MURDER ON SEA a gripping cozy crime mystery full of twists by ADAMS JANE

Author:ADAMS, JANE
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery
Published: 2021-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty

It was mid-morning before George managed to get Paul alone for long enough to tell him what he had confessed to Karen. Morning break was only fifteen minutes, just long enough to grab a drink, and it was under the pretext of going to the vending machine that George managed to get his friend out of the classroom.

Finding a relatively empty stretch of corridor, George stopped, forcing Paul to halt beside him. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘Karen knows. I know I said . . . But you can’t keep anything from our Karen and I’m glad I told her. She said she’ll help.’

Paul grew so pale beneath his bruises that George honestly thought he was going to faint. He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. His breathing became frighteningly fast and shallow.

‘Paul, I’m sorry . . . Actually no, I’m not. We can’t do this on our own.’

‘He’ll kill me,’ Paul whispered. ‘He really will. I’m dead.’

‘He won’t know. The police will come for him now. It’ll be OK.’

Paul opened his eyes and stared at his friend. ‘You mad?’ he said. ‘What’s your Karen going to do? Phone them up and say “I know who killed the old woman. It was Mark Dowling. You know, psycho Mark what beats the shit out of you soon as look.”?’

George didn’t know what to say.

‘How they going to prove it? You think we’ll get home and he’ll be gone, just ’cos your sister says so?’

George shook his head but it occurred to him that, naively, that’s exactly what he was thinking. That’s what had happened with their dad. Karen said she’d sort it after the ambulance took their mum away and she’d sent George off to the shops. Their dad had disappeared when the ambulance arrived but George knew he’d be back as soon as the police cleared off. He always did and he’d been worried about leaving Karen there alone, but she’d insisted. ‘Go,’ she’d said. ‘Here’s a list of stuff we need.’

And when he’d come back, their dad wasn’t there. Karen was still cleaning up the mess, scrubbing blood off the kitchen floor. But their dad wasn’t there and Karen said he was gone for good.

She’d been wrong though, hadn’t she? George had seen him.

And if she’d been wrong that time, maybe she was wrong about this. Maybe Paul had been right all along. Say nothing, do nothing. Hope it all went away.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘It’ll be OK. It’s got to be.’

Paul pushed away from the wall and began to walk away.

‘Paul!’

‘Just leave me alone. Just leave me alone!’

George stared after his friend, hurt beyond words and terrified that he really had done the wrong thing. ‘Paul!’

The bell rang for the end of break and the corridors began to fill. Gnawing at his lower lip, George headed for class, wondering what the hell he should do now.

* * *

Mac had half expected to be going to the Jubilee to see Mark Dowling, but instead Andy drove them both to a neat, detached house out on the main road close to the tin huts.

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