Murder by Numbers by Eric Brown

Author:Eric Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448304332
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2020-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Maria set aside the manuscript she was working on and stared into space. The story of romance among the dreaming spires of Oxford, while well written, failed to hold her attention, its depiction of academic privilege at odds with her present situation. She felt more like a character from one of Donald’s thrillers, with the killer on the prowl and her life hanging by a thread.

She jumped up and paced the room, considering what Donald had told her over the phone an hour ago. The Goudges were dead, which put paid to her notion that the death of Dr Bryce had been a coincidence, or that the police had got it wrong and it had been no more than a tragic suicide after all.

The lulling, back-and-forth drone of the Hoover from upstairs, as Pamela busied herself with the housework, was oddly reassuring, a familiar reminder of everyday domesticity. It reminded her, also, of her childhood in Paris in the twenties, when her father had made a present of an electric vacuum cleaner to their housekeeper. The memory made her smile.

She moved to the kitchen and made a cup of tea, then returned to the sitting room and tried to read the manuscript.

She finished her tea and paced the room again, biting her bottom lip as her thoughts raced. The drone of the Hoover ceased and she heard Pamela singing to herself on the staircase. She wondered if the girl was polishing the woodwork now, and if she should offer to help.

The previous night, at the Italian restaurant after her third glass of wine, she had almost told Donald what had really happened between Maxwell Fenton and her before the war.

She considered how close she had been to telling him – and winced at the thought of how Donald might have reacted, hating her either for submitting to the artist’s charms back then or for lying to him now.

There was no way, she thought, that she could emerge from this situation without damaging their precious relationship. He would either hate her for a slut or for a liar.

And if she continued to keep her secret, she would hate herself all the more.

But wasn’t her assessment of how he might react demeaning to Donald himself? Pamela had said that she was sure he would understand if Maria told him the truth.

But could she be sure he would understand?

She was too afraid to take the risk.

She sat down on the sofa and held her head in her hands.

Maybe, just maybe, when all this was over and she had time to think about it rationally, she might be able to tell him then.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Pamela entered the living room and moved quickly to the window. She stood against the wall beside the curtains like a heroine in an espionage film, moving the material a bare inch and peering out.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Maria asked.

‘She’s still there.’

Maria’s heart seemed to miss a beat. ‘Who is?’

Pamela let the curtain drop and turned to her.

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