CONSTABLE BEATS THE BOUNDS a perfect feel-good read from one of Britain’s best-loved authors (Constable Nick Mystery Book 34) by NICHOLAS RHEA

CONSTABLE BEATS THE BOUNDS a perfect feel-good read from one of Britain’s best-loved authors (Constable Nick Mystery Book 34) by NICHOLAS RHEA

Author:NICHOLAS RHEA [RHEA, NICHOLAS]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery suspense
Published: 2022-02-08T00:00:00+00:00


8. Duty Bound to Find the Truth

Debbie Brookes was thirteen years old and the eldest of a family of four — two more girls and a boy who was the youngest. She lived with her parents and siblings in a council house in Aidensfield. Her father worked for the Highways Department of the County Council. Her mother was a part-time barmaid and waitress in the local pub. All the children were well mannered, well turned out and well behaved.

Debbie was a tall and very elegant girl with long, reddish hair often tied back in a pony-tail with a brightly coloured ribbon.

She had freckles too and a ready smile which often gave her the appearance of being cheeky and confident. She was certainly confident but no one could call her cheeky because she was a polite youngster who could mingle easily with adults and children of all ages. In all sorts of ways, she was an ideal daughter and a friend of many in the village.

One of her activities in Aidensfield was running errands for the elderly and infirm. In some cases, her ‘customers’ insisted on paying Debbie a few shillings for her trouble, but she did not canvas money from anyone; she was quite happy to run errands for no reward because she liked helping other people. She had a list of regulars for whom she would do shopping, collect newspapers, clean windows, tidy up indoors, shake rugs, sweep paths, collect fallen leaves, or even clean cars.

Because some of these people paid her a few shillings she always had pocket money, most of which she saved in a small money box on her bedroom mantelpiece.

Then an elderly couple, Fred and Grace Gilpin, moved into one of the bungalows opposite the church. Both were retired, the husband having worked for Leeds City Council while his wife had worked in a city centre ladies’ clothing store. They were a decent couple who wished to retire to a village lifestyle in Aidensfield and they seemed to settle in very quickly. Both were keen Anglicans who patronized the village church and very soon after their arrival they began to play an active part in other village affairs. They helped by being on the committee of the village hall, running an afternoon tea-and-talk session for the over-sixties, doing charity work and helping with things like the annual garden fête and flower show. Unlike some incomers to other villages, they did not try to change things in Aidensfield, being content to serve the existing community in all sorts of simple and rather gentle ways. Frederick was a tall, smart, grey-haired gentleman with a splendid moustache who often wore a dark suit — a reminder of his days working for Leeds Council. Grace was equally smart in her tweed skirts, blouses and cardigans — never did anyone catch sight of her in slacks or jeans.

Then Grace fell off a step-ladder in the garden while trying to reach a climbing rose which needed pruning and she broke an ankle.



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