus was breaking up. Two trucks had been loaded with planks and seats. Phryne stowed her suitcase on the truck designated by a laconic rigger.

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