False Diamond--An Abbot Agency Mystery by Veronica Heley

Author:Veronica Heley [Veronica Heley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2013-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

Sunday morning

Maggie woke Bea with a morning cup of tea.

Bea produced a smile and said she was fine, had had a good night’s sleep.

She lied. She wasn’t fine. She’d hardly slept at all. Her eyes wouldn’t open properly. Her body felt sluggish. Her head felt muzzy. When she looked in the mirror she recoiled in disgust. Her bruises were all colours of the rainbow except blue.

Would careful make-up help to disguise her frailty?

It was too much trouble to take the trouble.

She dressed in casual clothes, put on her watch and then – in a gesture of defiance that she couldn’t rationalize – decided to put on her most expensive earrings and to wear her diamond engagement ring. The jewels looked out of place when she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, but she didn’t care.

When she got downstairs, she found Oliver already hard at work with his laptop on the kitchen table. Winston was sitting nearby, paws tucked beneath him, now and then waving his tail to indicate that he was still hopeful of being fed, or rather, of being fed again.

Maggie banged about the kitchen, making a large cafetière of coffee and baking croissants. For once she hadn’t turned the radio or the television on, and the only sound was that of Oliver tickling the keys of his laptop.

‘Morning,’ he said, not raising his eyes from the screen. ‘Having drawn a blank with Ginevra and Benton, I’m turning my attention to the mysterious Leon and his sister. Plenty of information there.’

Bea sank on to a stool and nodded. She hoped Oliver wasn’t going to ask her to use her brain because she didn’t think it was in good working order at the moment. And, what was she going to do about Max? If Benton really did have evidence of Max playing away then that would definitely be the end of his marriage. If … if …

How to stop Benton in his tracks?

Would it be right to pay Benton off, in order to save Max?

Was it ever right to pay blackmail …? Which was what this amounted to.

Maggie placed a cup of good black coffee in front of Bea and asked if she’d like a couple of boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast.

Bea shuddered. ‘No more eggs. A croissant would be lovely, though.’

Oliver swung round. ‘Sybil Holland. Married three times, twice divorced, now a widow. All three of her husbands were millionaires – or billionaires. American. The last husband was Hiram T. something or other the Third, who specialized in Manhattan real estate. She is on the board of various important and socially acceptable charities such as the Metropolitan Museum. She collects Renaissance art. She must be worth as much as or perhaps even more than her elder brother. Has dual nationality, British and American. Has never had any children, so far as I can see. Homes in all the sort of places you’d expect, including a flat in Venice and a condo in Manhattan. I can’t find that she has any property in the UK.

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