Muffins and Mourning Tea (Oxford Tearoom Mysteries ~ Book 5) by Hanna H.Y

Author:Hanna, H.Y. [Hanna, H.Y.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisheart Press
Published: 2016-09-19T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I caught my breath, my heart pounding painfully in my chest. Then I felt my body go limp as the woman walked past Devlin and stopped at the table beyond his. I realised belatedly that there was a man sitting there. He was wearing a dark brown sweater that blended with the wood of the table and benches, and he had been hunched over his phone, which was why I had barely noticed him.

“Darling, have you been waiting long?” she asked him.

“A bit, but that’s okay—I was catching up on some emails…”

I let out the breath I had been holding, feeling suddenly silly and ridiculous. What was I doing, skulking around like this? I should have just walked over to Devlin, said hello, and asked who he was waiting for. But just as I was about to stand up, a new figure came around the side of the pub: Damian Heath. Devlin put a hand up and the boy came rapidly towards him.

I felt a wave of relief mixed with shame. Of course! Devlin was meeting a suspect, not some woman. How could I even have thought that of him? I scooted along the wall until I was at the very end, which was right next to their table, and strained my ears to listen to their conversation.

Damian dropped into the seat next to Devlin and looked surprised as the latter pushed a pint of beer towards him.

“How come we’re meeting here and not at the college or the police station?” he asked suspiciously.

Devlin’s voice was warm, friendly. “I thought this would be nicer and, since you’re helping me with enquiries, I thought the least I could do was buy you a drink.”

“Don’t know how else I can help you—I’ve told you everything I know,” said Damian sullenly.

“Well, you know how these things are… We have to go over the details again. It’s a pain but it’s got to be done. Cheers.” Devlin raised his glass.

The boy hesitated, then raised his own glass and drank. After a moment, he put the beer down and I saw him relax slightly. “So… what do you want to ask me?”

“Well, I just need to go over the details of the day before May Day. You said in your statement that you were in your room all morning, working on an essay?”

“Yeah, that’s right. That was when Tanya came barging in and started screeching at Charlie like a banshee.”

“And then afterwards?”

“I told you—I was pretty much in my room all day. Charlie and Tanya were having this fancy dress party that night and there were loads of people coming in and out. Charlie had bought a bunch of party props and stuff like that and everyone was coming to help themselves.”

“And then?”

“Well, I got sick of all the noise and stuff in the late afternoon, and I went out for a bit of a wander, you know, to get some fresh air. And then I went back, went to dinner in Hall, and then got into my costume and went to the party.

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