Cold Hard Murder (Philippa Barnes mysteries 3) by Trish McCormack

Author:Trish McCormack
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, new zealand, women sleuths, mystery detective, mystery and detective, national park, mystery abroad, mystery and buried secrets
Publisher: Trish McCormack

Chapter 10

So what did I have after all that? Precious little, I thought. I had found out a few things but none of them seemed related to one, let alone two, murders. I looked out the window at the teeming rain. Work on the track hadn’t been a lot of fun that day. We had plodded on through the downpour, and as we went back to the ute we were splashing through ankle-deep water. Ben had suggested a pub meal. It felt like we deserved a reward after the day we’d just had.

As I showered and dressed I thought about Leah and what she had done to escape an unhappy life. I admired her courage but I wondered what she would do now. She couldn’t stay hidden forever unless she could somehow set up a new identity. She couldn’t even get a library card in her current life.

The conversation she’d overheard between Anna and Matt sounded interesting. If they had known one another before Punakaiki and done something that left her feeling guilty and him indifferent, it could point to a motive for murder. Possibly, but it seemed unlikely, and even if it did, how could this connect to Cat? She seemingly hadn’t known Matt until he came to Punakaiki.

In between showers I ran to Cavers, meeting Lucy, Mel and Anna at the door. Sara was already there having an intense discussion with Rob. He seemed to have lost weight, and his face was drawn. Ben and Leah arrived and joined us at our favourite table by the window. There wasn’t much of a view. The rain was coming down in sheets, and stormy clouds obliterated the sea.

No one talked all that much as we ate our meal. I was starving and gave my full attention to my steak and chips, and Ben was eating hungrily too. On my other side Anna was picking at her meal and drinking a lot of wine. She was two glasses ahead of me, but apart from a slight flush in her cheeks she was showing no sign of it. I noticed Leah looking at her, and wondered what she was thinking.

Rob didn’t seem to have much interest in his food. Sara and he were no longer talking. Lucy, on her other side, tried to engage her in conversation but she was almost rude in her monosyllabic answers. Mel was also quiet, with her hair scraped back in the same painfully tight ponytail I’d seen before, and was digging into her chicken pie as if she hadn’t eaten for weeks. She looked even thinner than before. I wondered if she and Rob had talked to one another about their bereavements.

As we were finishing our meal the police team arrived, setting themselves up at the table next to ours. Stu Adams was there, as was Mick Ryan, and a couple of other familiar faces. They nodded to our group but didn’t seem to want to talk.

We went to the bar and ordered more drinks. None of us wanted to go out into the rain.

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