Murder at the Natural History Museum by Jim Eldridge

Author:Jim Eldridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Miss Scott knocked at the door of her secretary’s office and entered to find Mrs Smith putting on her coat.

‘Ah, good, I caught you before you went home,’ she said.

‘I was coming in to tell you I was off,’ said Mrs Smith. ‘As I always do.’

Scott caught the tone of defensiveness and slight reproof, and gave her a reassuring smile.

‘I know, and for that I’m very grateful,’ she said. Inwardly, she thought, But you weren’t here when I called in an hour ago. Nor when I called again twenty minutes later. For the first time, Scott began to wonder about her secretary’s absences. There had been that recent occasion when she’d gone to the British Museum to deliver some papers and had been gone for most of the day. And there were other occasions when Mrs Smith seemed to have disappeared for a length of time, only to reappear later and be found at her desk. I need to keep an eye on her, she decided. Something is going on.

Aloud, she said: ‘Mrs Smith, I have some news that is quite shocking. It seems that one of the trustees is suspected of being the person who killed Raymond Simpson.’

Smith stared at her, as horror-struck as Miss Scott had been when she was first told.

‘One of the trustees? Who?’

‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say at the moment. I’m telling you in case you’re approached by anyone, particularly anyone from the newspapers, asking about it. If that happens, please refer them to me.’

‘But … why would one of the trustees want to kill Raymond Simpson?’

Scott hesitated, weighing up how much to tell her. Then she decided she owed her secretary at least that much. ‘It seems that Simpson may have been blackmailing them. I’m afraid I can’t tell you any more than that, and even that must remain between us.’

‘I understand,’ Smith assured her. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

‘Not at the moment, but I just thought you ought to know.’

Mrs Smith nodded, but Scott noticed that this latest news had rattled her secretary very much indeed by the way she stood quivering, her face white.

There is definitely something going on, thought Scott, as she headed back to her own office.

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