Corned Beef and Carnage by Judith Jackson

Author:Judith Jackson [Jackson, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

After breakfast, everyone except for Carol, who Colin said was resting, arranged themselves in groups in the great room. Colin was proving himself to be an excellent host. He brought in a pile of logs and kept busy stoking the fire and serving tea. He even offered to get blankets for anyone who felt in need of a mid-morning nap. It was a shame Carol wasn’t around to see him finally pulling his weight.

Dexter and Daisy were lounging on a love seat, leafing through a coffee table book about World War II. Felicia had changed her outfit while we were eating and was now slumped on a settee, dressed like a Sicilian widow in a black dress, black tights, and gloves that reached almost to her armpits.

After a brief discussion with his wife, Todd left, looking determined and purposeful, and Peggy immediately sat down beside Felicia. They were deep in conversation with Peggy listening attentively and stroking Felicia’s arm.

Rose was sipping a cup of tea and scanning the room, keeping a suspicious watch on everyone. Her main target though, was Peggy. “Would you look at her? Taking advantage of the widow like that? It’s unethical.”

Julie looked up from her book. “Felicia looks like she wants to talk to her.”

“Pshaw. And why are we sitting here twiddling our thumbs while Peggy gets all the good intel?”

“In my case, it’s because I’m rethinking us getting involved in this. I’ve got a good book, and we are supposed to be on holiday. And,” she said, looking over at Susan and Rodney, who were standing at opposite sides of the room, staring out of the window, “we don’t know, what, if anything, Rodney and Felicia knew about the affair. Do we really want to be the ones who stir that pot? How much longer can the power stay out? Why don’t we just lay low until the police arrive?”

That did make good sense. My chair was very comfortable, and I had a three-year-old issue of People I’d dug out of the magazine stand. Colin said Maurice was whipping up a pan of brownies, so there was that to look forward to, and it wasn’t like we’d been hired to investigate William’s murder. We could kick back and let Peggy do her thing, and we’d be able to read all about it when her book came out.

“You’re right —”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Rose, cutting me off. “You’re got the rest of your life to lounge around doing nothing. We’re going to find ourselves a murderer, and if there’s a little collateral damage, a few hurt feelings, that’s just the way it is.”

Julie sighed and returned to her book. Maybe it was because she’d been married for so long, but she was very good at tuning people out.

“And what is that?” asked Rose, sounding increasingly exasperated. She was looking at me.

“What?”

“Right beside you there. That’s an oil lamp. How come we were sitting around in the dark last night with one smelly, little candle, and

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