Murder at the Matterhorn (An Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery) by T A Williams

Author:T A Williams [Williams, T A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2023-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

16

FRIDAY MORNING

My first night sharing the hotel room with Oscar was not without incident. At around four o’clock in the morning, I awoke feeling very hot and found a heavy and far from fragrant body pressed tightly against me, and a battle of wills then ensued. I heaved him off and led him across to his basket and wagged my finger at him until he got the message and stayed there. I then went back to bed and closed my eyes but five minutes later, found I had canine company all over again. This continued for twenty minutes or so until, finally, Oscar must have realised that there was no future in it for him and he left me alone.

After meticulously brushing any incriminating black dog hairs off the bed, I had an early breakfast and drove up to the camp at seven-thirty to find it still quiet, so presumably everybody was sleeping off the late night of stargazing. I parked the van, and Oscar and I walked down through the trees to Il Convento where we were to meet up with Carmela and Sergeant Fournier at eight. Today, the sky was cloudy and I had a feeling it might rain before dark, but the air was noticeably less chilly than yesterday morning and we sat outside while we drank coffee and talked.

The detectives’ breakfast and my cappuccino were interrupted by a call to Carmela. I saw at once that something was wrong and as soon as the call ended, I raised an eyebrow. ‘Trouble?’

‘Up at the camp. One of the group’s disappeared.’

‘Really, who?’ I found myself praying it wasn’t Paul’s sister.

‘Elizabeth Winter. She didn’t sleep in her room at the hotel last night and there’s no sign of her at the camp this morning.’

‘Libby’s gone AWOL? Could it be she has a guilty conscience and she’s made a break for it?’

Sergeant Fournier caught the inspector’s eye and gave her a little grin as he pointed skywards. ‘Alternatively, are you thinking what I’m thinking?’

Carmela shook her head firmly. ‘No, I most certainly am not. There will be no alien abductions on my watch. We need to get up there straight away.’

I nodded. ‘I couldn’t agree more. I’d be surprised if she really has run away. She didn’t look too cheerful but she certainly didn’t give any hint of wanting to leave. I suppose it could be she’s just gone off with a man. She is a very attractive woman, after all.’

‘I hope that’s what’s happened.’ The inspector drained her decaf and pulled herself to her feet. ‘You and I had better not show up together, so why don’t you walk back up the way you came and I’ll muddle through until you arrive? Fournier can do a bit of interpreting until you get there. Okay, Fournier?’

He shot me a rueful look. ‘I’ll do my best, Inspector, but you know…’

I was still processing the information about Libby. What if she hadn’t just left but had been assaulted or worse? Who might

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