DEATH OF A WILD SWIMMER a BRAND NEW absolutely gripping British mystery full of twists (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Mysteries Book 5) by PETER BOLAND

Author:PETER BOLAND [BOLAND, PETER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books cozy crime thriller, mystery and suspense
Published: 2025-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

On the way to the therapist’s house, a broken water main had closed off Fiona’s preferred route, sending her on a merry diversion around Southbourne’s backstreets. The area was unfamiliar to her, and the sudden increase in traffic on otherwise quiet, suburban roads caused plenty of tailbacks. Her engine idled at yet another junction as she drummed her hands on the wheel, waiting for the queue of cars to edge forward. She was impatient to meet with Ted and extract whatever information he possessed before he had a change of heart. Her mind began to wander, conjuring up the possibilities of what it could be. Maybe he would reveal the person in the club that Colin didn’t get along with, although that would be no great revelation or surprise. She’d bet her life savings that it was Will.

Speak of the devil. Out of the corner of her eye, Fiona spotted the athletic figure of Will, fully clothed for once, exiting a block of flats, diagonally across from where she sat. Strange — she didn’t imagine him living in a flat with his wife. A second later, she amended her assumption as Hayley appeared behind him in the communal doorway and called after him. Will turned towards her. The pair had a brief word, then Will hugged Hayley and made a swift exit around the corner.

Fiona didn’t hear their exchange but decided to seize the moment. Flicking the indicator down she pulled the car over to the side of the road and leaped out.

Hayley didn’t notice Fiona approaching. She’d become momentarily distracted, stooping down in the open doorway to pick up the post from the mat. Straightening up to sift through it, she caught sight of Fiona. Her face became a mask of shock.

“Hello again,” Fiona uttered with as much non-judgemental friendliness as she could muster.

Given their previous encounter, and Daisy’s theory about her underwater stealth mission, Fiona expected a stream of expletives to pour forth from Hayley’s mouth. But all she offered up was a brittle, “Hello.”

Fiona smiled. “Sorry for the unexpected visitation. But I was just passing and saw you. I thought I’d come and say hi.”

Hayley clutched the mail against her chest defensively.

They each stared at the other for a beat. An uncomfortable standoff.

Fiona wondered whether she should test out Daisy’s theory and accuse Hayley of attempting to pull her under the water this morning, albeit grabbing the wrong person.

However, in the cold light of day, with Hayley standing in front of her, the whole idea seemed a little preposterous. Plus, it didn’t help that Hayley’s golden locks appeared to be perfectly coiffured and conditioned, as they had appeared earlier at the beach before Fiona had lost sight of her. Certainly not the look of someone who’d been submerged in freezing cold salt water, unless she’d rushed home and spent all morning washing, conditioning and drying her hair to salon standards. Fiona resorted to Occam’s razor on the matter. The simplest explanation had to be that Sophie had engineered the whole drowning-damsel stunt to secure brunch with Will.

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