MURDER AT HAGGBURN HALL an addictive crime mystery full of twists by LEWIS ROY

Author:LEWIS, ROY
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller mystery and suspense
Published: 2022-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

3

‘You unnerved poor Mr Vartek.’

‘It was more your doing than mine,’ Arnold countered.

Vita Delaney laughed. ‘Perhaps there’s some truth in that.’

‘Why do you tolerate him? He’s an obvious phoney.’

She raised an eyebrow and regarded him with a certain amusement. ‘You’re very direct, Arnold.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m an old woman. He amuses me. I like to have people around me; some for the intellectual stimulation they might provide, others who enable me to enjoy myself. I listen to their self-serving flattery, pander to their belief that I am just a foolish old woman.’

‘You’re sharper than they think.’

‘I believe that is the case,’ she agreed with a slight smile.

‘And much more manipulative than they suspect.’

‘Now what makes you believe that?’

He leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. She was at ease in his presence. She had shed some of the apparent frailty she assumed, and her mannerisms had also disappeared. He was now seeing the real Mrs Delaney. It was time her bluff was called. ‘Are you really hard of hearing?’

There was a short silence. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think there’s very little wrong with your hearing. It’s a ploy . . . an act.’

‘I used to be an actress,’ she giggled suddenly, glancing at him sideways. ‘But that was a long time ago.’ She watched him for a little while, contemplatively. ‘I’ve enjoyed our little dinner parties. An interesting group of people. Vartek, of course, is here because he wants me to give him money, but on long boring afternoons he can be quite interesting to listen to, with his half-cocked theories and half-baked ideas. He’s trying to con me — I’ve come across better in my time.’

‘I’m sure you have.’

‘And then there’s your little group: Fred Harkness I see as a somewhat short-tempered, bluff kind of individual; honest enough, and committed to the work he delights in. I suspect one of these days his temper may get the better of him . . . I hear he’s had trouble with some young whippersnapper up in the woods. Rena Williams, now . . . a strong exterior, but there are hidden fires, damped down with uncertainties. Do you know what they are?’

‘I’m not certain what you’re getting at.’

Vita Delaney shrugged. ‘It’s no matter. Woman’s stuff, really. I think she is maturing, beginning to believe that work shouldn’t be everything. Soon she’ll reach some kind of crisis, I suspect.’

‘And Karen Stannard?’

She smiled a feline smile. ‘I like her. I see a great deal of me in her. A strong-minded woman, clear in her goals and objectives, and tough enough to fight for them. I understand she’s in some difficulty at the moment, though I don’t know what the details are. A confident, extremely beautiful woman who’ll be the match for most men in this world . . .’ She was silent for a while, observing him. ‘Then there’s you, of course.’

‘You can sum me up, too?’

‘Not easily.’ She cocked her head on one side, inquisitively. ‘But before I try, you must tell me.

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