Death at a Country Mansion by Louise R. Innes

Author:Louise R. Innes [Innes, Louise R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The sun was a deep orange disc low in the sky when Daisy said goodbye to her last customer. The High Street basked in a soft, amber glow that radiated off the church spire like a shimmering sign from above. It had been a busy day, and with Krish having the afternoon off to go shopping for his boyfriend in central London, they’d all had to pull their weight. She and Penny had split Krish’s customers between them, many of whom were disappointed he wasn’t there as it meant they weren’t able to catch up on all the latest gossip. For many of her older clients, the hair salon was their only social outing of the day. The neighborhood care bus collected them outside their sheltered and semisheltered apartments and drove them into the village to do a spot of shopping and get their hair done before taking them back home again. They loved Krish, who made them laugh with his outrageous stories.

Daisy set about cleaning up the salon. It was her evening ritual. She would turn up Classic FM, sweep the floors, wipe the surfaces and polish the mirrors before spraying jasmine- and lilac-scented air freshener around the room. When the place was spotless, she’d go out the front, locking the door behind her, a feeling of pride in her chest. Asa was kept busy sweeping, making tea and coffee and being the general dogsbody throughout the day, so Daisy usually let her go after her last hair wash. It suited Daisy, because she valued the quiet time at the end of the day in which to unwind and compose her thoughts. It might sound strange, but she found the cleaning therapeutic. She was polishing a mirror, window cleaner in one hand, a paper towel in the other, when there was a knock on the door. Turning, she saw the broad silhouette of Paul McGuinness standing outside. His features were obscured, but the sun had turned the ends of his hair a pinkish copper, and with his strong profile and square outline, he looked like the hero in a Japanese anime cartoon.

Whipping off her rubber gloves, she rushed to let him in.

“Hi, Paul, come in. I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“You have?” There was a definite sparkle in his eyes.

“Oops, that didn’t come out right.” She flushed and turned away to hide it. “I meant, I’ve been thinking about the case all day. Did you manage to speak to Collin?”

He laughed and shrugged off his jacket, throwing it onto the arm of the sofa. “Yes, I interviewed Collin this morning, and he confirmed he was with his mistress, Bernadette. They met in Marseilles on Saturday night and spent the weekend, including Monday and Tuesday, together. He had no idea his wife had been murdered until the French authorities contacted him last night at the guesthouse.”

Daisy turned down the radio to a sensible volume. “So he’s in the clear, then?”

Paul sat on the sofa, stretching out his legs in front of him.

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