Death at Dearley Manor by Betty Rowlands

Author:Betty Rowlands [Rowlands, Betty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786819888
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2019-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

The young doctor explained, as she slid a needle into a vein in Paul’s arm, that the purpose of the test was to establish what group he was in. He nodded, turning his head away to avoid the sight of his blood flowing into the glass phial. ‘It’s just the first step in the process of elimination,’ she explained chattily as she withdrew the needle and pressed a square of dressing onto the wound. ‘You’re looking a bit shaky,’ she went on, scrutinising him with a professional eye. ‘I advise you to wait for ten minutes or so before you leave. I’ll ask one of the officers to fetch you a cup of tea.’

‘No thanks, I’ll be all right,’ he assured her. The last thing he wanted was to remain in the police station for a moment longer than was necessary. ‘I have an important appointment – I mustn’t be late for it.’

‘I’m sure a few minutes won’t hurt.’ It was almost as if she was trying to delay his departure. He wondered what other nasty surprises lay in store for him that day. He rolled down his sleeve, his fingers fumbling with the button on the cuff. She was right, he was a bit shaky and it might give the wrong impression if he appeared too eager to get away. He put on his jacket and followed her outside; she had a quick word with a policewoman who nodded, showed him into a small room off the reception area and returned a few minutes later with a polystyrene cup of scalding tea. He sat there, turning it between his hands, trying to imagine what would happen next. He wasn’t under arrest, he told himself, just ‘helping with inquiries’. As soon as he’d drunk his tea, he was free to go. It tasted better than he expected and he had to admit the doctor had been right; by the time he finished it he felt a whole lot steadier. He put down the empty cup, opened the door and peered out. The desk sergeant, who was dealing patiently with an elderly woman’s vociferous complaint about a neighbour’s dog, took no notice of him as he walked past on his way to the exit. It was a relief to be out in the street again.

The lunch with Edward Barrington did a great deal to lift his spirits; the popular trainer was a genial, extrovert character with a hearty appetite for good food and drink and an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes from the world of horse-racing. More importantly, apart from the sporting pages, he seldom read a newspaper or showed interest in anything that did not directly concern his own affairs. If he had heard of the murder it was plain that it meant nothing to him. When Paul drove him home after a prolonged and lavish lunch at an exclusive country restaurant – when it came to keeping on the right side of important and wealthy clients, Turner and Clark were

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